Privacy Policy

1.1 Personal Information

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

• Register for an account
• Fill out a contact form
• Sign up for our newsletter
• Search for counsellors
• Book appointments
• Submit personal stories or participate in community forums
• Complete surveys or provide feedback

This information may include your name, email address, phone number, location, and in some cases, information about your mental health concerns or needs.

1.2 Sensitive Information

We understand that mental health information is sensitive. When you use our services to find counsellors, participate in forums, or access resources, you may share information about your mental health. We treat this information with the highest level of confidentiality and security.

1.3 Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log standard data provided by your web browser. This may include:

• Your device's IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages you visit and time spent on those pages
• Referring website addresses
• Geographic location (country or city level only)

1.4 Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data that may include an anonymous unique identifier. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain our website and services
• Connect you with appropriate counsellors and resources
• Process and complete transactions
• Send administrative information, such as updates, security alerts, and support messages
• Respond to your comments, questions, and requests
• Improve our website and user experience
• Monitor usage patterns and analyse trends
• Protect against, identify, and prevent fraud and other illegal activity

We take your privacy seriously and will not share your personal information except in the following circumstances:

3.1 With Counsellors

When you request to connect with a counsellor or book an appointment, we will share necessary contact information with the counsellor to facilitate the connection. Counsellors on our platform are bound by their own professional codes of ethics and confidentiality requirements.

3.2 Service Providers

We may share your information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, and customer service. These service providers are contractually obligated to use your personal information only as necessary to provide these services to us.

3.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information where required by law or if we believe that disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with a legal obligation
• Protect and defend our rights or property
• Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing
• Protect the personal safety of users or the public
• Protect against legal liability

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, please also remember that we cannot guarantee that the internet itself is 100% secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our website is at your own risk.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected. Our retention periods are as follows:

• Account data — retained for the duration of your account. Deleted within 30 days of account closure upon request.
• Enquiry and contact data — retained for 2 years from the date of submission.
• Booking and transaction data — retained for 7 years in accordance with financial record-keeping requirements.
• Session and authentication data — retained for the duration of your session and cleared upon logout.
• Newsletter subscriptions — retained until you unsubscribe.

After the applicable retention period, your data is securely deleted or anonymised. To request early deletion of your data, please contact us at support@traumatherapydirectory.org.uk.

Depending on your location, you may have the following data protection rights:

• The right to access, update, or delete your personal information
• The right to rectification (to correct or update your personal information)
• The right to object to the processing of your personal information
• The right to restriction (to request that we restrict the processing of your personal information)
• The right to data portability (to request a copy of your data in a structured format)
• The right to withdraw consent at any time where we relied on your consent to process your personal information

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in the "Contact Us" section below.

As a UK-based platform, we process your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our legal bases for processing your information include:

• Your consent
• Performance of a contract when we provide you with services
• Compliance with legal obligations
• Our legitimate interests, which do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms

Our website and services are not intended for individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us, and we will take steps to delete such information.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any websites you visit.

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: