Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 July 2026

1. Who I am

This privacy policy explains how Sukhi K Chatha collects, uses, stores and protects your personal information when you:

  • visit this website;
  • contact me about counselling or coaching;
  • arrange or attend an initial consultation;
  • receive counselling or coaching services; or
  • make a payment.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, Sukhi K Chatha is the data controller. This means I am responsible for deciding how and why your personal information is used.

Contact details

Email: [INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS]
Telephone: [INSERT TELEPHONE NUMBER]

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact me using the details above.

2. Professional membership

I am a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and work in accordance with its Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

I am committed to protecting the confidentiality and privacy of clients and prospective clients. BACP’s current ethical framework requires members to protect client information from unauthorised access or disclosure and to explain how personal information is used and who may be within the circle of confidentiality. 

3. Personal information I collect

When you contact me

If you use the website contact form or contact me directly, I may collect:

  • your name;
  • your email address;
  • your telephone number;
  • the contents of your message; and
  • any other information you choose to provide.

Please avoid including detailed medical information or other highly sensitive personal information in the website contact form unless it is necessary for your enquiry.

When you arrange an initial consultation

I may collect information needed to:

  • understand the nature of your enquiry;
  • determine whether counselling or coaching may be appropriate for you;
  • arrange and conduct an initial consultation;
  • communicate with you; and
  • decide whether I am able to offer you a service.

Depending on what you choose to tell me, this may include information about your physical or mental health or other sensitive aspects of your circumstances.

If you become a client

If you become a counselling or coaching client, I may also collect and use:

  • your contact details;
  • appointment information;
  • records of communications;
  • information relevant to the service you receive;
  • client agreements and administrative records; and
  • payment and transaction information.

Because of the nature of counselling and, in some cases, coaching, information you provide may include special category personal data. This may include information about your physical or mental health and, depending on what you choose to disclose, other sensitive information protected by data protection law.

I collect only information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this privacy policy.

4. How I collect your information

I collect personal information directly from you when you:

  • complete the website contact form;
  • contact me by email or telephone;
  • arrange or attend an initial consultation;
  • communicate with me in connection with counselling or coaching;
  • receive counselling or coaching services; or
  • make a payment.

Limited technical information may also be processed automatically where necessary to operate, maintain and secure the website.

5. How and why I use your information

Responding to enquiries

I use your name, contact details and the information contained in your enquiry to respond to you and discuss the counselling or coaching service you are seeking.

My lawful basis is generally that the processing is necessary to take steps at your request before potentially entering into an agreement with you.

Arranging an initial consultation

I use relevant information to arrange the consultation, understand the service you are seeking and determine whether I am able to offer counselling or coaching.

My lawful basis is generally that the processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into an agreement.

Providing counselling or coaching

If you become a client, I use relevant personal information to provide and administer the service you have requested.

My lawful basis is generally that the processing is necessary for the performance of my agreement with you.

Where appropriate, I may also process limited personal information where necessary for my legitimate interests in administering and protecting my practice, managing communications, maintaining appropriate records and protecting my legal rights. I will only rely on legitimate interests where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Complying with legal obligations

I may process personal information where necessary to comply with a legal obligation.

Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims

I may retain or use relevant personal information where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

6. Sensitive and special category information

Information about physical or mental health, and certain other sensitive information, is classed as special category personal data and receives additional protection under UK data protection law.

Where I process special category personal data, I will only do so where:

  1. I have an appropriate lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR; and
  2. an appropriate condition for processing special category data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR applies.

Depending on the circumstances and the purpose of the processing, the applicable condition may include your explicit consent or another condition permitted by data protection law.

Where I rely on explicit consent, I will make this clear and ask you to provide an express statement of consent. You may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Where a different Article 9 condition applies, I will identify and document the applicable condition as required by law.

The UK GDPR requires both an Article 6 lawful basis and a separate Article 9 condition when special category data is processed. 

7. Confidentiality and professional supervision

I treat information shared with me as confidential, subject to any limitations to confidentiality explained as part of our counselling or coaching agreement and any circumstances in which disclosure is required or permitted by law.

As part of professional counselling practice, aspects of client work may be discussed in professional supervision. Where this occurs, I limit the information shared to what is reasonably necessary and protect the client’s identity wherever reasonably possible. Professional supervision is itself subject to appropriate confidentiality obligations.

BACP’s framework expressly addresses confidentiality, the circle of confidentiality and professional supervision. 

8. Who I share your information with

I do not sell or rent your personal information.

I only share or make personal information available where necessary for the purposes described in this privacy policy or where there is another lawful reason to do so.

Website hosting

This website is hosted by Hostinger. Information submitted through the website contact form may be processed through Hostinger’s infrastructure to operate the website and transmit your enquiry.

Email

I use Outlook, provided by Microsoft, to receive and send email communications.

Payments

If you choose to pay using PayPal, PayPal will process the information necessary to provide its payment services under its own privacy arrangements.

I do not receive your full payment card details from PayPal.

If you choose to pay by direct bank transfer, the banks involved in the transaction will process information associated with the payment under their own privacy arrangements.

Other disclosures

I may disclose personal information where:

  • you ask me to do so or authorise the disclosure;
  • I am required or permitted to do so by law;
  • disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or
  • another lawful basis for disclosure applies.

9. International transfers

Some of the technology and payment providers I use may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where my use of a service involves a restricted transfer of personal information from the UK, I will take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate transfer mechanism or safeguard is in place where required by data protection law.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

  • UK adequacy regulations;
  • approved contractual safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses; or
  • another transfer mechanism permitted by UK data protection law.

10. How long I keep your information

I keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and for any related legal, professional, insurance, accounting or record-keeping requirements.

Unless a longer period is required for a specific lawful reason:

  • Enquiries that do not result in counselling or coaching: I will normally delete the enquiry and related correspondence within 12 months of the last meaningful contact.
  • Payment and financial records: I will retain relevant records for the period required by applicable tax, accounting and legal obligations.
  • Client information: I will retain information relating to counselling or coaching clients for the period set out in my client agreement and retention policy, taking account of applicable professional, insurance, legal and record-keeping requirements.

When personal information is no longer required, I will securely delete or anonymise it.

11. Whether you have to provide your information

You do not have to use the website contact form and may contact me using the alternative contact details provided on the website.

However, I need sufficient contact information to respond to an enquiry or arrange an initial consultation.

If you become a client, I may need certain information to provide the service safely and effectively, administer our professional relationship, process payments and meet applicable legal or professional requirements.

If information that is reasonably necessary is not provided, I may be unable to offer or continue a service.

12. How I protect your information

I take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, destruction, alteration, unauthorised access or disclosure.

These measures include, where applicable:

  • password protection;
  • multi-factor authentication;
  • appropriate access controls;
  • secure and supported devices and services;
  • confidentiality measures;
  • limiting the personal information collected to what is reasonably necessary; and
  • secure deletion or disposal when information is no longer required.

No method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please avoid sending unnecessary highly sensitive information through the website contact form or ordinary email.

13. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • ask for access to your personal information;
  • ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • ask me to delete your personal information;
  • ask me to restrict how your information is used;
  • object to certain uses of your information;
  • receive certain information in a portable format;
  • withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent; and
  • complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every situation.

To exercise a right, please contact me using the details at the beginning of this privacy policy. I may need to verify your identity before responding.

You will not normally have to pay a fee to exercise your data protection rights.

14. Complaints

If you have concerns about how I use your personal information, please contact me using the details at the beginning of this privacy policy.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Make a data protection complaint to the ICO

You are not required to contact me before making a complaint to the ICO.

15. Cookies and similar technologies

This website does not currently use non-essential cookies or similar tracking technologies for analytics, advertising or marketing purposes.

The website does not currently use analytics integrations, advertising pixels, third-party tracking tools, embedded third-party content or custom tracking code.

If this changes in the future, this privacy policy will be updated and, where required by law, you will be given clear information and a choice before non-essential cookies or similar technologies are used.

Based on the configuration you described, this is the appropriate current position. Hostinger identifies integrations such as analytics and marketing tools as the features that can introduce tracking, and its consent system controls when those integrations load. 

16. Automated decision-making

I do not use your personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.

17. Changes to this privacy policy

I may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to my services, technology, suppliers, legal obligations or working practices.

The date at the top of this page shows when the privacy policy was last updated.

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