Privacy Policy of Flourish Counselling Bristol

Updated June 2026

Data Controller

I am Sara Benyon, a self-employed counsellor trading as Flourish Counselling Bristol.

I am the data controller responsible for your personal data.

Contact details:

Email: sara@flourishcounsellingbristol.co.uk

Address: St Michael’s Centre, North Road, Bristol, BS34 8PD

As a sole practitioner, I am not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer.

What Information I Collect

I may collect and process the following personal information:

• Your name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Information you provide when making an enquiry
• Information relevant to counselling sessions
• Counselling notes and clinical records

How Your Information Is Collected

Information is collected when you:

• Contact me by email or telephone
• Submit an enquiry via the website contact form
• Engage in counselling sessions
• Provide information during our work together

Why I Collect Your Information

I use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries
• Arrange and provide counselling services
• Maintain clinical and professional records
• Meet legal, ethical, insurance and professional obligations
• Safeguard clients and others where necessary

Lawful Basis for Processing

I process personal data under UK data protection law on the basis of:

• Steps taken prior to entering into a counselling agreement
• Performance of a counselling contract
• Legal obligations
• Legitimate interests in operating a safe counselling practice

Health-related information is treated as special category data and processed in accordance with UK GDPR and relevant professional requirements.

How Long Information Is Kept

• Contact and administrative information is kept only for as long as necessary to manage the counselling relationship. Once counselling ends and contact is no longer required, this information is securely deleted.
• Clinical notes and counselling records are retained for seven years after the end of counselling, in line with professional and insurance requirements, and then securely destroyed.

Who Information Is Shared With

I do not sell or share your personal data for marketing purposes.

However, some limited data may be processed by trusted service providers who support the operation of my practice. These include:

• Webhealer (website hosting and contact form services) – processes data submitted through the website contact form and hosts website-related data
• Webhealer (email services linked to the website domain) – provides email hosting and delivery services

These providers only process data as necessary to deliver their services and are required to handle personal data securely and in compliance with data protection law.

Information may also be shared where:

• You have given explicit consent
• I am legally required to do so
• There is a safeguarding concern involving serious risk of harm
• Disclosure is required by a court or legal authority

Security

Appropriate technical and organisational measures are used to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.

Confidentiality

All counselling information is treated as confidential.

Confidentiality may only be broken where:

• There is a serious risk of harm to you or others
• There is a legal obligation to disclose information
• Safeguarding concerns arise
• Disclosure is required by law or a court order

Where possible, I will discuss any disclosure with you first.

Automated Decision-Making

I do not make decisions about clients solely by automated means. All decisions involve professional judgement.

Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion (where applicable)
• Restrict or object to processing in certain circumstances
• Request data portability where applicable

Requests will be handled in line with legal and professional obligations.

Data Protection Concerns

If you have concerns about how your data is handled, please contact me using the details above.

I will respond in accordance with UK data protection law.

If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

https://ico.org.uk