Privacy Policy
This privacy policy sets out how Michelle Higgins Counselling and Psychotherapy uses and protects any information that you provide when you use this website. Michelle Higgins Counselling and Psychotherapy is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Michelle Higgins Counselling and Psychotherapy may change this policy by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from August 2025.
What I collect
I may collect the following information:
- your name
- contact information including email address
Why?
I require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and for the following reasons:
- Internal record keeping.
- I may use the information to improve my services.
Security
I am committed to ensuring that your information is secure. I secure the information I collect online and in person in the following ways:
Your personal information (address, telephone number, email, child’s school, and GP) is provided on a form which may be sent to me electronically via email or given to me in person. I will not pass these details onto anyone else unless I have your permission or are required by law to do so.
I store personal details in a locked filing cabinet which is only accessible to me. All emails and phone messages can only be accessed by me using my secure password. When I have finished working with you, I shred records of personal details.
I keep brief, factual notes on each session. The purpose of these notes is to help me recall the main issues discussed in each session. You may request to access your notes. You have the right to have changes made to the notes I have recorded. You have the right to choose to have no notes recorded and kept by me. Notes for child therapy are not shared with parents. A child has legal rights to confidentiality.
I store client notes in a locked cabinet which is only accessible to me. These notes are stored in a different file to personal details.
After we have finished our work together, I retain client notes securely for seven years. If the notes are for work with a child – I store them for five years following a child’s 18th birthday.
You may request details of personal information which I hold about you under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is a European Union law focused on data privacy and security. It sets out rules for how organizations handle personal data of individuals within the EU, aiming to give individuals greater control over their information.
How I use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. The cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets me know when you visit a particular site.
Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
I use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps me analyse data about webpage traffic and improve my website in order to tailor it to customer needs. I only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help me provide you with a better website, by enabling me to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives me access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with me.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.