Privacy notice.

The data controller for the personal data described in this notice is Ifra Khan, trading as Ivybridge Counselling. You can contact me at Alishaali2389@gmail.com.

I collect: contact details (name, email, phone if provided); enquiry and intake information you choose to share when reaching out or beginning an engagement; counselling-related information that arises during sessions and brief contemporaneous notes I keep about that work; payment-related information processed by Stripe (I do not see or store full card or bank details); basic technical information from website use such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited.

Counselling-related information is treated as special category personal data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR and is handled with additional safeguards.

Directly from you, when you submit the enquiry form, complete a written intake, attend a session, or correspond with me by email. Indirectly, from Stripe (payment confirmations only) and from limited website analytics cookies.

To respond to your enquiry; to provide the counselling engagement you have booked; to keep the brief contemporaneous notes professional standards require; to issue a written session summary at the close of an engagement; to take and reconcile payment; to comply with legal obligations including HMRC tax record-keeping; and, where you have consented, to contact you about a future engagement.

Article 6 lawful bases used: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) for engagement delivery; legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) for tax and regulatory compliance; legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) for responding to enquiries and basic website analytics; consent (Article 6(1)(a)) for non-essential cookies and any optional contact.

Article 9 lawful bases for special category counselling data: explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)); and provision of health or social care (Article 9(2)(h)) where applicable, by a professional under a duty of confidentiality.

I share data only where necessary: Stripe Payments UK Ltd (payment processing, FCA-authorised); BACS Payment Schemes / Pay.UK (BACS Direct Debit infrastructure); HMRC (tax records); my professional supervisor under a separate confidentiality agreement, in line with UK counselling professional standards; email and secure video providers used to deliver sessions, under appropriate data processing terms. I do not sell personal data to anyone, ever.

Counselling work is held in confidence. The limits of that confidence are: where I am required by law to disclose (for example a court order or safeguarding obligation); where there is a serious and imminent risk of harm to you or another identifiable person; and where information is shared in anonymised, non-identifying form with my professional supervisor for the purpose of safe practice. I discuss these limits with you at the start of any engagement.

Counselling notes and engagement records are retained for seven years from the close of the engagement, in line with UK counselling professional guidance and insurance requirements. Tax-related financial records are retained for six years plus the current tax year (HMRC requirement). Enquiry correspondence that does not lead to an engagement is retained for twelve months and then deleted. Cookie preference settings are stored locally in your browser only.

You have the right to: be informed; access your data; rectification; erasure (where lawful basis allows); restrict processing; data portability; object to processing; and rights related to automated decision-making (none is undertaken here). To exercise any of these rights, email Alishaali2389@gmail.com.

This site uses a small number of strictly necessary, performance, and functionality cookies. No marketing or advertising cookies are used. See the Cookie Information page for full detail.

This site may link to external sites (for example Samaritans, NHS, professional bodies). I am not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites.

This practice works only with adults aged 18 and over. The site is not directed at children, and I do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

If this notice is updated, the revised version will be posted here with a new "last updated" date. Material changes affecting active clients will be communicated by email.

For any data protection question, email Alishaali2389@gmail.com or write to Ifra Khan, 3 Ernald Ave, London, E6 3AL, United Kingdom. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.