Privacy & Confidentiality
Me In Time Counselling & Psychotherapy
Your privacy matters.
Counselling involves sharing personal experiences, often about things that are difficult to discuss elsewhere. I understand the importance of knowing that what you share will be treated with care, respect and confidentiality.
This policy explains what personal information I collect, why I need it, how I protect it and the circumstances in which information might need to be shared. It also explains your rights under UK data protection law.
I aim to be open about how I work. If anything in this policy is unclear, you're welcome to ask me about it before we begin counselling or at any point during our work together.
Stuart Walker, BSc (Hons), Dip.Couns, MBACP
Me In Time Counselling & Psychotherapy
Manchester, UK
Who is responsible for your information?
I am Stuart Walker, a self-employed counsellor and psychotherapist trading as Me In Time Counselling & Psychotherapy.
I am responsible for deciding how and why personal information is collected, used and stored in my private practice. In data protection terms, this makes me the data controller.
You can contact me about your personal information at stuart@meintime.co.uk.
What information do I collect?
When you contact Me In Time or begin counselling, I may collect your name, contact details, information needed to arrange appointments and relevant background information you choose to share.
During counselling, I keep brief clinical notes to help me work safely, ethically and consistently. These may include themes we discuss, relevant concerns, decisions and matters relating to your wellbeing.
I may also hold our counselling agreement, appointment correspondence, payment information and emergency contact details where appropriate.
I aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for providing and managing my professional services.
Why I use your personal information
I use personal information to respond to enquiries, arrange appointments, provide counselling and psychotherapy, maintain appropriate records, manage payments and meet my professional and legal responsibilities.
Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases I use, depending on the purpose, are:
Contract: where processing is necessary to arrange and provide counselling and psychotherapy, including managing appointments and our counselling agreement.
Legitimate interests: where necessary to maintain appropriate practice records, manage professional responsibilities or protect the interests of clients and my practice, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Legal obligation: where I am required by law to use, retain or disclose particular information.
Counselling can involve information about your physical or psychological health. This is known as special category data and receives additional protection under data protection law.
Where necessary for the provision of counselling and psychotherapy, I rely on Article 9(2)(h) of UK GDPR, read alongside Schedule 1, paragraph 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018, concerning the provision of health care or treatment and the applicable duty of confidentiality.
I only collect and retain sensitive information that is relevant and proportionate to the counselling I provide.
I do not sell client information or use confidential counselling information for advertising.
How I store and protect your information
Clinical notes are stored electronically using Google Docs within my Google account, which is protected by a password and 2-Step Verification.
I use reference codes rather than clients' names in my clinical notes and do not maintain a separate list linking those codes to individual clients.
Although this reduces the amount of identifying information recorded, the notes are not necessarily anonymous. I therefore treat them as confidential personal information and protect them accordingly.
Client contact details and correspondence are held separately through my professional Me In Time email account and associated communication services.
Online counselling sessions take place through Microsoft Teams. I do not routinely record sessions, use automated transcription or generate AI summaries of our conversations.
I restrict access to my accounts and devices and take reasonable steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss or disclosure.
No digital system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but I review my working practices and take appropriate precautions to protect the information entrusted to me.
Confidentiality
What you share during counselling is treated as confidential.
There are circumstances in which information may need to be shared, including where disclosure is required by law or where there are serious concerns about someone's safety.
I consider these situations carefully, taking account of my legal responsibilities, the BACP Ethical Framework and the circumstances involved.
Where appropriate and safe, I will discuss a proposed disclosure with you beforehand. If information needs to be shared, I aim to disclose only what is necessary and proportionate.
I also discuss my clinical work in professional supervision. I avoid using identifying details wherever possible, and confidentiality is expected within that professional relationship.
How long I keep your information
I normally retain adult clients' clinical records for seven years after counselling ends. This period reflects my professional record-keeping responsibilities and the need to maintain appropriate records in the event of a complaint, insurance claim or legal matter.
These notes are stored using reference codes rather than clients' names and remain subject to appropriate confidentiality and security measures throughout the retention period.
Routine appointment correspondence and contact details are normally deleted when counselling ends, unless there is a specific reason to retain them.
Certain information, including significant communications, counselling agreements or records relating to safeguarding, complaints, insurance or legal matters, may need to be retained for an appropriate period, depending on the circumstances.
I review what information needs to be kept and do not retain personal information longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is held.
When the relevant retention period has ended, records are securely deleted.
How I use and share information
I use personal information for purposes connected with providing counselling, administering my practice and meeting relevant professional or legal responsibilities.
The digital service providers I use may process or store information on my behalf. These include Google for clinical notes and Microsoft for online counselling sessions and associated services.
Where these services involve transfers of personal information outside the UK, I take account of the applicable data protection requirements and safeguards.
I do not share identifiable client information for marketing purposes.
Information may be shared with other professionals or organisations where you have agreed to this, where disclosure is required or permitted by law, or where a serious safeguarding concern makes disclosure necessary and proportionate.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights concerning the personal information I hold about you.
Depending on the circumstances, these may include the right to:
Request access to your personal information.
Ask for inaccurate information to be corrected.
Request deletion of information where the law permits.
Ask for certain uses of your information to be restricted.
Object to certain types of processing.
Receive certain information in a portable format where applicable.
You also have the right to be informed about how your personal information is used.
These rights are not absolute. For example, some information may need to be retained where there is a valid legal basis for doing so.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact me at stuart@meintime.co.uk.
I will respond in accordance with the timescales and requirements of UK data protection law.
Concerns about your privacy
If you have a question or concern about how I handle your personal information, please contact me at stuart@meintime.co.uk.
I will take your concern seriously and aim to respond promptly.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent data protection regulator.
ICO website: https://ico.org.uk
Changes to this policy
I review this policy periodically and update it when my working practices, legal responsibilities or professional guidance change.
Last reviewed: 6 November 2026