Privacy Policy
Introduction
Your privacy is very important to Golowhe Therapy and you can be confident that all personal information you provide will be kept safe and secure, only being used for the purpose it was provided.
Golowhe Therapy adheres to data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Golowhe Therapy is registered with the ICO. Registration reference: ZB541569
This privacy notice tells you what to expect me to do with your personal information.
• Contact details
• What information we collect, use, and why
• Lawful bases and data protection rights
• Where we get personal information from
• How long we keep information
• How to complain
Contact details:
Telephone: 07544758832
Email:golowhe@gmail.com
What information I collect, use, and why…
I collect or use the following information to provide and improve products and services for clients:
• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Gender
• Pronoun preferences
• Occupation
• Date of birth
• Marital status
• Third party information (such as family members or other relevant parties)
• Health information (such as medical records or health conditions)
I also collect or use the following special category information to provide and improve products and services for clients. This information is subject to additional protection due to its sensitive nature:
• Health information
I collect or use the following personal information for the operation of client or customer accounts:
• Names and contact details
• Addresses
• Marketing preferences
I collect or use the following personal information to comply with legal requirements:
• Name
• Contact information
• Health and safety information
• Any other personal information required to comply with legal obligations
• Safeguarding information
I collect or use the following personal information to protect client welfare:
• Names and contact information
• Health and wellbeing information
• Emergency contact details
I also collect or use the following special category information to protect client welfare. This information is subject to additional protection due to its sensitive nature:
• Health information
• Sexual orientation information
I collect or use the following personal information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims:
• Names and contact details
• Addresses
Lawful bases and data protection rights
Under UK data protection law, I must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. Which lawful basis I rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below.
You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:
• Your right of access - You have the right to ask me for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where I get personal information from and who I share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for.
• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask me to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask me to delete your personal information.
• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask me to limit how I can use your personal information.
• Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.
• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that I transfer the personal information you gave me to another organisation, or to you.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When I use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
Lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to comply with legal requirements; to protect client welfare; for the operation of client or customer accounts; to provide and improve products and services for clients are:
• Consent - I have permission from you after I gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – I have to collect or use the information so I can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
• Legal obligation – I have to collect or use your information so I can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.
• Vital interests – collecting or using the information is needed when someone’s physical or mental health or wellbeing is at urgent or serious risk. This includes an urgent need for life sustaining food, water, clothing or shelter. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object and the right to portability.
Lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for dealing with queries, complaints or claims are:
• Consent - I have permission from you after I gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – I have to collect or use the information so I can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
• Legal obligation – I have to collect or use your information so I can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.
• Vital interests – collecting or using the information is needed when someone’s physical or mental health or wellbeing is at urgent or serious risk. This includes an urgent need for life sustaining food, water, clothing or shelter. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object and the right to portability.
Where I get personal information from:
Directly from you
The UK GDPR also requires any sensitive personal information provided is appropriately handled. This type of information is called “special category personal information”. The lawful basis for processing this type of information is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling and associated therapy services) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (i.e. between client and therapist).
How your information is used Initial contact:
Upon making initial contact to enquire about Golowhe Therapy's services, your information will be collected to assist the enquiry, which includes: “Name, telephone number, email address and nature of enquiry” information.
If you decide not to proceed, your personal data is deleted within NINETY DAYS.
If you would prefer your information to be deleted sooner than this, please provide a written notice, see ‘contact information’.
While you are accessing therapy:
A record of your personal details will be maintained to assist Golowhe Therapy's services.
These details are retained securely (paper records are kept in a locked safe with access restricted and electronic records are protected).
Your personal information may exist within:
Text messages; Emails; Voicemails; Client intake documents; Therapy contracts; Initial assessment documents; Review and/or feedback documents; Written notes; Bank statements…
Please be aware that all counsellors are required to undergo regular supervision, of which some details of your counselling may be discussed to ensure safe and ethical practice - your information is presented in an anonymised way and is treated confidentially by supervisors.
After counselling has terminated
Unless subject of a court order, or legal requirement, your electronic and hard copy information is stored securely for 5 YEARS (or until you have turned 18yo for children and young people) after therapy services have terminated before being deleted/shredded.
If you would prefer your information to be deleted sooner than this, please provide a written notice, to the contact details provided above.
Third party recipients of personal data:
Your personal information may be shared with selected third parties, for example, for the purposes of supervision. In such cases, third parties are carefully selected, and an agreement exists stating what they are allowed to do with any data shared to them. The agreement stipulates your information is not used in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.
Making a complaint:
If you feel it is necessary to make a complaint to Golowhe Therapy, please use the contact information provided - this will be formally acknowledged in writing within 30 days of receiving the communication. All complaints will be handled and investigated with fairness and diligence and the complainant being updated of all processes as required. Please note, further information and communication may be required to fully investigate the complaint, which will be logged and filed accordingly. Outcomes will be communicated in a timely manner and all appropriate actions after review will be shared.
Email:golowhe@gmail.com / Telephone: 07544758832
If you remain unhappy with how I’ve used your data after raising a complaint, you can also complain to the ICO.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Social Media Policy
The basis for this policy is to truly protect our therapeutic relationship and your confidentiality in session.
As a counsellor, I must keep my relationship with you completely confidential (except in cases of where you might harm yourself or others). Thus, if you interact on Golowhe Therapy's media or webpages, people may infer as to how we are connected.
You have a choice as to what you reveal about yourself online, however I will not reveal my connection to you.
This policy explains how I handle different social media encounters:
FRIENDING - To respect your privacy and confidentiality, I do not accept friend requests on my personal Facebook page from current or former clients.
LIKING & FOLLOWING - You may “like” or "follow" Golowhe Therapy business page if you wish to. However, the information on my Facebook page is often on my website as well. If you “like” or "follow" my page, you are choosing to reveal that you are connected to me in some way. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow me. Note that I will not follow you back.
If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapeutic hour.
INTERACTING - Please do not use messaging on social networking sites to contact me. If there was an emergency I would not be able to respond in a timely way, as I do not check these platforms daily. The best way to interact with me is by email or phone during my working hours.
USE OF SEARCH ENGINES - I do not “Google” clients or look up information on them for any reason. I think it is important that I know you as you are in the therapy room. If I do come across your information online, I will move on and avoid reading content.
EMAIL - Please do not email me with specific content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of our Internet service providers - whilst it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider.
LOCATION BASED SERVICES If you use location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues relating to using these services. If you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, those who you have agreed can locate you via your phone may surmise that you are a client due to being 'seen' at the same place on a weekly basis.
Links to other sites This privacy notice (and any documents referred to in it) does not apply to other websites that you get to by clicking on a link shared on social media or webpages. I have no control over how your personal information is collected, stored or used by other websites. You should check the privacy policies of other websites before you provide personal information through them.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI):
Golowhe Therapy is proudly human in all communications and interactions.
AI has not (and will not be) used for any shared writings, including this website.
AI is not (and will not be) used for any administrative processes.
AI is not (and will not be) used for any therapeutic interventions or support at any time.
If you, the client, should choose to use AI this is done so at your own risk. You should have a clear understanding of AI’s limitations, it’s ability to gather and manipulate data, it’s potential for influence in decision making, and the understanding of how confidentiality might be compromised with how the data is used, handled and stored. Golowhe Therapy will accept no responsibility.
Thank you for taking the time to review these policies. If you have any questions or concerns regarding GDPR or our potential interactions on the internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.
Last reviewed: September 2026.