Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy outlines how Fern Counselling (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, stores, and safeguards your personal information when you use our website www.fern-counselling.co.uk and related services.

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Your privacy is very important to us. We handle all information with care and in line with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical standards of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). These standards are designed to protect your confidentiality and ensure that we work with professionalism, integrity, and respect. You can find more information about the BACP Ethical Framework at www.bacp.co.uk/ethical-framework.

Identity and Contact Information: such as your name, email address, postal address, phone number, and date of birth (if provided).

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Technical Information: including your IP address, browser type, location data, and website usage details (collected through cookies or analytics tools).

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Transaction Information: details related to payments made to our business account.

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Marketing and Communication Preferences: information about how you wish to receive updates or communications from us. You can choose to opt in or out of marketing emails at any time, and we will only contact you for marketing purposes if you have given your consent.

We collect personal information when you contact us by email, through our website contact forms, via social media, or when you interact with our website (for example, through cookies and analytics tools).

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. This may include:

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Consent: when you choose to receive newsletters or marketing emails (you provide this consent yourself).

Contract: when you agree to engage Fern Counselling’s services, allowing us to process data necessary for providing counselling support, for example, keeping session notes and financial records as required.

We may use your personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and provide counselling or related support

• Send newsletters, updates, or marketing communications that you have opted in to receive

• Analyse website use to help us improve our services and user experience

• Meet our legal, ethical, and financial responsibilities

We will never share or sell your personal data to third parties.

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance website functionality, analyse traffic, and offer a better user experience. You can manage your cookie preferences via your browser or our cookie banner at the bottom of our site when you first visit.

For more information, see our separate Cookie Policy.

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

• Rectification: Ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete details.

• Erasure: Request that we delete your personal data (“the right to be forgotten”).

• Restriction: Ask us to limit how we use your data.

• Portability: Request the transfer of your data to another service provider.

• Objection: Object to the processing of your data for specific purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us by email.

If a data breach occurs, we will inform you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and take immediate steps to resolve the issue and protect your information.

Our website may include links to external third-party sites. Once you leave our site, we have no control over how those sites collect or use your data. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies before sharing any personal information.

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically, so we encourage you to review it from time to time. The most recent version will always be available on our website. By continuing to use our services after any updates, you agree to the revised terms.

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this policy, please contact:
Email: welcometo.ferncounselling@gmail.com

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If you are not satisfied with our response, you can also contact the UK regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Fern Counselling is registered with the ICO under reference number ZB881380.

More information is available at www.ico.org.uk.

Full terms and conditions of service, including details on confidentiality and its limits, are set out in our counselling agreement. This document will be sent to you before your first session for you to review. Once counselling support is agreed, the contract must be signed by both parties - Fern Counselling and you, the client.