Privacy Notice

Your privacy is important to me.

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This Privacy Notice explains what personal information I collect, why I collect it, how it is used and stored, how long it is kept, and your rights in relation to your information.

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Marc B Counselling is committed to handling personal information responsibly and in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and relevant professional and ethical responsibilities.

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Who Is Responsible for Your Information?

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Marc Buchanan MBACP, trading as Marc B Counselling, is the Data Controller responsible for your personal information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how your information is handled, please contact me using the details below:

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Email: marcbcounselling@gmail.com
Telephone: 07871 526 826
Practice address: 35 Church Street, Magherafelt, BT45 6AP

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What Information Do I Collect?

 

To provide counselling safely and effectively, I may collect information that is relevant to our work together.

This may include:

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Personal Information

• Name

• Address

• Date of birth

• Telephone number

• Email address

• GP details

• Emergency contact details

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Counselling Information

• Information you choose to share during counselling

• Information provided through your Client Information and Assessment Form

• Brief factual session notes

• Appointment history

• Correspondence relating to appointments or counselling

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I only collect information that is relevant to providing counselling, maintaining appropriate professional records and meeting my legal, ethical and professional responsibilities.

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Why Do I Collect Your Information?

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Your information may be used to:

• Provide counselling safely and effectively

• Respond to enquiries and arrange appointments

• Communicate with you about appointments or counselling

• Maintain appropriate clinical and professional records

• Support safe, ethical and effective counselling practice

• Meet professional, legal and regulatory responsibilities

• Respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns or serious risks where necessary

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Your information will not be used for marketing purposes without your knowledge and consent.

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Lawful Basis for Processing Your Information

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Under the UK GDPR, I am required to have a lawful basis for collecting and using personal information.

I process personal information where this is necessary to provide and manage the counselling service you have requested, maintain appropriate professional records, and meet my legal, ethical and professional responsibilities.

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Information relating to your physical or mental health and wellbeing may be considered special-category personal data. This information is given additional protection under UK data protection law and is processed in accordance with the relevant legal requirements for providing counselling and maintaining safe, ethical professional practice.

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Confidentiality

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Everything you share during counselling is treated as confidential.

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There may be occasions when I have a legal or ethical duty to share information without your consent. These may include situations where:

• There is a serious risk of harm to you or another person

• There are safeguarding concerns involving a child or an adult at risk

• Disclosure is required by law or a court order

• Disclosure is necessary in relation to certain serious criminal offences

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Wherever possible, I will discuss this with you before sharing information, unless doing so would increase the level of risk or I am legally prohibited from doing so.

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Further information about confidentiality and its limits is provided in the Counselling Agreement.

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Clinical Supervision

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As a BACP Registered Counsellor, I attend regular clinical supervision.

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I may discuss aspects of my counselling work with a qualified clinical supervisor to support safe, ethical and effective practice.

Wherever possible, information is anonymised or limited to what is necessary. Supervisors are also professionally and ethically bound by confidentiality.

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How Is Your Information Stored?

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Your personal information is stored securely and access is limited to information that is necessary for the provision and management of counselling.

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Paper records, if used, are kept securely in a locked filing cabinet.

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Electronic records are stored on password-protected devices and systems with appropriate security measures in place to help protect information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

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I take reasonable steps to keep personal information secure and confidential.

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Website and Service Providers

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I use carefully selected service providers to support the operation of Marc B Counselling. These may include providers of website hosting, website contact forms, email, online counselling, appointment management, payment processing and secure data storage.

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Where necessary, these providers may process personal information in order to provide their services. I take reasonable steps to use providers that have appropriate security and data-protection measures in place.

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Where personal information is transferred or processed outside the United Kingdom, appropriate safeguards will be used where required under UK data protection law.

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How Long Is Information Kept?

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Counselling records are normally retained for seven years following the end of counselling.

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This retention period has been chosen with reference to professional guidance, ethical responsibilities and insurance requirements.

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After this period, records will be securely destroyed unless there is a legal or other legitimate reason to retain them for longer.

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Will My Information Be Shared?

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Your personal information will not normally be shared without your knowledge or consent.

Information may be shared where necessary in relation to:

• Safeguarding responsibilities

• Legal obligations

• A court order

• Professional clinical supervision, using anonymised or limited information wherever possible

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If I believe it may be helpful to communicate with your GP or another healthcare professional, I will normally discuss this with you first and seek your consent, unless there is a legal or safeguarding reason that makes this inappropriate or unnecessary.

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Your Rights

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

• Be informed about how your information is used

• Request access to the personal information I hold about you

• Request that inaccurate or incomplete information is corrected

• Request that processing is restricted in certain circumstances

• Object to certain uses of your information

• Request erasure of your information where this is legally applicable

• Request the transfer of certain information in some circumstances

• Make a complaint if you believe your information has not been handled appropriately

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Some of these rights are subject to legal, ethical and professional limitations.

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Accessing Your Information

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You may request access to the personal information I hold about you.

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Requests should normally be made in writing. I will respond within the timescales required by UK data protection law, which is normally within one month.

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In some circumstances, access may be limited where there is a legal, ethical or professional reason for doing so.

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Website, Email and Text Messages

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If you contact me by telephone, email, text message or through my website, the information you provide will be used to respond to your enquiry, arrange or manage appointments, or provide counselling.

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If you use the contact form on this website, please provide only the information necessary for me to respond to your enquiry.

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Email and text messages are not completely secure methods of communication. I recommend avoiding the inclusion of highly sensitive personal information in emails or text messages where possible.

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Complaints

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If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is handled, I encourage you to contact me first so that I have an opportunity to understand and address your concern.

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If we are unable to resolve the matter, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority for data protection.

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Information Commissioner’s Office

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Website: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

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Changes to This Privacy Notice

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This Privacy Notice may be reviewed and updated from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, professional guidance or the way personal information is processed.

The most recent version will be available on the Marc B Counselling website and may also be provided on request.

Privacy Notice Version: 1.0
Last updated: July 2026