Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 30 2026
About this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Paul Twite Counsellor and Psychotherapist, collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you enquire about, arrange or receive counselling or psychotherapy from me.
I aim to handle your information lawfully, fairly and transparently and to keep it secure.
Contact details
For the purposes of UK data protection law, Paul Twite, Counsellor and Psychotherapist, is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.
Paul Twite Therapy
Email: paul@paultwite.co.uk
Website: paultwite.co.uk
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, please contact me using the email address above.
Information I may collect
Depending on your contact with me and the nature of our work together, I may collect:
your name, contact details and address
date of birth and other information needed to identify you
emergency contact details
GP or other healthcare professional details where relevant
information about your mental or physical health, medication, treatment history and current support
information you choose to share during therapy sessions and information contained in clinical notes
appointment, attendance, cancellation and payment information
correspondence between us, such as emails or messages relating to appointments or practical matters.
Some of the information you provide, particularly information about your mental or physical health, is considered special category data under UK data protection law and receives additional protection.
How I use your information
I use your information only where it is relevant to providing and managing your therapy. This may include:
responding to enquiries and arranging appointments
providing counselling or psychotherapy and maintaining appropriate clinical records
managing payments and related administration
communicating with you about appointments and practical matters
meeting professional, legal, safeguarding or regulatory obligations
discussing appropriate aspects of your work with my clinical supervisor
Lawful basis for processing
I process your personal information where this is necessary to provide and manage your counselling or psychotherapy, to communicate with you about your therapy, and to meet my legal, professional and regulatory obligations.
Where appropriate, I rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis for processing personal information, including maintaining appropriate clinical and professional records and managing my practice's administration.
Health information is a special category of data under UK data protection law. Where I process health information in providing counselling or psychotherapy, I rely on the applicable condition for processing health data in connection with the provision of health or social care or treatment, together with the relevant lawful basis under UK data protection law.
Confidentiality and sharing information
What you share in therapy is confidential, subject to the limits of confidentiality explained in the Therapy Agreement. I will not normally share your personal information with others without your knowledge and consent.
There are circumstances where information may need to be shared without your consent, for example, where there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of another person, where safeguarding concerns arise, where disclosure is required by law, or where I need to comply with a professional or legal obligation. Wherever possible and appropriate, I would discuss this with you first.
I may discuss aspects of our work with my clinical supervisor. I take care to minimise identifying information wherever possible and share only information relevant to supervision and professional practice.
Where appropriate, and particularly where there are serious concerns about your immediate safety, I may contact your emergency contact or a relevant professional or service. Wherever possible, I would discuss this with you first.
Online therapy and information security
Online sessions are conducted using Zoom. My Zoom meetings are password-protected, and clients receive the meeting link and password in advance. Sessions are not recorded unless this has been discussed with the client and explicit consent has been given in advance.
Clinical notes are written in Microsoft Word and stored in OneDrive. The documents are password-protected, and access is restricted to me.
I take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. No electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
How long I keep your information
I retain personal and clinical information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking account of my professional, legal, insurance and record-keeping obligations.
Different types of information may therefore be retained for different periods. When information is no longer required, I will securely delete or dispose of it.
Payments
I may retain information about payments received for the purposes of financial administration and record keeping.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances and subject to applicable legal exemptions, you have rights under UK data protection law. These may include the right to:
ask for access to the personal information I hold about you
ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected
ask for information to be deleted where there is no longer a lawful reason for me to retain it
ask for processing to be restricted in certain circumstances
object to certain processing
receive or request transfer of certain personal information in a structured, commonly used format where the right to data portability applies
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal or professional requirements that allow or require me to retain information. To exercise a data protection right, please contact me at paul@paultwite.co.uk.
Withdrawing consent
Where I rely on your consent for a particular use of your information, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me first so that I can try to resolve the issue.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection. Information about making a complaint is available from the ICO at ico.org.uk.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, technology or data protection requirements.
The latest version will be published at paultwite.co.uk/privacy-policy.