Privacy notice

Who I am

True North Counselling is a private counselling practice run by Shaun Carrigan, Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (membership number 00993784), practising at Bourne House, 57 Milbourne Street, Carlisle CA2 5XF. I am the data controller for the information described here. You can reach me at [email protected].

What I collect

When you enquire: your name, email address, phone number if you give it, and whatever you choose to write in your message.
If we begin working together: contact details, your GP’s details, an emergency contact, and brief written notes about our sessions.
This website sets no cookies and does not track or profile visitors. It counts visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies or identify you.

Why I hold it, and my lawful basis

Enquiries are handled on the basis of your consent, so that I can reply to you. Once counselling begins, I hold contact details to administer our work together under our contract, and session notes because they are necessary for providing care. Notes about your health count as special category data under UK GDPR, and I rely on Article 9(2)(h), the provision of health and social care, together with the confidentiality obligations in the BACP Ethical Framework.

Confidentiality, and its limits

What you tell me stays between us. There are a small number of exceptions, and I would always try to discuss them with you first:

Where there is a serious and immediate risk to your life or someone else’s.
Where a child or an adult at risk may be being harmed.
Where the law requires disclosure, for example a court order or certain terrorism and money laundering legislation.

Like all BACP registered counsellors, I take my work to clinical supervision. My supervisor is bound by the same confidentiality, and I discuss my work in a way that does not identify you.

How long I keep it

Enquiries that do not lead to counselling are deleted within six months. Session notes and contact records are kept for seven years after our final session, in line with professional and insurance requirements, and then securely destroyed.

I do not sell your information or share it for marketing. A small number of providers process data on my behalf under contract: my website host (Cloudflare), the service that delivers this contact form to my inbox (Web3Forms), hCaptcha (which checks that an enquiry comes from a person rather than an automated spam bot, and only loads once you start filling in the form), my email provider, and my accountant for invoicing records. My professional indemnity insurer would be told only if a claim arose. Some of these providers are based in, or may process data in, the United States. Where that happens, I rely on the safeguards they provide under UK data protection law, such as the UK–US Data Bridge or approved contract terms.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information I hold about you, ask me to correct it, ask me to delete it where I have no continuing reason to keep it, object to how I use it, or withdraw consent where consent is the basis I’ve relied on. Contact me and I’ll respond within one month.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your information, please tell me first so I can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint (opens in a new tab) or on 0303 123 1113. Concerns about my practice as a counsellor can be raised with the BACP.