Privacy Notice
The Healing Mind Privacy Notice Last Updated: November 2026
The Healing Mind respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Notice explains how The Healing Mind collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you visit our website, contact us, enquire about our services or receive counselling, hypnotherapy, EFT or Reiki services from us.
Please read this notice carefully so that you understand how your personal information is used and the rights you have in relation to it.
1. Who we are
The Healing Mind is the trading name of Karen Hemmings.
For data protection purposes, Karen Hemmings trading as The Healing Mind is the data controller responsible for your personal information.
If you have any questions about how your information is handled, or wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact:
Email: karen@thehealingmind.co.uk
Postal address: 12 The Flashes, Gnosall, Stafford. ST20 0HJ
2. What personal information do we collect?
The information we collect depends on how you interact with The Healing Mind.
Information you provide to us
You may provide personal information when you:
- contact us by telephone, email or through our website;
- request an initial consultation;
- make an appointment;
- complete forms relating to counselling, hypnotherapy, EFT or Reiki;
- provide information during sessions;
- communicate with us about your appointments or treatment;
- provide feedback or a testimonial;
- subscribe to any mailing list or marketing communications; or
- otherwise communicate with us.
This information may include:
- your name;
- contact details such as telephone number, email address and postal address;
- appointment and session information;
- information relevant to your counselling or therapeutic support;
- information about your wellbeing, circumstances and personal history where this is relevant to the service you are receiving;
- health information where this is relevant to your treatment;
- information relating to safeguarding where this is relevant;
- payment or invoice information where applicable; and
- any other information you choose to provide to us.
We only collect information that is relevant to the purpose for which it is being collected.
Information collected through our website
When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically.
Depending on the website services and cookies in use, this may include:
- IP address;
- browser type and device information;
- approximate geographic location;
- pages visited;
- links clicked;
- how you interact with the website; and
- other technical information used for website security, performance and analytics.
Some of this information may be collected through cookies or similar technologies.
3. Health and other sensitive information
As a counselling and therapeutic practice, we may need to collect information relating to your physical or mental health, wellbeing, personal circumstances or other sensitive matters where this is relevant to the service you are receiving.
Health information is treated as special category data under UK data protection law and is handled with particular care.
We only collect and use this information where there is a lawful basis for doing so and where the additional requirements for processing special category data are met.
Where appropriate, we will explain why particular information is needed and obtain your consent where consent is the appropriate basis for processing.
You are not required to provide information that is not necessary for the service. However, some information may be necessary for us to assess whether a service is appropriate or to provide it safely and appropriately.
4. How we use your personal information
We may use your personal information to:
- respond to enquiries;
- arrange and manage appointments;
- provide counselling, hypnotherapy, EFT or Reiki services;
- understand your needs and circumstances in relation to the service you are receiving;
- maintain appropriate client records;
- communicate with you about appointments and your service;
- provide information or materials relevant to your sessions;
- manage payments, invoices and business administration;
- maintain appropriate professional, legal and safeguarding records;
- comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
- protect the safety and wellbeing of clients and others where necessary;
- manage and improve our website;
- respond to requests relating to your data protection rights;
- send marketing communications where you have agreed to receive them or where another lawful basis permits us to do so; and
- protect the security of our website, systems and business.
We will only use your personal information for purposes that are compatible with the reasons for which it was collected, unless we are required or permitted to use it for another lawful purpose.
5. Our lawful bases for using your information
Under UK data protection law, we need a lawful basis for processing personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following:
Consent
Where you have given us permission to use your information for a particular purpose, we may rely on your consent.
For example, this may apply to certain marketing communications or where consent is the appropriate basis for processing particular information.
You can withdraw consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.
Contract
We may process information where this is necessary to provide services you have requested or to take steps at your request before entering into an agreement.
Legal obligation
We may process information where this is necessary for us to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Legitimate interests
We may process information where this is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
Our legitimate interests may include running and administering The Healing Mind, maintaining appropriate business records, managing enquiries, improving our services and website, maintaining security and protecting our business.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and whether your interests and rights are appropriately protected.
Vital interests
In limited circumstances, information may be processed where this is necessary to protect someone's vital interests.
6. How we use information received from other sources
In some circumstances, we may receive information about you from another person or organisation.
For example, this may include information provided by:
- a referral organisation;
- another healthcare or medical professional;
- a GP or other professional involved in your care; or
- another person where you have asked or authorised them to provide information.
Where we receive personal information from another source, we will handle it in accordance with applicable data protection law and provide any privacy information that we are required to provide.
7. Sharing your personal information
Your personal information is treated as confidential.
We do not sell your personal information.
We will only share your information with another person or organisation where there is a lawful reason for doing so.
This may include sharing information:
- where you have given permission;
- where this is necessary to provide a service you have requested;
- where we are required to do so by law;
- where this is necessary to protect someone's vital interests;
- where necessary for safeguarding;
- where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights; or
- with carefully selected service providers who process information on our behalf, where appropriate.
Where another organisation processes personal information for us, we take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate data protection and confidentiality arrangements are in place.
8. Confidentiality and safeguarding
Confidentiality is an important part of the therapeutic relationship.
Information shared with The Healing Mind will normally remain confidential. However, there are circumstances where confidentiality may need to be limited, for example where there is a serious concern about someone's safety, a safeguarding concern, or where disclosure is required by law.
Where possible and appropriate, we would normally discuss any proposed disclosure with you first.
However, there may be circumstances where this is not possible or appropriate.
9. How long we keep your information
We retain personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, taking into account our legal, professional, regulatory, accounting and safeguarding responsibilities.
Different types of information may therefore be retained for different periods.
Client records will be retained in accordance with the applicable professional, legal and insurance requirements for counselling and therapeutic practice.
Enquiry and appointment information that does not result in ongoing services will normally be retained for a limited period and then securely deleted when it is no longer required.
Financial and accounting records will be retained for the period required by applicable legislation.
Marketing information will be retained while you have agreed to receive marketing communications, or until you ask us to stop, subject to any information we may need to retain to record your request.
Record Retention and Data Disposal Policy is available on request.
When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or disposed of.
10. Keeping your information secure
We take the security of your personal information seriously.
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
Access to client information is limited to what is necessary for the running of The Healing Mind and the provision of services.
However, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
11. Emails, telephone and online communication
If you contact The Healing Mind by email, telephone or another communication method, information contained in those communications may be retained where it is necessary for the provision of services, administration, record keeping or other lawful purposes.
Where online counselling, hypnotherapy or other remote services are provided, we may use third-party communication platforms.
e.g. Zoom, Microsoft, WhatsApp. These services have their own privacy policies and terms, which you should review where appropriate.
12. Cookies and website analytics
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies.
Cookies may be used for purposes such as:
- enabling the website to function properly;
- remembering preferences;
- maintaining website security;
- understanding how visitors use the website; and
- website analytics and performance.
The cookies and similar technologies actually used on the website may change from time to time.
We will provide appropriate information about cookies and, where required, ask for your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device.
13. Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to other websites, including social media platforms and other organisations.
This Privacy Notice applies only to The Healing Mind and our website.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites. We recommend that you read the privacy notice of any website you visit.
14. International transfers
Some of the technology or service providers we use may process personal information outside the UK.
Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that the transfer is made in accordance with applicable UK data protection law and that appropriate safeguards are in place where required.
15. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you have rights under data protection law, including the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- ask us to delete your personal information where there is no lawful reason for us to continue processing it;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances;
- object to certain processing;
- request transfer of your information in certain circumstances;
- withdraw consent where we are relying on consent; and
- object to direct marketing.
These rights are subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions, so they do not apply in every circumstance.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact:
We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.
We will normally respond to a valid data protection request within the period required by law.
16. Marketing communications
If you have chosen to receive marketing communications from The Healing Mind, you can change your mind at any time.
You can unsubscribe using the link provided in marketing emails or contact us directly.
We will respect your request to stop receiving marketing communications.
17. Complaints
If you have any concerns about how The Healing Mind has handled your personal information, please contact us first using:
We will do our best to resolve your concerns.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the UK's independent supervisory authority for data protection.
Details of how to contact the ICO and make a complaint can be found on the ICO website.
18. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to our services, the way we process personal information, technology we use or changes in legal or regulatory requirements.
The date at the top of this notice shows when it was last updated.
Where a significant change affects how we use your personal information, we will take appropriate steps to bring the change to your attention.
19. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how The Healing Mind handles your personal information, please contact:
Karen Hemmings trading as The Healing Mind
Email: karen@thehealingmind.co.uk
Postal address: 12 The Flashes, Gnosall, Stafford. ST20 0HJ
Changes to this privacy notice and contact details
The Healing Mind reserves the right to change this privacy notice as we may deem necessary from time to time or as may be required by law.
You can see when this privacy notice was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the top of this privacy notice.
If you have any questions or concerns about our use of your personal information, please contact us at karen@thehealingmind.co.uk