How we handle your information.

At Mind Healing Counselling, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect personal information when you use our website, contact us, or receive counselling services from us. We operate in accordance with the Irish Data Protection Acts and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Who we are

Mind Healing Counselling is an Ireland-based counselling and psychotherapy practice. For the purposes of data protection, we are the data controller of any personal information you provide to us.

Contact: support@mindhealing.online
Phone: 085 129 8287

Information we collect

When you visit our website

We collect minimal technical information through privacy-respecting analytics, such as page views and approximate region, to understand how the site is used. We do not use advertising cookies or tracking that identifies individual visitors.

When you contact us or book a session

We collect your name, email, phone (if provided), and the contents of your enquiry. If you book a session, this information is processed by our scheduling provider (Acuity Scheduling) and, for programme purchases, our payment provider (Stripe). Neither service receives the content of your therapy sessions.

When you attend counselling

Your counsellor keeps brief clinical notes to support the continuity of your care. These are stored securely and are subject to the strict confidentiality standards of APCP and BACP. You have the right to access your notes; please contact us to request this.

Confidentiality

Everything discussed in counselling is confidential. The only exceptions, explained in your first session, are where there is a serious risk of harm to yourself or others, or where disclosure is required by law (for example, a court order or child protection concern). Your counsellor will always try to discuss any disclosure with you where safely possible.

How we use your information

• To respond to your enquiries and arrange sessions
• To deliver and document your counselling care
• To process payments for programmes and sessions
• To provide receipts for sessions, where relevant
• To comply with legal, regulatory, and professional obligations

We do not use your information for marketing without your explicit consent, and we do not share it with third parties except those strictly required to deliver the service (e.g. Acuity Scheduling, Stripe).

How long we keep your information

Clinical records are retained in accordance with APCP and BACP guidelines, typically for seven years after the end of therapy, longer where required by law or where you were a minor at the time of treatment. Website enquiry data is kept for up to 12 months unless you become a client, in which case it forms part of your clinical record.

Your rights under GDPR

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request erasure of your data (subject to legal and professional record-keeping obligations)
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Receive your data in a portable format
• Lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie)

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@mindhealing.online.

Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted video for sessions, secure cloud storage, access controls, and regular security reviews. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

Cookies

This website uses a minimal number of essential cookies required for site functionality. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies. If we add analytics in future, it will be privacy-respecting (e.g. Plausible Analytics) and you will be notified in an updated version of this policy.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date above. For material changes, we'll notify active clients by email.

Contact us about privacy

If you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your data, please contact us at support@mindhealing.online.