Privacy Policy
Therapy Cornwall
Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy
Last updated: 16 August 2026
Your privacy matters
Counselling involves sharing things that can be deeply personal. I want you to feel able to talk openly and to know that the information you share is treated with care, respect and confidentiality.
This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you visit the Therapy Cornwall website, contact me, make an enquiry, arrange an appointment or receive counselling from me.
Protecting your privacy is not simply a legal requirement. It is an important part of creating the safe, respectful and person-centred therapeutic relationship that underpins my work.
I am committed to handling your information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, applicable privacy and electronic communications legislation, and the ethical standards of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
1. Who I am
Therapy Cornwall is the private counselling practice of Richard MacBlain, trading as Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy.
I am the data controller for personal information processed in connection with my counselling practice.
Data controller: Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy
Practice: Therapy Cornwall
Email: hello@therapycornwall.com
Website: www.therapycornwall.com
ICO registration: Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy [ZC194405]
If you have any questions about how your personal information is handled, you can contact me using the details above.
2. What information I collect
The information I collect depends on how you interact with Therapy Cornwall and whether you become a counselling client.
Website visitors
When you visit this website, some technical information may be collected automatically by the website and the services used to operate it. This may include information such as your device, browser, approximate location, pages visited and information about how you use the website.
Where Google Analytics is used, analytics information will only be collected where the necessary consent has been provided.
Website enquiries
If you contact me using the website contact form, I may collect:
Your name
Your email address
Your telephone number, if you provide it
The content of your enquiry
Information about your availability or preferred method of contact
Please avoid including detailed information about your mental health or personal circumstances in the website contact form unless it is necessary.
The contact form is intended primarily for making an initial enquiry and arranging contact.
Counselling clients
If you become a client, I may need to collect information such as:
Your name and contact details
Your age or date of birth where relevant
Emergency contact information where appropriate
Appointment and attendance information
Information contained within our counselling agreement
Information you choose to share during counselling
Information concerning your physical or mental health where relevant to the therapeutic work
Information relating to risk or safeguarding where relevant
Administrative and payment information
Some of the information shared during counselling may constitute special category personal data, including information concerning physical or mental health. This information receives additional protection under UK data protection law.
I aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for the counselling service I provide.
3. Information shared during counselling
Counselling is a confidential space.
I respect your privacy and will protect the information you share with me in accordance with my professional, ethical and legal responsibilities.
I do not routinely share what you discuss in counselling with family members, friends, employers, schools, GPs or other professionals without your knowledge and, where appropriate, your consent.
There are, however, circumstances in which confidentiality may have limits.
These may include situations where:
I believe there is a serious and foreseeable risk of significant harm to you or another person;
there are safeguarding concerns involving a child or young person or another person who may be at risk;
I am required to disclose information by law, a court or another lawful authority;
disclosure is legally or ethically justified in order to protect someone from serious harm; or
you have given permission for information to be shared.
Where possible, I will discuss any proposed disclosure with you beforehand.
There may nevertheless be circumstances where it is not appropriate or legally possible to tell you in advance.
These limits to confidentiality will be explained and discussed as part of beginning therapy so that you understand the basis on which we will work together.
This reflects BACP's requirement that clients are informed in advance about reasonably foreseeable limitations to confidentiality, including supervision, safeguarding, serious harm and legally required disclosures.
4. Supervision
I undertake regular professional supervision as part of my ethical and professional practice.
Supervision allows me to reflect on my work, consider my practice carefully and ensure that I am providing an appropriate and safe service.
I may discuss aspects of my therapeutic work with my supervisor. I take care to protect your identity and confidentiality and will avoid sharing information that unnecessarily identifies you.
Where identifiable information does need to be discussed, this will be handled in accordance with my professional, ethical and legal responsibilities.
BACP recognises appropriate supervision as part of ethical counselling practice while requiring practitioners to protect client confidentiality.
5. How I use your information
I may use your personal information to:
Respond to enquiries
Arrange and manage appointments
Provide counselling
Communicate with you about your counselling and appointments
Maintain appropriate professional records
Manage payments and accounting
Maintain appropriate safeguarding arrangements
Meet my legal and professional responsibilities
Deal with complaints or concerns
Respond to legitimate requests concerning your personal information
Protect the security of my practice and information systems
I will only use your information for purposes that are lawful and compatible with the reason it was collected.
I will not sell your personal information.
I will not use information you share in counselling for advertising or marketing purposes.
6. Lawful bases for processing your information
UK data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.
The appropriate lawful basis depends on what information I am processing and why.
Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on:
Contract
Where processing is necessary to arrange and provide the counselling service you have requested.
Legitimate interests
Where processing is necessary for the proper administration, security and operation of my counselling practice, provided that your rights and interests are not overridden.
Legal obligation
Where I am required to process or retain information in order to comply with a legal obligation.
Vital interests
In exceptional circumstances where processing is necessary to protect someone's life or prevent serious harm.
Consent
Where consent is the appropriate lawful basis for a particular use of information.
Where I process special category information, such as information concerning mental or physical health, an additional Article 9 condition will also apply. UK data protection law requires both an Article 6 lawful basis and an appropriate Article 9 condition for special category data.
7. Keeping information to a minimum
I believe that counselling does not require the collection of unnecessary personal information.
I therefore aim to collect and retain information that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the service I provide.
This is both a data protection principle and consistent with UK legislation and BACP's requirements concerning appropriate professional record keeping.
8. Counselling records
I keep appropriate professional records relating to my counselling work.
These may include:
Appointment and attendance information
Relevant administrative information
Appropriate professional notes
Information necessary to support safe and effective therapeutic practice
Information relating to risk or safeguarding where relevant
Relevant communications concerning the therapeutic work
I do not aim to create a detailed record of everything discussed during a counselling session.
My records are intended to support safe, ethical and appropriate professional practice rather than to document a client's personal life unnecessarily.
BACP requires records to be factual, adequate and relevant for the service provided, and to comply with applicable data protection requirements.
9. How I store and protect your information
I take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.
Digital information
Digital records are stored using encrypted digital systems and protected by appropriate account security, including two-factor authentication (2FA).
Access to records is restricted to me, except where information needs to be shared appropriately and lawfully, such as within professional supervision or in circumstances described in this policy.
Paper information
Where paper records are necessary, they are stored securely so that they are not accessible to people who are not authorised to see them.
I regularly review the security of the systems and arrangements used to store personal information.
The sensitivity of counselling information means that appropriate security measures are particularly important. The ICO specifically highlights the need to consider enhanced security measures where special category information is involved.
10. Email, telephone and electronic communication
I may use email, telephone or text message to communicate with you about appointments and your counselling.
Electronic communication is useful but cannot be guaranteed to be completely risk-free.
For this reason, I offer for you not to send detailed or highly sensitive therapeutic information by ordinary email or text message.
Where possible, we can agree the most appropriate way for us to communicate.
11. Website contact forms
The Therapy Cornwall website uses a contact form to allow prospective and existing clients to contact me.
Information submitted through the form may include your name, email address, telephone number and the content of your message.
The website is operated using Framer. Framer provides native forms that can collect submissions and includes built-in spam protection and rate limiting.
Information submitted through the website will be treated as confidential and used for the purpose for which it was provided.
Please do not use the website contact form to send detailed information about a mental health crisis or an immediate risk of harm. The contact form is not monitored as an emergency service.
12. Online appointment booking
I use Google Calendar / Google Appointment Schedules to manage appointment availability and allow clients to book counselling sessions online.
The booking system may process information such as:
Name
Email address
Appointment date and time
Booking, cancellation and rescheduling information
Google may process this information as part of providing its calendar and appointment-booking services, subject to Google's own privacy terms.
I will not ask you to provide detailed information about your mental health or personal circumstances through the appointment-booking system.
The purpose of the booking system is to arrange appointments, not to collect therapeutic information.
13. Payments
At present, payment for counselling sessions is made by bank transfer.
I may retain appropriate payment information, such as the date and amount of a payment and information necessary to reconcile payments with appointments.
Banking and payment information is handled securely and is not used for purposes unrelated to the administration of the counselling service, accounting or legal obligations.
If I introduce another payment provider in the future, this Privacy Policy will be updated where appropriate.
14. Website analytics
I intend to use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the Therapy Cornwall website.
Analytics can help me understand things such as:
Which pages visitors find useful
How people navigate the website
Whether the website is functioning effectively
How visitors arrive at the website
Google Analytics is not necessary for the website to function.
Where consent is required, Google Analytics will therefore be configured so that non-essential analytics cookies or similar tracking technologies are not activated until the visitor has given the appropriate consent.
Framer confirms that its own built-in analytics do not use cookies or persistent identifiers, but that a website using third-party services such as Google Analytics needs an appropriate consent mechanism for those services.
15. Cookies
Cookies are small files or similar technologies that can be stored on your device when you visit a website.
Some cookies are necessary for a website to function. Others may be used for purposes such as analytics.
Therapy Cornwall will aim to use as few non-essential cookies as reasonably possible.
Where non-essential cookies or tracking technologies require consent, you will be given an appropriate choice before they are activated.
You will be able to reject non-essential analytics cookies without preventing you from using the website.
The use of non-essential cookies and similar technologies will be explained through the website's cookie information and consent mechanism.
The ICO requires website visitors to be informed about cookies and, where cookies are not strictly necessary, their agreement is generally required before they are used.
16. Third-party services
I use a small number of trusted third-party services to operate Therapy Cornwall.
These currently include or may include:
Framer – website hosting and website forms
Google – email, calendar and appointment booking
Google Analytics – website analytics, where consent has been provided
Other essential technology or professional service providers where reasonably necessary to operate the practice
Where a third party processes personal information on my behalf, I will take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate data protection and confidentiality arrangements are in place.
Some third parties may act as independent data controllers and will have their own privacy policies.
I do not use third-party services simply for the purpose of collecting unnecessary information about clients.
17. International data transfers
Some of the technology providers used by Therapy Cornwall may process information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, I will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable UK data protection law.
18. How long I keep your information
I do not keep personal information indefinitely.
Counselling and administrative records will be retained for as long as is reasonably necessary, taking into account:
Applicable legal requirements
My professional and ethical responsibilities
BACP guidance
Safeguarding considerations
Accounting and tax requirements
The potential need to respond to a complaint, legal claim or other legitimate matter
I will review the information I hold and securely delete or destroy information when it is no longer necessary to retain it.
I will follow applicable BACP guidance and legal requirements concerning the retention and disposal of counselling records.
19. Who I may share information with
I do not routinely share your personal information with other people or organisations.
Information may be shared where it is necessary and lawful, including with:
My professional supervisor, subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements
Another professional where you have given permission and sharing is appropriate
Emergency or safeguarding services where necessary to protect someone from serious harm
Legal or regulatory authorities where I am legally required or authorised to disclose information
Professional advisers where appropriate
Technology providers who process information on my behalf, such as website, email, calendar or analytics providers
Where information is shared, I will aim to share only the information that is necessary and proportionate for the particular purpose.
BACP requires practitioners to identify the people within the circle of confidentiality and to ensure that recipients of identifiable information are appropriately bound by confidentiality and legal requirements.
20. Children and young people
I provide counselling to young people aged 13–18 as well as adults.
Young people have important rights to privacy and confidentiality.
When working with a young person, I will consider their age, understanding, capacity, wishes and circumstances alongside safeguarding responsibilities and the legal rights and responsibilities of parents or carers.
The specific arrangements for confidentiality will be explained and agreed as part of beginning the therapeutic relationship.
A parent or carer does not automatically have an unrestricted right to know what a young person discusses during counselling.
Where appropriate, I will work collaboratively with the young person and their parent or carer about practical arrangements while protecting the young person's privacy and therapeutic relationship.
Where safeguarding concerns arise, confidentiality may need to be limited in accordance with the principles described elsewhere in this policy.
BACP recognises the particular importance of confidentiality and privacy when working with children and young people.
21. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights concerning your personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, these may include the right to:
Ask what personal information I hold about you
Request access to your personal information
Ask me to correct inaccurate information
Ask me to erase information in certain circumstances
Ask me to restrict processing in certain circumstances
Object to certain types of processing
Request transfer of certain information to another organisation
Withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis for processing
These rights are not absolute and there may be circumstances in which legal, professional or other legitimate considerations affect how a request can be fulfilled.
This can be particularly relevant to counselling records and information concerning other people.
22. Access to counselling records
You have rights under data protection law to request access to personal information held about you.
If you would like to make a request, please contact me using the details at the end of this policy.
I will deal with requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Where counselling records contain information about another person, or where another legal exemption applies, information may need to be withheld or redacted.
23. Making a request or raising a concern
If you have a question about your personal information, would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, or are concerned about how your information has been handled, I encourage you to contact me first.
I will listen to your concern and seek to resolve it appropriately.
You can contact me at:
Email: [INSERT THERAPY EMAIL ADDRESS]
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe that your personal information has been handled unlawfully.
The ICO's website provides information about your rights and how to make a complaint:
Information Commissioner's Office
24. Confidentiality, privacy and the therapeutic relationship
Confidentiality is an important part of counselling.
For therapy to be meaningful, I believe you need to have confidence that you can speak honestly and openly without being judged.
I therefore take the privacy of clients seriously.
At the same time, confidentiality cannot always be absolute. I will be transparent about the foreseeable limits to confidentiality and will discuss these with you as part of establishing how we will work together.
This reflects both the person-centred values of my practice and my professional responsibilities as a counsellor.
BACP describes confidentiality as fundamental to a trusting therapeutic relationship and requires practitioners to actively protect client information from unauthorised access or disclosure.
25. Changes to this Privacy Policy
I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect:
Changes in my counselling practice
Changes to the technology or services I use
Changes in legislation
Changes in BACP guidance
Changes in how personal information is processed
The most recent version will be published on the Therapy Cornwall website and the date of the latest update will be shown at the beginning of the policy.
26. Contact
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact:
Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy
Therapy Cornwall
Email: hello@therapycornwall.com
ICO registration: Richard MacBlain Counselling & Psychotherapy [ZC194405]
My commitment to you
I recognise that the information you share with a counsellor can be some of the most personal information you ever share with another person.
I will treat that information with care, respect and integrity.
Protecting your privacy is not simply something I do because the law requires it. It is part of the trust that makes counselling possible.
Richard MacBlain
Therapy Cornwall