At Willow Tree Therapy, I take your privacy, confidentiality and the security of your personal information seriously.
This privacy notice explains what information I collect, why I collect it, how it is used and stored, who it may be shared with, and your rights under UK data protection law.
Donna Dickinson, trading as Willow Tree Therapy, is the Data Controller for the personal information collected and processed as part of my private therapy practice.
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, you can contact me at:
Email: donna@willowtreetherapy.org.uk
If you contact me about therapy, I may collect information such as:
If you begin therapy with me, I will also collect information necessary to provide safe and appropriate psychological therapy. This may include information about:
Information relating to your physical or mental health is classed as special-category personal data under UK data protection law and is given additional protection.
I may also hold information relating to appointments, correspondence and payments.
I use your personal information where it is necessary to:
I only collect information that is relevant to these purposes.
Under UK data protection law, I must have a lawful basis for collecting and using your personal information.
When you contact me about therapy, and while we are working together, I process relevant personal information where this is necessary to take steps towards or fulfil our therapeutic contract.
I may also process or retain certain information where this is necessary to meet legal or professional obligations, or where there is a legitimate professional interest in maintaining appropriate and accurate records of the therapy provided.
Because psychological therapy involves information about your health and wellbeing, I also process special-category health information where this is necessary for the provision of psychological treatment and subject to professional confidentiality.
What you discuss with me during therapy is treated as confidential. There are, however, limited circumstances in which information may need to be shared. These may include:
As part of safe professional practice, I undertake regular clinical supervision. Relevant clinical material may be discussed in supervision, with your privacy and confidentiality protected as far as possible. Where appropriate and possible, I will discuss any need to share information with you beforehand.
I do not sell your personal information. To operate my private practice, I use trusted service providers for functions such as:
These organisations may process limited personal information on my behalf in order to provide these services and are expected to handle information securely and appropriately.
Information may also be disclosed where required by law, where you have provided appropriate consent, or where disclosure is necessary because of a serious safeguarding or risk concern.
I have a clinical will in place to protect current clients if I become unexpectedly unable to practise or in the event of my death.
Limited, up-to-date client contact information is securely available to my designated clinical executor/supervisor for this purpose.
This information would only be accessed if necessary so that current clients could be contacted, informed and supported appropriately.
I take appropriate steps to protect personal and clinical information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.
Electronic clinical records are stored using password-protected and access-controlled systems.
Any paper records are stored securely, with access restricted to me.
Where confidential information needs to be transported, I take appropriate measures to ensure it remains secure.
I also take reasonable steps to ensure that organisations processing information on my behalf have appropriate privacy and security arrangements in place.
When you visit the Willow Tree Therapy website, limited technical information may be collected through cookies and website analytics. This may include information about how visitors use the website.
You can use the website’s cookie controls to manage your cookie preferences. Information submitted through the website contact form is used for the purpose of responding to your enquiry and, where appropriate, arranging therapy.
Clinical records are normally retained for seven years after therapy ends. Information relating to enquiries that do not result in therapy is kept only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Financial and administrative information may be retained for the period required to meet relevant tax, accounting or legal obligations. When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or destroyed.
Under UK data protection law, depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
These rights are not absolute and may depend on the circumstances and the lawful basis under which information is being held.
In particular, the right to deletion does not necessarily mean that clinical records can always be deleted immediately if there is a professional, legal or legitimate reason for retaining them.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact:
donna@willowtreetherapy.org.uk
Where I rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis for processing information, you have the right to object to that processing.
Any objection will be considered in accordance with UK data protection law.
If you have any concerns about how your personal information has been handled, please contact me in the first instance so that I can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to raise a concern or make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.
I may update this privacy notice from time to time to reflect changes to my practice, the services I use or data protection requirements.
Last updated: September 2026