Privacy Notice
Last updated: 9 August 2026
Your privacy is important to me. This notice explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you contact Mid Essex Counselling, use this website or receive counselling from me.
Who is responsible for your information?
I am Jonathon Berg, operating as Mid Essex Counselling, and I am responsible for the personal information I hold about you.
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, you can contact me at:
Mid Essex Counselling
Cuppers Close
Witham
Essex CM8 1EY
Email: contact@midessexcounselling.org
Telephone: 07486 398792
What information might I collect?
I only collect information that is reasonably necessary to respond to your enquiry, provide counselling safely and professionally, administer the service and meet my professional or legal responsibilities.
This may include your name and contact details, information you provide when enquiring about counselling, assessment information, appointment details, brief counselling notes, information about your emotional or physical health and other matters you choose to discuss in counselling.
I may also hold details of your GP or emergency contact where appropriate, information relating to risk or safeguarding, payment records and relevant emails, text messages or other correspondence.
Counselling can involve discussing very personal or sensitive information. Under data protection law, some of this is classed as special category data.
Why do I use your information?
I use your personal information to respond to enquiries, arrange and provide counselling, keep appropriate professional records, manage appointments and payments, consider any issues relating to risk or safeguarding and meet my professional and legal responsibilities.
The main legal bases I rely on under UK data protection law include the performance of our counselling agreement, taking steps at your request before entering into that agreement, my legitimate interests in running a safe and professional counselling practice, and legal obligations where these apply.
Where sensitive information is processed as part of counselling, I normally rely on the provisions within UK data protection law relating to the provision of health treatment and counselling.
I do not rely on consent as the main legal basis for providing counselling. Where I ask for consent for a genuinely optional use of your information, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
Counselling notes and confidentiality
What you discuss with me in counselling is treated as confidential.
I keep brief and proportionate counselling notes to support safe, ethical and accountable practice. These are not intended to be a word-for-word record of what is discussed during sessions.
I do not routinely make audio or video recordings of counselling sessions, and I would never record a session without discussing this with you and obtaining your agreement first.
Clinical supervision
Clinical supervision is a normal and important part of professional counselling practice.
I may discuss aspects of our work with my clinical supervisor to help me reflect on the counselling and maintain safe and ethical practice. Wherever reasonably possible, identifying information is kept to a minimum.
My supervisor is also bound by professional confidentiality.
When might information be shared?
There are some circumstances where I may need to share information.
This could include situations where you have given me permission to speak with another professional, such as your GP, or where I believe there is a serious risk of harm to you or somebody else.
Information may also need to be shared where there is a safeguarding concern, where disclosure is required or authorised by law, or where emergency, healthcare or safeguarding services need information to help protect someone.
I may also need to share relevant information with my professional insurer, legal adviser, regulator or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) if this is necessary in relation to a complaint, legal matter or professional responsibility.
If serious illness, incapacity or death prevented me from contacting clients myself, limited information may be accessed by a nominated clinical executor or professional colleague so that clients can be contacted appropriately.
Where it is safe and legally possible, I would aim to discuss a proposed disclosure with you first. I would only share information that is relevant and necessary for the situation.
Technology and service providers
I use a small number of third-party services to help me run Mid Essex Counselling.
These may include Wix for the website and contact forms, Zoho for email, banking or payment providers and an online meeting provider where online counselling is arranged.
These organisations may process limited personal information on my behalf in order to provide their services.
Some technology providers operate internationally. Where information is transferred outside the UK, I use providers and arrangements intended to meet UK data protection requirements.
I do not sell, rent or trade client information, and I do not use counselling information for advertising or direct marketing.
Website and contact forms
When you visit this website, Wix and other enabled website services may process technical information such as your IP address, browser or device information and cookie data.
Essential cookies may be used to allow the website to function properly. Non-essential cookies or analytics should only be used where the appropriate consent has been obtained through the website's cookie settings or banner.
If you contact me through the website enquiry form, the information you enter is transmitted through the website platform so that I can respond.
Please avoid including detailed or highly sensitive personal information in the initial enquiry form. A brief description is usually enough for us to arrange an initial conversation.
How long do I keep information?
I do not keep personal information indefinitely.
Enquiries that do not lead to counselling are normally deleted within 6 months of our last meaningful contact unless there is a specific reason to keep them for longer.
Counselling records and related administrative information are normally retained for at least 7 years after the last counselling session, in line with professional insurance requirements. They may be kept for longer where there is a specific legal, safeguarding or professional reason.
Information relating to serious risk or safeguarding may sometimes need to be retained for longer where there is a clear professional, legal or safety reason.
Routine emails, text messages and voicemails are deleted when they are no longer needed, normally within 12 months after counselling ends. If a message contains information that needs to form part of the counselling record, the relevant information may be transferred into that record.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by HMRC and other applicable law.
When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted or destroyed.
How is my information kept secure?
I take reasonable steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.
Electronic information is stored using password-protected and access-controlled systems and devices. Additional security measures such as encryption and two-factor authentication are used where available.
Any paper records are stored securely.
Email, text messaging and other internet-based services cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure. For this reason, I encourage clients not to include more sensitive personal information in ordinary messages than is necessary.
Automated decision-making
I do not use your counselling information for automated decision-making or profiling.
Decisions about whether and how I can work with you are made by me using professional judgement and discussion with you.
Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you, ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, request that information is deleted or restricted in some circumstances, object to certain uses of your information, or receive certain information in a portable format.
Where a particular use of information is based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent.
These rights are not absolute and can depend on why the information is being held.
If you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact me at:
contact@midessexcounselling.org
Concerns or complaints
If you are concerned about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me in the first instance so that I have an opportunity to respond.
You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the UK's independent regulator for data protection.
Further information can be found at www.ico.org.uk.
Changes to this Privacy Notice
I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in my practice, technology, professional guidance or data protection law.
The most recent version will always be available on this website.
Mid Essex Counselling
Jonathon Berg MBACP
BACP Registered Member 420934
contact@midessexcounselling.org
07486 398792