Last updated: 9 August 2026

Mind Care Therapies respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains how we collect, use, store and share information when you visit our website or contact us about counselling or other services.

1. Who we are

Mind Care Therapies is a counselling centre based at:

15a William Street
Dungannon
Northern Ireland

For information collected through this website and during the initial enquiry and referral process, Mind Care Therapies is the data controller.

You can contact us about this privacy policy or your personal information using:

Email: mindcaretherapies@gmail.com
Telephone: 07511 506115
Website: www.mindcaretherapies.com

2. Information we collect

When you contact us through the website, by email or by telephone, we may collect:

• Your name

• Your email address

• Your telephone number, if provided

• Your preferred method of contact

• The information included in your message

• General information about the type of support you are seeking

• Any communication between you and Mind Care Therapies

• Technical information collected when you use the website, such as your IP address, browser type and cookie preferences

Counselling enquiries may include information about your physical or mental health, relationships, sexuality, religious or philosophical beliefs, racial or ethnic background, or other sensitive matters. This may be classed as special-category personal information and receives additional protection under data protection law.

Please provide only the information needed to help us respond to your initial enquiry. The website contact form is not intended for detailed clinical information, counselling records or urgent requests for help.

3. How we use your information

We may use your information to:

• Respond to your enquiry

• Understand the type of support you are seeking

• Identify a therapist who may be suitable for you

• Pass your enquiry to a suitable therapist, where you have consented to this

• Allow the selected therapist to contact you by email or telephone

• Arrange an initial appointment or provide information about available services

• Maintain basic administrative records of enquiries and referrals

• Manage and improve our website

• Meet our legal, safeguarding and regulatory responsibilities

• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims when necessary

We will not use the information submitted through the contact form to send you marketing communications unless you have separately agreed to receive them.

4. Our lawful basis for using your information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful reason for using your personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

• Consent, where you have asked us to share your enquiry with a suitable therapist or have agreed to a particular use of your information

• Steps taken at your request before entering into a contract, where you contact us about arranging counselling or another service

• Legitimate interests, where it is reasonably necessary to respond to enquiries, administer referrals, operate the centre, protect our services or maintain appropriate business records

• Legal obligation, where we are required to keep or disclose information by law

• Vital interests, in exceptional circumstances, where using or sharing information is necessary to protect someone’s life

Where your enquiry contains health information or other special-category information, we will also rely on an appropriate condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. During the initial referral process, this will normally be your explicit consent. Other conditions may apply in exceptional circumstances, including where processing is necessary to protect vital interests or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

You may withdraw your consent by contacting us. This will not affect any processing that took place before your consent was withdrawn. It may, however, affect our ability to refer you to a therapist or respond fully to your enquiry.

5. Sharing your information with a therapist

Mind Care Therapies works with self-employed therapists. If you consent, we may share your name, contact details and relevant information from your enquiry with a therapist whom we believe may be suitable for your needs.

We will not routinely circulate your enquiry to every therapist at the centre. It will only be shared with a therapist where there is a genuine reason to consider them for the referral. If that therapist is unavailable, we may discuss another suitable referral with you.

Once a self-employed therapist accepts the referral and begins communicating or working with you, they are responsible for the personal information and clinical records they collect and create for their own practice. They are an independent data controller and should provide you with their own privacy information and counselling agreement.

Mind Care Therapies does not routinely have access to the therapist’s session notes or clinical records. Therapists are responsible for securely managing their own client records in accordance with data protection law and their professional obligations.

6. Other circumstances in which information may be shared

We may also share limited information when reasonably necessary with:

• Website, email, IT or hosting providers that support our services

• Professional advisers, such as an accountant, insurer, solicitor or data-protection adviser

• Regulatory, legal or law-enforcement bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law

• Emergency services, a GP, social services or safeguarding authorities where there is a serious and immediate concern about someone’s safety or where we have a legal safeguarding responsibility

We will not sell or rent your personal information.

7. Confidentiality and safeguarding

We treat counselling enquiries as private and confidential. However, confidentiality is not absolute.

Information may be disclosed without consent where required by law or where there is a serious concern about the safety of the person making the enquiry or another person. Any disclosure will be limited to information that is relevant and necessary in the circumstances.

The website contact form and email address are not monitored as an emergency or crisis service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999 or attend the nearest emergency department.

8. How long we keep your information

Initial enquiries that do not progress to a referral or service will normally be retained for up to 12 months after the last contact and then securely deleted, unless there is a legal, safeguarding, insurance or complaints-related reason to retain them for longer.

Basic referral, financial or business records may be kept for longer where required for legal, tax, insurance or administrative purposes.

Each self-employed therapist sets their own retention period for the records they hold. Their privacy policy or counselling agreement should explain how long they retain client information.

We will not retain personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

9. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include password-protected accounts, access controls, secure devices and limiting access to people who genuinely need the information. However, no website, email system or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

10. Website hosting and transfers outside the UK

Our website, email system or other service providers may store or process information using servers located outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate legal safeguard is in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

11. Cookies and website information

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small files placed on your device to help the website function, remember preferences, maintain security or provide information about how the website is used.

Some cookies may be strictly necessary for the website to operate. Other cookies, including analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, should only be used with your permission where consent is legally required.

You can accept, reject or manage non-essential cookies through the website’s cookie settings, where available. You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect how parts of the website operate.

The cookies used on the website may change when the website or its services are updated. You should check the cookie banner or cookie settings for current information.

12. Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to external websites or social media platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites. You should read the privacy policy of any external website you visit.

13. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you

• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete

• Ask us to delete your information

• Ask us to restrict how your information is used

• Object to certain uses of your information

• Withdraw your consent

• Ask for certain information to be transferred to you or another organisation

• Complain about how your information has been handled

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the lawful basis for processing and other legal requirements.

To exercise your rights, contact us at mindcaretherapies@gmail.com. We may need to confirm your identity before responding.

14. Making a complaint

If you have concerns about how Mind Care Therapies has handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to address the matter.

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

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy when our services, website or legal obligations change. The latest version will be published on this website with the date of the most recent update.

Privacy Policy