Privacy Notice

Last updated 21st October 2026

This Privacy Notice explains how Evermore Counselling collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, as amended.

Contact Details

Data Controller: Karen Boness
Practice Name: Evermore Counselling
Address: 1st Floor, 24 Market Square, Potton, Bedfordshire, SG19 2NP
Email: evermorecounselling22@gmail.com
Telephone: 07594 600738
ICO Registration Number: ZB376167

As the Data Controller, I am responsible for ensuring that your personal information is handled appropriately and securely.

What Information Do I Collect?

Depending on how we work together, I may collect and hold the following information:

Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
Your date of birth, where needed.
GP contact details and emergency contact details, where relevant.
Information you share during an initial enquiry, assessment, or counselling session.
Brief counselling notes relating to our work together.
Appointment and communication records.
Payment and invoicing information, where applicable.
Basic technical information collected when you visit my website, including information associated with cookies and analytics tools, where used.

Some of the information you share with me relates to your health, mental wellbeing, and personal circumstances. This is known as special category data under data protection law and requires additional protection. I only seek information that is relevant to providing counselling safely and responsibly.

How I Use Your Information

I use your personal information to:

Respond to enquiries about counselling.
Arrange appointments and provide counselling services.
Understand your needs and maintain appropriate counselling records.
Communicate with you about appointments and practical arrangements.
Manage payments and practice administration.
Meet my legal, ethical, professional, and safeguarding responsibilities.
Maintain appropriate records and support continuity of care where necessary.

I only collect and use information that is reasonably necessary for these purposes.

Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on:

Contract: Where processing is necessary to arrange or provide counselling services.
Legal obligation: Where I need to comply with a legal requirement.
Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for the proper and secure running of my counselling practice, provided your rights do not override those interests.

For special category information, including information about your mental health, I rely on the applicable conditions under Article 9 of the UK GDPR, including where appropriate the provision of health or social care, subject to the relevant legal requirements and safeguards.

Where I rely on consent for a particular use of information, I will explain this to you. You may withdraw that consent where applicable, although this will not affect processing that has already lawfully taken place or processing that can continue under another lawful basis.

Confidentiality

Everything discussed during counselling is treated as strictly confidential. There are, however, limited circumstances where confidentiality may need to be broken:

If there is a serious risk of harm to yourself or another person.
If there are concerns about the safety of a child or vulnerable adult.
If disclosure is required by law or a court order.

Where possible, I will always discuss this with you first before taking any action.

Clinical Supervision

I attend clinical supervision to support safe, ethical, and effective counselling practice. Relevant aspects of my work may be discussed in supervision. I will take appropriate steps to protect your confidentiality and avoid sharing identifying information wherever possible, in line with professional and legal requirements.

Clinical Will and Continuity of Care

I have made a clinical will to help ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place if I unexpectedly become unable to practise. My clinical supervisor acts as my Clinical Trustee and may access relevant information in accordance with the arrangements set out in my clinical will. This is to help ensure that clients can be contacted where appropriate and that continuity of care is considered. Any access to or sharing of personal information will be handled sensitively, securely, and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

Sharing Information

I will treat your personal information confidentially and only share it where there is a requirement to do so by law, a relevant regulator, or under the specific professional agreements outlined below. This may include:

Sharing relevant information in clinical supervision, taking appropriate steps to protect your identity wherever possible.
Sharing necessary information with my Clinical Trustee in accordance with my clinical will and applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.
Using trusted service providers where necessary to operate my practice.
Disclosing information where required or permitted by law, or where a disclosure is justified to address a serious risk of harm or safeguarding concern.

I will limit any sharing to what is necessary and take appropriate steps to protect your privacy. Where appropriate and safe to do so, I will discuss a necessary disclosure with you beforehand. I do not sell or rent your personal information or use your counselling information for unrelated marketing purposes.

How Long I Keep Your Information

I keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking account of legal, professional, insurance, and other applicable requirements.

Counselling Records: Adult clinical records are stored securely and retained for a period of 7 years following the end of our therapy together, in line with professional insurance requirements. After this time, they are securely destroyed.
Enquiries: If you contact me but do not proceed with counselling, I will usually delete your enquiry information within one month unless there is a legitimate reason to retain it for longer.
Financial Records: Relevant payment and accounting records are retained for the periods required by applicable tax and accounting rules.

Paper counselling notes are stored securely and separately from contact details where practicable.

How I Protect Your Information

I take appropriate steps to keep your personal information secure and to prevent unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or disclosure. These measures include secure storage of paper records and appropriate care when handling electronic information and communications. No method of electronic communication or storage is completely secure, so I cannot guarantee absolute security.

Communication and Online Counselling

I may communicate with you by telephone, email, text message, or my website contact form. Please be aware that electronic communications may carry some privacy risks. If you have concerns about a particular method of communication, please discuss this with me.

Online counselling may be provided using WhatsApp Video or Google Meet. These services have their own privacy policies and terms, which I encourage you to review. Information processed by these providers may be subject to their respective privacy and security arrangements.

Digital Tools and Artificial Intelligence

I do not enter client information into AI tools. I do not use AI tools to process clients' counselling information or prepare counselling notes from identifiable client material. If my use of digital tools changes in a way that affects how your personal information is processed, I will review this notice and update it where appropriate.

Website Hosting and Cookies

My website is hosted by Wix. Wix and the website features in use may place cookies or use similar technologies for website functionality, security, and performance. The cookies and technologies used may vary depending on the features and services enabled on the website. You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Where consent is required for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, appropriate consent arrangements will be provided. I will review the cookies and third-party technologies used on my website and update this notice if necessary.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under applicable UK data protection law, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. These include the right to:

Access: Request a copy of the personal information I hold about you.
Rectification: Ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected.
Erasure (Right to be Forgotten): Request the deletion of your information where the legal conditions are met.
Restriction: Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances.
Object: Object to certain types of processing.
Data Portability: Request data portability where the right applies.
Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions. For example, I may need to retain certain records to meet the legal, professional, or insurance obligations specified in the retention section above.

To exercise your rights or ask a question about how your information is handled, please contact me directly using the details provided in the Contact Details section. I will respond within the applicable legal time limit, normally one month. This period may be extended where the law permits.

Complaints and Concerns

If you have a concern about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me first so that I have an opportunity to address it. I aim to acknowledge a complaint within 30 days, investigate it without undue delay, keep you informed where appropriate, and communicate the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you remain dissatisfied:

Website: https://ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

If your complaint or concern relates specifically to my professional practice or ethics as a therapist, you may also wish to contact my professional body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP):

Website: https://www.bacp.co.uk
Telephone: 01455 883300

Changes to this Privacy Notice

I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in data protection law, professional requirements, the services I provide, or the way I handle personal information. The latest version will always be available on my website. I aim to review it at least annually and whenever there is a significant change to my practice or data-handling arrangements.