Any personal data provided by you to DJA Counselling Ltd through any means (verbal, written, in electronic form, or by your use of our website) will be held and processed in accordance with the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) for the purposes for which you have given consent, to provide the services you have requested from us, and to meet the legitimate interests of the organisation.

Introduction

DJA Counselling Ltd (the ‘data controller’, referred to below as “us” or “we”) is committed to protecting your privacy. Please read the following in order to learn more about DJA Counselling Ltd privacy policy and our information collection and use practices.

This policy only applies to data collected by DJA Counselling Ltd personnel, and via our own forms and website. Third party agents, and websites which are linked, are not covered by this policy. If you have any queries concerning your personal information or any questions on our use of the information, please contact us.

When you request counselling, supervision or any other service with us, or otherwise provide your personal details to us, you will be asked to consent to our processing of your data under the terms of this policy.

What information do we collect?

• Counselling, Supervision & Other Requests–Requests to access counselling, supervision or other services can be done verbally, written or in electronic form. Our request process involves providing us with your name, address, telephone number(s) and email address. We may also request information on your availability, therapeutic issues, and other details which we deem relevant to processing your request.
• Initial Appointments– At an initial appointment we ask about your current personal, social, medical and financial circumstances. We may also ask about your background and family history, as well as the issues which are affecting you now. We require this information so that we can decide about our offer of counselling, supervision or other service to you and to manage the service we provide to you.
• Website – We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous data relating to user behaviour and ‘web traffic’ statistics. The collection and use of this data by Google Inc. is subject to their own Privacy Policies.
• Other Forms –The information you give us on our forms (including all enquiry and application forms) may include your name, postal address, email address, phone number and other messages to us.

What do we use your information for?

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• To provide clients & supervisees with the professional counselling, supervision or other service requested from us.
• To enable us to offer appropriate opportunities and support to our clients, counsellors & supervisees.
• To offer suitable counselling/supervision appointments, and to allocate clients and counsellors for counselling.
• To notify you about changes to your appointments and other changes to our services.
• To seek feedback from you on your experience of counselling with us.
• To improve our service to ensure that it is provided in the most effective manner for you and for us.
• To administer our service, including (but not limited to) the arrangement of appointments, the handling of finances.
• To keep in touch with those who consent to this, for the purposes of organisational, service and professional development.

What information do we share?

We will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

• Consent – We may share your information with professional carers or others whom you have requested or agreed we should contact.
• Serious harm – We may share your information with the relevant authorities if we have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.
• Compliance with law – We may share your information where we are required to by law or by the regulations and other rules to which we are subject.

How do we keep your information safe?

All information you provide to us is stored as securely as possible. Where possible all paper forms and correspondence is kept locked away. Electronic records are kept on a physical drive and are accessed through protected authentication, or online by reputable service providers using secure internet ‘cloud’ technology.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your information using industry-standard protocols and encryption, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us via email, including forms completed on our website which are transmitted by email; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Client notes and other documentation are stored indefinitely (or a minimum of 7 years as can be requested otherwise).

All electronic payments are processed by third party company so their data protection and privacy policy would apply in these instances.

 

Your rights

You have the following rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you:

• The right to access the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request)
• The right to rectification — to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected
• The right to erasure (‘the right to be forgotten’) in certain circumstances
• The right to restrict processing of your personal data
• The right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• The right to object to processing, including for direct marketing purposes
• The right to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on your consent

If you would like to action any of your rights please contact us.

Note: Withdrawal of your consent for us to hold and process your data at any time, if you do this while actively receiving counselling or any other service your service would have to end as we would not be able to continue to offer services safely without processing your data.

Data Complaints

Please submit your complaint in writing either by post or by email using our contact details shown in the header/footer or found on our website. To help us investigate your concern as efficiently as possible, please include:

• Your full name and preferred contact details
• A clear description of your concern and which data protection right(s) you believe have been affected
• The approximate date(s) when the issue occurred
• Any relevant reference numbers, correspondence or documents

Our Data Complaints Process

Once we receive your complaint, we will follow the five steps below. We are committed to handling all complaints promptly, fairly and confidentially.

1	Acknowledgement	We will acknowledge your complaint in writing (letter or e-mail) within 30 days of receiving it, confirming that we have recorded it and will be investigating.
2	Requesting Further Information	If we need any additional details to fully investigate your complaint, we will contact you as soon as possible and explain what we need and why.
3	Investigation & Review	We will carry out a thorough and impartial review of your complaint. We will agree a realistic timescale with you once we have all necessary information, and we will keep you updated if there are any delays.

4	Decision & Outcome	We will communicate the outcome of our investigation to you clearly and in writing within one calendar month of receiving all the information needed (this may be extended by up to two further months for complex complaints — we will notify you if this is the case).
5	Closure or Escalation	If you are satisfied with the outcome, we will close your complaint. If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer your complaint to the ICO free of charge (see below).

Escalating Your Complaint to the ICO

If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) — the UK’s independent supervisory authority for data protection. This service is free of charge.

ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/make–a–complaint/

ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm)

ICO postal address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

(Note: The ICO will relocate its head office to Manchester in autumn 2026. We will be moving to the Circle Square development on Oxford Road.)