Privacy Policy
NI Counselling & Associates Ltd
Last updated: June 2026
1. Who We Are and Our Legal Obligations
NI Counselling & Associates Ltd is a private counselling and therapy organisation based in Northern Ireland. We provide a therapist matching service and deliver face-to-face and online counselling and therapy sessions to adults across Northern Ireland and online services worldwide.
We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal data in accordance with:
• The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
• The Data Protection Act 2018
• Any other applicable data protection legislation in force in the United Kingdom
Data Controller: NI Counselling & Associates Ltd is the Data Controller for the personal data described in this policy.
Contact: deborah@nicounselling.co.uk
ICO Registration Number: ZA788288
2. The Personal Data We Collect
You can browse our website without disclosing any personal data. However, we may collect and process the following categories of data about you:
Standard personal data including your name, contact details (email address, telephone number), location, and referral information submitted through our forms.
Special category data — because we provide health and counselling services, we process health-related information including mental health history, current concerns, and therapy session content. This is classified as special category data under UK GDPR Article 9 and is handled with the highest level of care and security.
Communications data including emails, messages, and enquiries you send to us.
Financial data limited to session fee records and payment history. We do not store card or bank details directly.
Technical data including information about how you use our website, gathered via cookies. See the Cookies section below.
3. Our Lawful Basis for Processing
Under UK GDPR, we are required to identify a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following bases:
Contract (Article 6(1)(b)): Processing is necessary to provide you with our therapy matching service and to fulfil our contractual obligations to you.
Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Where we need your permission to contact you for marketing or non-essential communications, we will ask for your explicit consent. When requesting consent, we will explain clearly what it covers and offer you the choice of whether we may contact you by phone, post, email, text or through other digital media. You may withdraw consent at any time.
Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): Where processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as safeguarding duties or disclosures required by law.
Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, provided these interests do not override your rights.
4. Special Category Data — Health Information
Because NI Counselling provides therapeutic support, the personal data we process will frequently include health and mental health information. This is classified as special category data under UK GDPR Article 9.
We process this data on the following basis:
• Explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)) — we will ask for your explicit consent before processing health-related information as part of the referral and matching process.
• Provision of health care services (Article 9(2)(h)) — processing is necessary for the purposes of providing health care or treatment, carried out by a professional subject to the obligation of confidentiality.
Each therapist at NI Counselling is individually responsible for the lawful and secure processing of client health data in accordance with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the standards set by their accreditation body (BACP, NCPS or equivalent).
5. Why We Collect Your Personal Data
We collect your personal data to manage our relationship with you and to provide our services. Specific activities include:
• Matching you with an appropriate therapist based on your needs and preferences
• Managing your appointment bookings and session records
• Processing payments and issuing invoices
• Communicating with you about your referral and ongoing sessions
• Responding to your enquiries and requests
• Improving and developing our services
• Monitoring payment activity and managing outstanding balances
• Detection and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
• Complying with our legal and regulatory obligations
• Safeguarding the welfare of clients and others where required
6. How Long We Keep Your Data
We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. Specific retention periods are as follows:
Therapy records: In line with BACP guidance, therapy records are retained for a minimum of seven years following the end of the therapeutic relationship.
Financial records: Retained for six years in accordance with HMRC requirements.
General enquiry and contact data: Retained for up to two years from the date of last contact.
Marketing consent records: Retained for as long as you remain opted in, or for one year following withdrawal of consent.
At the end of the applicable retention period, personal data is securely deleted or anonymised.
7. Security of Your Personal Data
NI Counselling takes the security of your personal data seriously. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, disclosure or destruction, in line with UK GDPR requirements and international security guidance.
Each individual therapist is responsible for maintaining the security of their own systems and for storing client data securely in accordance with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the requirements of their professional accreditation body.
We do not store personal data offline on unsecured systems.
8. Who We Share Your Information With
We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data only in the following limited circumstances:
Matched therapists: We share relevant referral information with the therapist to whom you are matched, to enable them to provide you with appropriate care.
Agents and suppliers: Third parties who provide services on our behalf, such as booking and payment platforms. We share only the information necessary for them to perform their function, and we ensure they are bound by appropriate data processing agreements.
Professional advisers: Legal, financial or other professional advisers engaged in connection with our business.
Statutory and regulatory bodies: Where required by law, we may disclose personal data to bodies such as the PSNI, the courts, or relevant government departments. We will only disclose the minimum information necessary to satisfy our legal obligation.
Safeguarding: Where there is a serious and immediate risk of harm to you or to another person, we may disclose information to the appropriate authorities without your consent.
9. International Transfers of Data
Where we transfer personal data outside of the United Kingdom, we ensure that all transfers are carried out in accordance with UK GDPR. This means we only transfer data to countries or organisations that provide an adequate level of data protection as recognised by the UK Government, or where appropriate safeguards are in place such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or equivalent standard contractual clauses.
10. Use of Cookies
Our website uses cookies — small files stored on your device — to improve your browsing experience and to help us understand how our site is used. We use Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for this purpose.
Cookies enable us to:
• Estimate our audience size and understand how visitors use our site
• Store your preferences so we can tailor the site to your interests
• Speed up your searches and improve site performance
• Recognise you when you return to our site
We do not use cookies to collect personal data for storage on our systems. You may manage your cookie preferences at any time through your browser settings or via our Cookie Policy. Refusing certain cookies may affect your ability to use some parts of our site.
Full details of the cookies we use and their purpose are set out in our Cookie Policy.
Please note that third-party advertisers or embedded services on our site may also use cookies independently, over which we have no control. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of any third-party services you interact with.
11. Your Rights Under UK GDPR
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us at deborah@nicounselling.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.
Right of access: You are entitled to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you, free of charge.
Right to rectification: You have the right to have inaccurate or incomplete personal data corrected.
Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data. This is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten. This right is subject to certain legal and professional obligations that may require us to retain data.
Right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we limit the way we use your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: Where technically possible, you have the right to receive a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests.
Rights related to consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
Rights related to automated decision-making: You have the right not to be subject to decisions made solely by automated processing that produce a legal or significant effect on you. We do not carry out automated decision-making.
12. How to Make a Complaint
If you have any concerns about how we handle your personal data, we ask that you contact us in the first instance so that we can address the issue directly:
Email: deborah@nicounselling.co.uk
If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the supervisory authority for data protection in the United Kingdom.
ICO website: www.ico.org.uk
ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113
NI Counselling ICO registration number: ZA788288
13. Data Breaches
In the event of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, NI Counselling will notify the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, as required by UK GDPR Article 33. Where the breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will also notify you directly without undue delay.
14. Changes to This Policy
We review this privacy policy periodically and will update it when necessary to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. Any material changes will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, communicated to you directly. The date at the top of this document indicates when the policy was last updated. We encourage you to review it periodically.
15. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or about how we use your personal data, please contact us:
NI Counselling & Associates Ltd
Email: deborah@nicounselling.co.uk
Phone: 07548 080806