Privacy Statement
Glebe Meadow Counselling & Hypnotherapy
Last updated: 22 August 2026
Your privacy is important to me.
As a counsellor and hypnotherapist, I understand that the information you share with me can be deeply personal and sensitive. I am committed to treating your information with care, respect and confidentiality.
This Privacy Notice explains what personal information I collect, why I collect it, how I use and protect it, how long I keep it and what rights you have in relation to your information.
Who am I?
Glebe Meadow Counselling & Hypnotherapy is a private counselling and hypnotherapy practice operated by Kathy.
For data protection purposes, I am the Data Controller responsible for the personal information I collect and process in connection with my practice.
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, you can contact me:
Kathy
Glebe Meadow Counselling & Hypnotherapy
West Sussex
Email: kathy@glebemeadow.co.uk
Telephone: 07979 190 658
What information I may collect?
Depending on your circumstances, I may collect information including your name and contact details, your date of birth or age, emergency contact details where appropriate, information about your circumstances and the reason you are seeking counselling, relevant information about your physical or emotional wellbeing, information about previous or current support you may be receiving, information you choose to share during counselling sessions, session notes and other records relating to your counselling, information relating to appointments, payments and administration, information contained in emails, telephone calls or other communications between us, and information provided by another professional or organisation where this is necessary and appropriate.
Some of the information discussed during counselling may be considered special category personal data, including information relating to health.
I only collect information that is relevant and necessary for providing safe and appropriate support.
How do I collect your information?
I may collect information when you contact me by telephone, contact me by email, complete an enquiry or contact form, arrange a consultation, become a client, attend counselling or hypnotherapy, provide information verbally or in writing during our work together, or give permission for relevant information to be obtained from another professional or organisation.
I will normally collect information directly from you.
Where information is provided by another person or organisation, I will only use it where there is a lawful reason for doing so.
Why do I use your information?
I use your information to respond to enquiries, arrange consultations and appointments, provide counselling and/or hypnotherapy, maintain appropriate professional records, monitor and review your therapeutic work, communicate with you about appointments, manage payments and administration, meet professional, legal and regulatory responsibilities, protect your safety and the safety of others where necessary, respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns, deal with complaints or concerns, and maintain appropriate insurance and professional records.
I do not collect or use your personal information simply because I can.
I aim to collect and use only information that is necessary, relevant and proportionate.
What is my lawful basis for processing your information?
Under UK data protection law, I need a lawful basis for processing personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on contract, where processing is necessary to provide counselling or hypnotherapy services that you have requested; legitimate interests, for certain administrative activities connected with running my practice, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms; legal obligation, where I am required to keep or disclose information by law; consent, where consent is the appropriate legal basis for a particular activity; and vital interests, where processing is necessary to protect someone's life in an emergency.
Because counselling can involve health and other sensitive information, additional legal protections apply to this type of information.
I will ensure that an appropriate condition for processing special category information is in place when I process it.
Special category information
Counselling can involve information about your physical or mental health and other sensitive information.
Where I process this type of information, I do so only where permitted under UK data protection law and where an appropriate legal condition applies.
I only collect information that is relevant to providing safe and appropriate counselling or hypnotherapy and I do not use sensitive information for unrelated purposes.
Confidentiality.
Confidentiality is a fundamental part of counselling.
What you tell me is treated as private and confidential, and I will not normally share information about you without your permission.
There are, however, circumstances where confidentiality may need to be broken. These may include situations involving serious risk of harm to you or another person, safeguarding concerns involving a child or vulnerable person, serious concerns about abuse or neglect, a legal requirement to disclose information, or situations where disclosure is necessary to protect someone's vital interests.
Where possible and appropriate, I will discuss any need to share information with you beforehand.
Confidentiality may also be discussed with my professional supervisor where necessary for safe and ethical practice. Information shared in supervision is handled professionally and confidentially.
Who might I share information with?
I do not sell your personal information.
I will only share information where there is a legitimate reason to do so.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include my professional supervisor, relevant healthcare or other professionals where appropriate and lawful, emergency services where necessary, professional or regulatory bodies where required, insurers or legal advisers where necessary, and service providers who help me operate my practice, such as website, email, payment or IT providers.
Where information is shared, I will aim to ensure that only information that is necessary and appropriate is disclosed.
Where possible, I will seek your agreement before sharing information with other professionals.
Children and young people.
Where I work with children or young people, I take particular care with their personal information and confidentiality.
The level of confidentiality and information that may appropriately be shared with parents, carers or other professionals will depend on the young person's age, understanding, circumstances and safeguarding requirements.
These arrangements will be discussed at the beginning of the therapeutic work.
How do I protect your information?
I take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect personal information from loss, theft, unauthorised access, accidental disclosure, unauthorised alteration and unnecessary use or disclosure.
Paper records, electronic records, emails and other information are handled with appropriate security measures.
I regularly review the way information is stored and managed and take reasonable steps to ensure that information is kept secure.
How long do I keep your information?
I only keep your personal information and counselling records for as long as they are needed to fulfil my professional, legal, insurance, safeguarding and regulatory responsibilities. Different types of information may need to be kept for different lengths of time, and particular consideration is given to records relating to children and young people. I regularly review the information I hold and, when it is no longer required, I securely delete, destroy or dispose of it. If there is a legitimate reason to keep information for longer, such as an ongoing safeguarding concern, complaint, legal matter or insurance requirement, I may retain it for as long as necessary. Any information I retain is kept securely and handled in accordance with this Privacy Notice.
Your rights.
Depending on the circumstances, you have rights under UK data protection law. These may include the right to ask what personal information I hold about you, request a copy of your personal information, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, ask for information to be deleted in certain circumstances, ask for processing to be restricted in certain circumstances, object to certain types of processing, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, and raise a concern or make a complaint about how your information is handled.
Not every right applies in every circumstance, and some legal exemptions may apply.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact me using the details above.
Subject Access Requests.
You have the right, in many circumstances, to ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you.
This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).
I will deal with requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.
There may be circumstances where information can lawfully be withheld or redacted, particularly where disclosure could affect another person's privacy or where a legal exemption applies.
Complaints about data protection.
If you have concerns about how I have handled your personal information, I would encourage you to contact me first so that I can try to resolve the matter.
You can contact me at:
I will acknowledge and handle data protection complaints in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your personal information has not been handled appropriately.
The ICO is the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection.
Cookies and website information.
My website may use cookies or similar technologies to make the website function properly, understand how visitors use the website and improve the experience.
The cookies and technologies used will depend on the website platform and services connected to the website.
Where consent is legally required, I will ask for it.
Some cookies may be necessary for the basic operation of the website and may not require consent under applicable law.
Third-party websites.
My website may contain links to other websites.
Once you leave my website, I am not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those external websites.
I recommend checking the privacy notice of any website you visit.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to my practice, the services I provide, the technology I use or applicable data protection law.
The latest version will be published on my website.
Last updated: 22 August 2026
Ethical Commitment
Glebe Meadow Counselling and Hypnotherapy abides by the NCPS Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions (2021), upholding high standards of professional integrity and confidentiality.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement or how your information is used, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.