Who we are
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights. Lynda Gooby and Michael Gooby of Essex Therapy Barn are members of the ICO and follow UK data protection law. You can read more at ico.org.uk.
Essex Therapy Barn provides counselling, therapy, CBT therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, supervision and wellbeing services from Unit 1a, Hill Farm, Church Lane, Ford End, Chelmsford CM3 1LH. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
Therapists working as members of Essex Therapy Barn are independently registered with the ICO. Each therapist has their own data protection arrangements and also follows this Essex Therapy Barn policy.
If you have any questions about how we handle your information, email info@essextherapybarn.com or call 07824099290.
Professional standards
As members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and the National Hypnotherapy Society (MNHS), Essex Therapy Barn members work to those organisations’ codes of ethics and ethical frameworks for good practice.
The information we collect
In line with ICO guidance, Essex Therapy Barn collects and keeps personal data in order to provide a therapeutic service and to meet our professional and legal obligations.
- Contact details you give us, such as your name, email address and phone number.
- Enquiry details — anything you choose to tell us in a website form, email, text or on a first call.
- Other information you give us that we need in order to arrange and provide the service you have asked for, and to meet compliance requirements.
- Payment records showing dates, amounts and method of payment.
- Basic technical information needed to run and secure this website (for example, that a visitor completed our spam check).
Website contact forms
When you use a contact form on this website, we collect the details you enter so we can reply to your enquiry. Submitting the form is your consent for us to use that information for that purpose. You can withdraw consent by emailing us; we will still keep information where the law or our professional duties require it.
Form messages are sent to our practice inbox using a transactional email provider (AhaSend). The message is processed on our website hosting (Cloudflare) and is not stored as a marketing list. We do not use enquiry details for advertising.
Spam protection (Cloudflare Turnstile)
Our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile in invisible mode to reduce automated spam. There is usually no checkbox on the page. Turnstile may still process a limited amount of technical data (such as browser and interaction signals) to decide whether a submission is likely to be from a person. We use this only to protect the form.
Because this check can run without a visible widget, Cloudflare requires us to point you to their Turnstile Privacy Addendum, which explains how they process that data, alongside Cloudflare’s privacy policy.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
We use your information to respond to enquiries, arrange and provide a therapeutic service, take payment, and meet our professional and legal obligations.
Our lawful bases are your consent (for enquiries and marketing you have asked for), contract (to provide the sessions you have booked), legal obligation (for example, tax records) and legitimate interests (running the practice safely, including protecting our website from abuse).
Confidentiality and supervision
Essex Therapy Barn will not pass on your information except in accordance with the BACP, NCPS or MNHS codes of best practice, or where we are legally required to do so.
Essex Therapy Barn therapists attend regular supervision to help ensure the quality of practice. Information shared about the work is anonymised. Once the work is completed, that information is deleted or shredded.
How long we keep it
We keep information only for as long as we need it to provide the service and meet our obligations. Enquiries that don't lead to sessions are deleted within 12 months. Financial records are kept for 6 years as required by HMRC. When the work is completed, information that is no longer needed is deleted or shredded.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your information and we never share it for marketing. We do not pass it on except as set out above, or to the limited providers who help us run the practice.
For website enquiries, that includes Cloudflare (hosting and Turnstile) and AhaSend (sending the enquiry email to our inbox). They act as processors for those limited purposes. We may also use appointment and payment providers where needed to deliver the service.
How we keep it safe
Personal information is held on password-protected, encrypted devices and reputable UK, EU or carefully selected cloud services. Access is limited to the people who need it.
Website enquiry emails are sent through secured server-side connections. API keys and secrets for email and spam protection are kept on the server and are not embedded in the public website code that visitors download.
Your rights
- Ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.
- Ask us to correct anything inaccurate or incomplete.
- Ask us to delete information, where we are not required to keep it.
- Object to or ask us to restrict certain uses of your information.
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting anything done beforehand.
Questions about this policy
If you have any questions or enquiries about this privacy policy, how we use your information, or anything else on this page, please email info@essextherapybarn.com.
Cookies
This website uses only the cookies needed to make it work, including those that may be set by our spam-protection check. You can read more on our Cookies page.
Changes to this policy
We review this policy regularly and will update this page whenever it changes. Please check back from time to time.