Who I am
I’m Lucy Gee, and I run Lucy Gee Counselling and Psychotherapy in Stockport and online. I am the data controller for the personal information described in this notice, which means I decide how it is used and I am responsible for keeping it safe.
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZC268842. You can see my entry on the ICO register of fee payers.
You can contact me about anything in this notice by emailing lucygeecounselling@gmail.com or calling 07950 114 909.
My professional standards
I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), membership number 422854 (MBACP). You can view my entry on the BACP Register.
I work to the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. It asks me to respect your privacy, keep what you share confidential within agreed limits, keep accurate and secure records, and be open with you about how your information is used. This notice explains how I do that, alongside my duties under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
This website
This website is for information only. It has no contact forms, no newsletter sign-up and no client login, so it does not ask you for any personal information.
- It does not set cookies.
- It does not use analytics, advertising or tracking tools, and it does not load any content from other websites.
- Its fonts and images are all hosted on the site itself.
The site is hosted by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare automatically processes technical information such as your IP address and browser type so that the pages can be delivered to you and protected from misuse. I do not use this information to identify you.
Information I collect
If you get in touch by email or phone, I will have:
- your name and contact details
- anything you choose to tell me about why you are getting in touch
- if you are contacting me about a child or young person, their name, age and the reason you are seeking support
If we go on to work together, I will also keep:
- contact details, and for children and young people, the details of a parent or carer
- brief session notes
- appointment and payment records
Some of this information is about your health and wellbeing. The law calls this “special category” information and gives it extra protection, and I treat it with particular care.
Why I use your information, and the legal basis
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To reply to your enquiry and arrange counselling. This is necessary to take steps you have asked for before we agree to work together, and then to provide the counselling we have agreed.
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To provide counselling safely and professionally. Where this involves health information, I rely on the condition for providing health care under the professional duty of confidentiality, as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018.
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To keep appointment and payment records. This is necessary for our agreement, and to meet my legal and financial obligations.
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To protect someone from serious harm. In rare situations, set out below, the law allows me to share information to protect you or someone else.
I will never sell your information or use it for marketing.
Confidentiality and its limits
What you share in counselling stays confidential. In line with the BACP Ethical Framework, I may need to share information without your agreement only if:
- I believe you, or someone else, are at risk of serious harm
- I have a safeguarding concern about a child or a vulnerable adult
- the law requires it, for example a court order
Wherever it is safe and possible to do so, I will talk with you first. We will go through these limits together before counselling begins.
Children and young people
When I work with children and young people, a parent or carer usually makes the first contact, and I will agree with them how we will work together. What a child or young person shares in sessions is treated as confidential, just as it is for adults. I do not pass on the details of what they say to parents, carers or schools without their agreement, unless there is a safeguarding concern.
Where a young person is old enough and understands what is involved, they can make their own decisions about their information. I will explain this in a way that suits their age.
Who I share information with
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My clinical supervisor. As BACP requires, I talk about my work with a qualified clinical supervisor. I do this without sharing your name or details that could identify you.
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Services that help me run my practice. I use Google’s Gmail for email, a mobile phone for calls and messages, and a secure video platform for online sessions. These providers only handle your information to provide their service to me.
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Others, only when necessary. This means the limited situations described under “Confidentiality and its limits”, or when you have asked me to share something.
Some of these providers may store information outside the UK. Where they do, they use the safeguards UK data protection law requires.
Keeping your information safe
I keep your information secure and only collect what I need. Session notes are kept brief and factual, and I am the only person who has access to them. Digital records are protected with passwords, and any paper records are stored securely.
How long I keep information
If you get in touch but we do not go on to work together, I delete your details once they are no longer needed.
If we do work together, I keep your records for a set period after counselling ends, in line with BACP guidance, my professional insurance and the law. Records for children and young people may need to be kept for longer. I will tell you how long at the start of our work together. After that, records are securely deleted or destroyed.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you
- ask me to correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete
- ask me to delete your information, where I do not need to keep it
- ask me to limit how I use your information, or object to how I use it
- ask for information you gave me to be passed to you or someone else in a usable format
To use any of these rights, email lucygeecounselling@gmail.com or call 07950 114 909. I will respond within one month. There is usually no charge.
Concerns and complaints
If you have a concern about how I handle your information, please talk to me first, and I will do my best to put things right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can do this on the ICO website or by calling 0303 123 1113.
If your concern is about my professional practice, you can also contact the BACP through its professional conduct process.
Changes to this notice
I will update this notice if anything changes about how I use personal information. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
