Your privacy is important to me. I understand that the information shared when seeking or undertaking therapy can be particularly personal and sensitive, and I take my responsibility for protecting your information seriously.

This privacy notice explains what personal information I collect, why I collect it, how it is stored and protected, and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

Who is responsible for your information?

Clare Forsyth is the Data Controller for personal information collected in connection with Clare Forsyth Therapies.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

ICO registration number: ZA388612

If you have any questions about how your personal information is handled, you can contact me using the details provided on the Contact page.

What information do I collect?

When you contact me about therapy, I may collect information including your:

• name

• email address and telephone number

• address

• date of birth

• GP and other relevant healthcare details

• emergency contact details

• referral information, where applicable

• information relating to appointments and payments.

As part of our therapeutic work, you may also choose to share information about your physical and emotional health, relationships, sexual wellbeing, sexual orientation, gender identity, family circumstances, medication, previous therapy and other aspects of your personal history.

Some of this information is considered special category data under UK data protection legislation and is given additional protection.

I only collect information that is relevant to providing you with safe, appropriate and professional therapeutic support.

Why do I collect and use your information?

I use your information so that I can:

• respond to enquiries about therapy

• assess whether I am able to offer you an appropriate service

• arrange and manage appointments

• provide psychosexual, relationship and/or individual therapy

• maintain appropriate clinical records

• communicate with you about your therapy

• process and maintain records of payments

• meet my professional, ethical, safeguarding and legal responsibilities.

Under UK GDPR, I need a lawful basis for processing your personal information.

When you contact me about therapy and while we are working together, personal information may be processed because it is necessary for taking steps towards, and fulfilling, our therapeutic contract.

Because therapy can involve sensitive information relating to areas such as health, sexuality and relationships, additional protections apply to this information under UK GDPR.

After therapy has ended, I may retain appropriate records where there is a legitimate reason for doing so, including meeting professional obligations and establishing, exercising or defending potential legal claims.

Initial enquiries

If you contact me to enquire about therapy, I will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and establish whether I may be able to work with you.

Sometimes your details may be provided by another person or organisation, such as a GP, healthcare professional, Employee Assistance Programme or referral organisation.

If you decide not to proceed with therapy, your enquiry information will normally be securely deleted after six months, unless there is a legal or professional reason for retaining it for longer.

You can ask me to delete your enquiry information sooner where the law permits.

During therapy

I keep brief and appropriate records relating to our therapeutic work. I aim to record only information that is relevant and necessary for providing therapy safely and professionally.

Personal contact information is kept securely and, wherever practicable, separately from clinical notes.

Information shared during therapy is treated as confidential.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is an important part of therapy. I will not ordinarily share information about you with other people or organisations without your knowledge and consent.

There are, however, circumstances in which confidentiality may need to be limited. These may include situations where:

• I believe there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person

• there are safeguarding concerns relating to a child or vulnerable person

• disclosure is required by law or by a court

• I have another specific legal obligation to disclose information, for example in relation to certain terrorism or money-laundering offences.

Where possible and appropriate, I will discuss this with you before information is shared.

I also undertake regular clinical supervision as part of safe and ethical therapeutic practice. Aspects of my work may be discussed with my clinical supervisor, but identifying information is kept to a minimum wherever possible. My supervisor is also bound by professional confidentiality.

The limits of confidentiality will be discussed with you when we begin working together and are also set out in our therapeutic agreement.

Couples and relationship therapy

When working with couples or multi-partnered relationships, information may relate to more than one person.

I will discuss confidentiality and the handling of information with everyone involved at the beginning of therapy, including how information disclosed individually will be managed within the therapeutic relationship.

How your information is stored

I take appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.

Electronic records are password-protected and stored securely. Any paper records are stored securely and are accessible only to me.

Email communication is handled through Proton Mail. Further information about how Proton handles data can be found in the Proton Mail Privacy Policy.

Online therapy sessions are conducted using Zoom. Further information about how Zoom processes personal information can be found in Zoom's Privacy Statement.

Please be aware that no method of electronic communication can be guaranteed to be completely secure. I therefore encourage clients not to include highly sensitive clinical information in emails or text messages unless necessary.

Payments and financial information

Payments for therapy are made by bank transfer and invoices are processed using QuickBooks.

I retain the financial information necessary for accounting and tax purposes. Bank and transaction records may also be retained independently by banking and accounting service providers in accordance with their own legal and regulatory responsibilities.

My accountant may have access to information contained within financial records where this is necessary to provide accounting services. They are required to handle personal information securely and in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements.

Financial information is retained for the period required by UK tax and accounting legislation.

Website information and cookies

When you visit this website, limited technical information may be collected automatically, such as information about your browser, device and how the website is used.

This website is hosted by Squarespace, which may process limited technical information necessary to operate and secure the website.

Cookies may be used to enable the website to function and, where applicable, to understand how visitors use the site.

Where consent is required for non-essential cookies, you will be given the opportunity to accept or decline them.

Further information about the cookies used on this website and how you can manage your preferences can be found in the Cookie Policy.

Sharing your information

I do not sell your personal information.

Information will only be shared where there is an appropriate professional or legal reason to do so.

This might include, where appropriate:

• my clinical supervisor

• healthcare professionals where you have agreed that communication is appropriate

• safeguarding or statutory services where there is a serious safeguarding concern

• courts or other authorities where disclosure is legally required

• professional or legal advisers where necessary

• my accountant, where access to relevant financial information is necessary

• organisations providing services necessary for the operation of my practice.

Third-party service providers used within my practice include Proton Mail for email, Zoom for online sessions, QuickBooks for invoicing and accounting, and Squarespace for website hosting. These organisations have their own privacy and data-protection arrangements.

Where third-party services process personal information on my behalf, I take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate data-protection arrangements are in place.

How long do I keep your information?

I do not keep personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary.

Clinical records are normally retained for seven years after therapy ends, after which they are securely destroyed, unless there is a legal, safeguarding, insurance or professional reason why they need to be retained for longer.

Different retention periods may apply to financial records and other information where this is required by law.

Your rights

Under UK data-protection legislation, you have a number of rights concerning your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, these may include the right to:

• be informed about how your information is used

• request access to the personal information I hold about you

• ask for inaccurate information to be corrected

• request deletion of information in certain circumstances

• request that processing of your information is restricted

• object to certain types of processing

• request transfer of your information where applicable.

These rights are not absolute and may sometimes be limited by legal, professional or safeguarding obligations.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact me.

Accessing your therapy records

You have the right to make a Subject Access Request for personal information I hold about you.

I will normally respond to a request without undue delay and within one month, in accordance with data-protection legislation.

Where records contain information relating to another person, it may sometimes be necessary to redact or withhold parts of the information in order to protect that person's privacy or comply with legal obligations.

Concerns or complaints about your information

If you have any concerns about the way I have handled your personal information, please contact me in the first instance and I will do my best to resolve the matter.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator responsible for data protection.

Information about your rights and how to make a complaint is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to this privacy notice

I may update this privacy notice from time to time to reflect changes to my practice, professional guidance or data-protection legislation.

The most recent version will always be available on this website.

Last updated: September 2026