Privacy Notice

Last updated: September 2026

Who I am

I am Maya Anderson, an accredited psychotherapist and supervisor providing counselling, psychotherapy, EMDR, couples counselling and supervision online.

I am accredited by UKCP and UPCA, registered with BACP and EMDR Association UK, and a supervisor with BAPPS.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller.

This Privacy Notice explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you contact me, use my website, or receive therapy or supervision from me.

What personal information I collect

Depending on the nature of our contact or work together, I may collect:

your name and contact details;
information you provide when you contact me or request an appointment;
information relating to your therapy, counselling or supervision;
information concerning your physical or mental health;
information about your personal circumstances and history where relevant to our work;
appointment and attendance information;
correspondence between us;
payment and invoicing information;
information necessary for safeguarding;
information required to meet my professional, legal, regulatory and insurance obligations.
I only collect and use information that is relevant and necessary for the purposes described in this notice.

How I use your information

I use your personal information to:

respond to enquiries;
arrange and provide therapy, counselling, EMDR, couples counselling or supervision;
communicate with you about appointments;
maintain appropriate professional records;
process payments and manage accounts;
communicate with you about my services;
obtain professional supervision and advice where necessary;
manage safeguarding concerns where appropriate;
comply with legal, professional and regulatory obligations;
deal with complaints or concerns;
establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

Health and sensitive information

Therapy and supervision may involve information concerning your physical or mental health and other sensitive personal information.

Information concerning a person's physical or mental health is treated as special category personal data under UK data-protection law and receives additional protection.

I process such information only where I have an appropriate lawful basis and an applicable condition for processing special category data under UK data-protection law.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality and privacy are fundamental to my therapeutic and supervisory work.

Information you share with me will normally remain confidential. However, confidentiality is not absolute.

There are circumstances in which information may need to be shared, including:

where there is a serious and foreseeable risk of significant harm to you or another person;
where safeguarding concerns arise;
where disclosure is required or authorised by law;
where disclosure is necessary to obtain professional, legal or insurance advice;
where information needs to be discussed within professional supervision;
where you have given appropriate consent for information to be shared;
where there is another legally and ethically recognised justification for disclosure.

Where possible and appropriate, I will discuss any proposed disclosure with you beforehand.

Supervision

I undertake professional supervision as part of my practice.

Where aspects of my work with you are discussed in supervision, I take appropriate steps to protect your confidentiality. Wherever practicable, information is anonymised so that you cannot reasonably be identified.

My supervisor is part of the professional circle of confidentiality for the purposes of supervision.

Who may have access to your information

Depending on the circumstances, your information may be accessed by:

me;
my professional supervisor;
relevant professional, legal or insurance advisers where necessary;
service providers who process information on my behalf;
professional or regulatory organisations where disclosure is required or appropriately authorised;
public authorities or other third parties where disclosure is required or authorised by law.

I take reasonable steps to ensure that anyone who receives personally identifiable information is subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

Online therapy

Therapy and supervision services are provided online.

I use Zoom to provide online sessions.

Online communication involves some risks to privacy and security. I take reasonable measures to protect the confidentiality and security of online sessions and communications.

You are responsible for taking reasonable steps to ensure that you are in a private and appropriate environment when attending an online session.

Sessions are not recorded.

Emails and other communications

I may communicate with you by email, telephone and other electronic means for purposes connected with your therapy, supervision or administration.

Electronic communications carry some inherent security risks. I take reasonable steps to protect your information but cannot guarantee the absolute security of electronic communications.

Artificial intelligence and digital technology

I recognise that the use of artificial intelligence and other digital technologies in therapeutic practice raises important issues concerning confidentiality, privacy, security and informed consent.

I do not use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe, analyse or summarise therapy or supervision sessions, and I do not enter identifiable client information into AI systems.

If this changes, I will review the privacy, security, confidentiality and ethical implications before introducing such technology and will provide appropriate information and obtain consent where required.

How long I keep your information

I retain appropriate professional records for as long as necessary for the purposes for which they were collected and in accordance with my professional, legal, regulatory and insurance obligations.

My current record-retention period is seven years.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or destroyed.

How I protect your information

I take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

International clients and international data transfers

I provide online services and may work with clients who are physically located outside the UK.

If you are located outside the UK, additional legal and professional requirements may apply to the provision of therapy in your country or jurisdiction. These requirements may include data-protection, professional-registration, insurance and other legal requirements.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, I will ensure that any transfer is made in accordance with applicable UK data-protection law and that appropriate safeguards are used where required.

Your rights

Under UK data-protection law, you may have rights including:

the right to be informed about how your personal information is used;
the right to request access to your personal information;
the right to request correction of inaccurate information;
the right to request erasure in certain circumstances;
the right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
the right to object to certain processing;
the right to data portability in certain circumstances.

If you wish to exercise any of your data-protection rights, please contact me at:

maya@counselling-therapy.com

Website enquiries

If you contact me through this website, I will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and, where appropriate, to arrange an initial consultation or appointment.

Please avoid including detailed or highly sensitive information about your mental health or personal circumstances in an initial website enquiry. A brief description of your enquiry is sufficient.

Cookies and website information

This website may use cookies and similar technologies to enable the website to function and, where applicable, to understand how visitors use the website.

Complaints about personal information

If you have concerns about the way I have handled your personal information, please contact me first so that I can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Information about making a complaint to the ICO is available online.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, technology, professional requirements or data-protection law.

The latest version will be available on this website.

Last updated: September 2026