Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

LR Counselling & Wellbeing

This Privacy Notice explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you use my counselling services. It should be read alongside my Client Welcome Pack and Client Information & Counselling Agreement.

Who I am

I am Louise Riedl, a qualified counsellor and BACP Registered Member. I provide counselling in Kings Hill and online across the UK.

LR Counselling & Wellbeing is responsible for handling your personal information.

ICO Registration Number: Z196911X

What information I collect

Depending on your circumstances, I may collect and hold:

Your name and contact details
Your date of birth
GP details, where relevant
Information about your personal circumstances, experiences, feelings and wellbeing
Relevant health and wellbeing information
Emergency contact details
Information relating to safeguarding or concerns about your safety and wellbeing
Appointment, attendance, payment and cancellation information
Emails, texts, WhatsApp messages and other communications
Brief counselling notes and other records relating to your counselling

Some of this information, particularly information about your health and wellbeing, is considered special category data under UK data protection law. I only collect and use information that is relevant and necessary for providing your counselling and managing my professional responsibilities.

Why I use your information

I use your personal information to:

Provide and manage your counselling
Understand and respond to your needs
Protect your welfare and respond appropriately to concerns about your safety
Keep appropriate counselling and safeguarding records
Arrange and manage appointments
Process payments and manage business administration
Meet my professional, legal, ethical and insurance responsibilities
Respond to queries, complaints or legal claims where necessary

Lawful basis for using your information

UK data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for processing your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

Contract: where processing is necessary to provide and manage your counselling arrangements.
Legal obligation: where I need to process information to meet a legal requirement.
Vital interests: where processing is necessary to protect someone's life.
Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for appropriate business and professional administration, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Where I process special category data, such as health and wellbeing information, I must also meet an additional legal condition under UK data protection law. The applicable condition depends on the purpose of the processing and my professional arrangements.

Where your information comes from

I will usually collect information directly from you.

In some circumstances, information may be provided by another person or service where you have agreed to this, or where there is another lawful reason for obtaining it.

Confidentiality

Counselling is confidential. However, there are circumstances where I may need to share information, for example where there is a serious or urgent concern about someone's safety, a safeguarding concern, or where disclosure is legally required or authorised.

Where possible and appropriate, I will discuss this with you first.

I will only share information that is relevant and necessary for the situation.

Further information about confidentiality and its limits is provided in my Client Welcome Pack and Client Information & Counselling Agreement.

Supervision

As part of my professional practice, I attend regular professional supervision.

I may discuss aspects of my counselling work with my supervisor to support safe and effective practice. I take care to protect your privacy and would not normally identify you by name.

Storage and security

I take reasonable steps to keep your personal information secure and protect your privacy. I use password protection and appropriate security measures for digital and physical records.

I may use services such as Gmail, WhatsApp, text messaging, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and IONOS to communicate with clients, provide counselling and operate my website. These services have their own privacy policies and security arrangements, and information may be processed or stored by these providers in accordance with their terms.

Although I take care when using these services, electronic communications can carry some privacy risks. For example, messages or notifications may be seen by someone with access to your device or account, and information may be stored by the service provider. Online counselling also carries a risk of privacy issues, particularly if either person is in a shared or public space.

I encourage you to use a private space for online sessions and to protect your devices and accounts with appropriate security settings. Please avoid including sensitive personal information in text messages or emails where possible.

I do not record counselling sessions.

How long I keep your information

I keep personal information for no longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the circumstances, taking account of my legal, professional, ethical and insurance responsibilities, as well as the need to deal with any complaints or legal claims.

I review the information I hold and securely destroy paper records or delete digital records when they are no longer needed, unless there is a lawful reason to retain them for longer.

When I may share your information

I may share relevant personal information where necessary with:

My professional supervisor
Professional or legal advisers, where appropriate
Emergency services where necessary to protect someone's safety
Your GP or another relevant professional, normally with your knowledge and agreement unless there is a compelling reason not to
Relevant authorities where I am legally required or authorised to provide information

I aim to share only the information necessary for the particular purpose.

I do not sell your personal information or use confidential counselling information for marketing purposes.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

Request a copy of the personal information I hold about you
Ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
Request the deletion of your information in certain circumstances
Ask me to restrict how I use your information in certain circumstances
Object to certain uses of your information
Request the transfer of your information where the right to data portability applies
Withdraw consent where I rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing

These rights do not apply in every situation. For example, I may need to retain certain records to meet legal, professional or other legitimate requirements.

I will normally respond to a valid request within one month, in accordance with applicable data protection law.

If you have a concern

If you have any questions or concerns about how I handle your personal information, please contact me in the first instance.

Louise Riedl
LR Counselling & Wellbeing
Email: hello@lrcounsellingandwellbeing.co.uk
Telephone: 07394 992535
Website: lrcounsellingandwellbeing.co.uk

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how your information has been handled.

ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

Last updated

October 2026