Privacy Policy

This policy explains how I collect, use and look after your personal information when you contact me, book a consultation, or work with me. I take your privacy seriously, especially because the information shared in therapy and consulting can be sensitive.

It applies to the Connected Pathways website and to my work as a systemic practitioner and education consultant.

Who I am

I am Velma Bennett, trading as Connected Pathways, and I am the data controller responsible for your personal information.

• Email: hello@velmabennett.co.uk
• Area covered: Kent and online
• ICO data-protection registration number: C1971215

I am registered with the Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy (AFSP), and I work within their code of ethics.

The information I collect

When you make an enquiry or book a consultation

• Your name and contact details (email, and phone if you give it)
• Which service you're interested in, and anything you choose to tell me in your message
• The date and time you book, through my online booking calendar

When you become a client

• Contact and basic personal details
• Information relevant to our work together, which for therapy can include health, family, relationship and wellbeing information, and brief, secure session notes
• For education consulting, information about a child or young person, their school and their support needs, where relevant

When you pay

Payments are handled securely by my payment provider (Stripe). I receive a record that a payment was made, but I do not see or store your full card details.

When you use the website

This site keeps things minimal. It does not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.

Why I use your information, and my lawful basis

Under UK data protection law I must have a lawful basis for using your information. In short:

Sensitive information

Some of what we discuss, particularly in therapy, is "special category" information such as health and wellbeing. I treat this with extra care, only collect what is genuinely needed for our work, and keep it confidential within the limits below.

Confidentiality, and its limits

What you share with me is confidential. There are a small number of situations where I may need to share information without your consent:

• If I am seriously concerned about the safety of a child or vulnerable adult (safeguarding)
• If there is a risk of serious harm to you or someone else
• If I am required to by law, for example by a court order

Wherever possible I will talk to you first. I'll explain confidentiality and its limits clearly when we start working together.

Who I share your information with

I do not sell your information or share it for marketing. I use a small number of trusted providers to run my practice, who process information on my behalf under appropriate agreements:

• My practice management and booking system (Cliniko), which also provides secure video sessions
• My payment provider (Stripe)
• My website and email providers

I also discuss my work in clinical supervision, which is a professional requirement that keeps my practice safe and ethical. I keep clients anonymous in supervision wherever possible. I may share information with safeguarding authorities, or my professional indemnity insurer, only where genuinely necessary and lawful.

How long I keep it

I keep your information only for as long as I need it.

• Enquiries and website contact form messages that don't lead to working together: up to 12 months, then deleted. If we do go on to work together, your enquiry becomes part of your client record and the periods below apply instead
• Therapy and consulting records (adults): 7 years after our last session, in line with the Limitation Act 1980 and my professional indemnity insurance requirements
• Records of clients who were under 18 during our work: until they reach the age of 25, in line with the Limitation Act 1980 and my professional indemnity insurance requirements
• Payment and tax records: kept for as long as the law requires (currently six years)

Keeping your information secure

I store your information securely, limit access to it, and use reputable providers with their own security measures. Written session notes are kept on paper in a locked cabinet. Client and booking records are managed in Cliniko, a dedicated practice management system, encrypted in transit and at rest and protected by password. Email correspondence is held in a password-protected mailbox hosted in the EU.

Cliniko stores its data in Australia under a UK-compliant data processing agreement (standard contractual clauses with the UK addendum), so your information remains protected to UK standards wherever it is processed.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the information I hold about you
• Ask me to correct anything that's wrong
• Ask me to delete it, where I'm not required to keep it
• Ask me to restrict or object to how I use it
• Withdraw your consent at any time, where I rely on consent

To exercise any of these, just contact me using the details above. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113, though I'd hope you'd raise it with me first so I can put things right.

Children and young people

Where I work with children and young people, I do so with appropriate consent and with safeguarding in place. I hold an enhanced DBS check, kept up to date on the DBS Update Service.

Practice information and complaints

Connected Pathways is the trading name of Velma Bennett, a sole trader based in Kent. A postal address for correspondence is available on request. I hold professional indemnity insurance with Hiscox, covering my work in the UK.

If you are unhappy with my service, please raise it with me first so I can put things right. You can also contact the Association for Family and Systemic Psychotherapy (AFSP), whose code of ethics I work within. For concerns about your information, see "Your rights" above.

Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.