Privacy Policy

Velaris Counselling is committed to keeping the personal details of prospective clients and clients safe and secure. Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect and the purpose for which the information is collected. It also has information about how we store, use, transfer and delete that information. 

As a small business, Velaris Counselling is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and is UK GDPR Compliant.

If a prospective client books a consultation, they will be required to complete an Intake Form. The form will be stored solely on Cliniko. Cliniko is a practice management software with the highest level of data protection possible. It is fully UK GDPR compliant. Cliniko’s Privacy Policy can be read here. 

The data requested on the Intake Form is required by Velaris Counselling to provide clients with the safest, most ethical service. The form requests GP addresses of prospective clients, which is essential information for Velaris Counselling if we are ever concerned about a client's safety. 

Video consultations and standard sessions will take place on Cliniko’s tele-health platform, which is encrypted and joined via a unique link for added security. If the prospective client tells Velaris Counselling that they don’t wish to continue sessions, all their personal information stored on Cliniko will be deleted. 

If the prospective client wishes to continue with sessions, Velaris Counselling will request that they sign a Counselling Contract, which will be stored solely on Cliniko. By signing the Contract, the client agrees to the data protection policies, confidentiality clauses and other terms of the service. All policies will be clearly outlined in the Contract.

If a prospective client books a Counselling Session through Cliniko's online booking system, they will also be required to complete a Personal Details Form and agree to the Counselling Contract before the session. This ensures ethical practice and informed consent of the service's policies.

When a client ends sessions with Velaris Counselling, their data will be automatically deleted after seven years unless the client requests otherwise; for example, if they wish to return to the service in the future.

The only information not stored on Cliniko about clients will be their email addresses and first names as found in the bar and body of an email. This information will be stored on Zoho, the email provider used by Velaris Counselling, to enable email communication between the practitioner and the client. Zoho’s Privacy Policy can be read here.

All prospective clients and clients have the right to request how their data is being processed, whether it’s being processed and for what purpose. They have the right to ask the data controller to erase their personal data. 

Velaris Counselling can be contacted at imogen@velariscounselling.co.uk with any requests about data protection.