Privacy Policy
I take your privacy seriously and aim to collect and keep only the information I need to provide counselling safely and professionally.
Who I am.
I am Joshua Bright, trading as Joshua Bright Counselling & Psychotherapy. I am the data controller for the personal information I hold about clients and people who contact me about counselling.
You can contact me at counselling@joshuabright.com.
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZC232604.
What information I collect.
When you contact me or begin counselling, I may collect information such as your:
- name and contact details
- GP details
- emergency contact’s name and telephone number
- counselling agreement and intake information
- relevant health and personal information
- appointment and payment information
- information you choose to share during our work
I keep a brief session log using a client code, recording session dates and attendance together with a few words where helpful as a memory prompt. I may also make brief handwritten working or reflective notes, which use a client code rather than your name. I do not routinely keep detailed clinical session notes.
If you provide an emergency contact, please make sure that person is happy for you to give me their name and telephone number.
Why I use your information.
I use your information to respond to enquiries, arrange and provide counselling, communicate with you about appointments, maintain appropriate records, receive payment, and meet my professional, legal and insurance responsibilities.
When you contact me about counselling or are having counselling with me, I process your personal information where this is necessary to take steps towards, or provide, the counselling service we have agreed.
Counselling may involve particularly sensitive information, such as information about your health and wellbeing. This is known as special category information. I process this information with your explicit consent while providing counselling.
You can withdraw this consent at any time by contacting me. As processing this kind of information is an integral part of counselling, withdrawing consent may mean that I am unable to continue providing counselling to you.
After counselling has ended, I retain necessary records on the basis of my legitimate interests in maintaining appropriate professional records and responding to any future legal or professional matters. Where those records contain special category information, it may be retained where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
I may also process or retain information where necessary to meet a legal obligation.
How your information is kept.
Client records are kept securely in encrypted digital storage. Any paper documents that need to form part of your client record are transferred to the secure digital record and the paper copy is then securely destroyed.
Handwritten working or reflective notes are identified by client code rather than name and are stored securely in locked storage.
Email is provided through Microsoft 365, and online counselling takes place through Microsoft Teams. Teams sessions are not recorded.
I may use text messages for basic practical communication, and sessions may occasionally take place by telephone.
My website does not use analytics. If you use the website contact form, your message is sent directly to counselling@joshuabright.com and is not stored on the website.
Confidentiality and sharing information
What you tell me in counselling is confidential, and I do not routinely share your personal information with other people or organisations.
There may be exceptional circumstances in which information needs to be shared, for example where there is a serious safeguarding or safety concern, where disclosure is required by law, or where information is necessary in connection with a legal or professional claim. Where possible and appropriate, I would discuss this with you first.
I receive professional clinical supervision. Client material discussed in supervision is kept anonymous as far as possible and clients are referred to by a code rather than by name.
Some organisations providing services to my practice, such as Microsoft, may process information on my behalf. Where information is processed outside the UK, I use services that provide appropriate safeguards for personal information.
How long I keep information.
If you make an enquiry but do not become a client, I normally delete your enquiry information within three months of our last contact.
Client records, including any coded handwritten notes, are normally kept for seven years after our counselling work ends. If you return for further counselling, this period runs from the end of the most recent period of counselling.
Emails and text messages are routinely deleted when they are no longer needed. Relevant information may be retained as part of the client record where necessary.
Financial records are retained as required for tax and accounting purposes.
At the end of the relevant retention period, information is securely deleted or destroyed unless there is a specific reason why it needs to be retained for longer.
Your rights.
You have rights in relation to your personal information, including the right to ask for a copy of information I hold about you and to ask for inaccurate information to be corrected.
In some circumstances, you may also ask for information to be deleted, restrict how it is used, or object to its use. Some of these rights depend on the circumstances and the reason the information is being held.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact me at counselling@joshuabright.com.
Questions or concerns.
If you have any questions or concerns about how I use your personal information, please contact me at counselling@joshuabright.com.
You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Last updated: September 2026