Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
Harriet Dudley is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and confidentiality.
This privacy policy explains what information I may collect about you, why I collect it, how it is used and stored, and your rights in relation to your personal information.
Who I am
I am Harriet Dudley, an integrative psychotherapist and couples therapist based in Hastings, UK.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, I am the data controller for the personal information I hold about my clients and people who contact me about my services.
You can contact me at:
Information I may collect
If you contact me about therapy or become a client, I may collect information including:
- your name and contact details;
- information you provide when making an enquiry;
- appointment and payment information;
- information you choose to share with me during our work together;
- brief records or notes relating to our sessions and therapeutic work;
- correspondence between us.
Because of the nature of psychotherapy, some of this information may include sensitive information about your physical or mental health, relationships, personal history or other aspects of your private life.
I only collect information that is relevant to providing my services and maintaining appropriate professional records.
How I use your information
I use personal information where necessary to:
- respond to enquiries;
- arrange and manage appointments;
- provide psychotherapy or couples therapy;
- communicate with you about our work together;
- maintain appropriate clinical, administrative and financial records;
- meet my professional, legal and regulatory responsibilities;
- protect the safety and wellbeing of clients or others where there is a serious safeguarding concern.
My main lawful basis for processing ordinary personal information is that it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a therapeutic agreement, or to provide services under that agreement. UK GDPR permits processing where it is necessary for a contract or for steps requested before entering into one.
Where information concerns your health or other special-category information, I process it where necessary for the provision of health or social care or treatment and subject to professional confidentiality and the safeguards required by data protection law.
Confidentiality and sharing information
Information shared in therapy is treated as confidential.
I do not sell your personal information or use it for marketing without your permission.
There may be limited circumstances in which information needs to be shared, for example:
- where you have asked me to do so or given appropriate permission;
- where I am legally required to disclose information;
- where there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of another person;
- where necessary for professional supervision, in accordance with professional confidentiality requirements;
- with trusted service providers used to operate my practice, such as email, video-conferencing, website hosting or IT services.
Where third-party services process information on my behalf, I take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate data-protection safeguards are in place.
Online therapy
I may provide sessions using Zoom.
As with any online communication service, information is transmitted using systems operated by a third-party provider. I take reasonable precautions to protect confidentiality when providing therapy online.
How long I keep information
I keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking account of my professional obligations, legal and regulatory requirements and any relevant insurance requirements.
Information that is no longer required is securely deleted or destroyed.
Security
I take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.
No method of electronic communication or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but I take appropriate steps to minimise these risks.
This website and cookies
This website may use cookies that are necessary for the site to function correctly.
If non-essential analytics or tracking technologies are introduced, visitors will be given appropriate information and, where required, asked for consent before those technologies are used. UK rules generally require consent before non-essential cookies are placed on a visitor's device.
The website may also contain links to external websites, such as LinkedIn. I am not responsible for the privacy practices of those external websites.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, data protection law gives you rights in relation to your personal information, including the right to:
- ask for access to the information I hold about you;
- ask for inaccurate information to be corrected;
- ask for information to be deleted in certain circumstances;
- ask for processing to be restricted;
- object to certain uses of your information;
- request the transfer of information in circumstances where the right to data portability applies.
Some of these rights are subject to legal and professional limitations.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact me at info@harrietdudley.co.uk.
The ICO requires privacy notices to explain the applicable rights and how people can complain about the handling of their information.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about how I handle your personal information, please contact me first so that I can try to resolve them.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.
Information Commissioner's Office
Changes to this policy
I may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to my practice, this website or applicable data-protection requirements. The date at the top of the page will show when it was most recently updated.