Privacy Notice

When you contact me or make an enquiry

• Your name and contact details, such as your email address and telephone number

• Your preferred method of contact and whether you are interested in online or in-person sessions

• Information you include in the consultation form, email, text message or other correspondence

• Any information about your physical or mental health that you choose to provide when explaining what you would like help with

If you become a client

• Contact details and any identifying information needed to maintain your client record

• The reasons you are seeking hypnotherapy and the outcomes you would like to achieve

• Relevant information about your health, medical history, medication, lifestyle or personal circumstances

• Consultation information, consent records, appointment details and session notes

• Relevant emails, text messages and other correspondence

• Invoices, payment records and other necessary administrative information

• Details of communications with another professional where you have authorised me to make contact

Website and technical information

When you visit the website, the hosting and security systems may automatically create basic technical records. These may include your IP address, browser or device type, the date and time of your visit and information recorded in security or server logs.

Invoke Hypnotherapy does not currently use Google Analytics, advertising pixels, embedded maps or embedded video services to track visitors.

Responding to enquiries and arranging consultations

I use your contact details and the information you provide to respond to your enquiry, discuss what you would like help with, answer questions, assess whether hypnotherapy may be suitable and arrange a consultation or appointment.

Lawful basis: Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Providing hypnotherapy services

I use your information to prepare for and provide sessions, manage appointments, communicate with you, maintain appropriate client records and administer our professional relationship.

Lawful basis: Performance of a contract

Health and other sensitive information

I may use information about your physical or mental health where it is relevant to assessing whether hypnotherapy is appropriate, planning and providing sessions or maintaining an accurate client record.

Lawful basis: Performance of a contract. The additional condition for health and other special-category information is your explicit consent.

Where sensitive information must be used or retained to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim, the legal-claims condition may apply instead.

Operating and protecting the website and business

I may use basic technical and administrative information to maintain website and information security, prevent misuse, manage business systems, respond to complaints and operate Invoke Hypnotherapy efficiently.

Lawful basis: My legitimate interests in operating and protecting Invoke Hypnotherapy, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms

Legal, accounting and emergency requirements

I may use or retain information where necessary to meet tax and accounting duties, respond to a court order or lawful request, establish or defend legal claims or protect someone’s life in a serious emergency.

Lawful basis: Legal obligation, legitimate interests or vital interests, depending on the circumstances.

Electronic client records

Client notes and related records are stored electronically in a locked, access-controlled folder. Access is restricted to me and the folder is not made publicly available or shared with people who do not require access.

Devices and accounts

Devices, email accounts and website-administration accounts used to handle personal information are protected using passwords, access controls and the security features available on those systems. I take reasonable care to keep login details private and to prevent unauthorised access.

Website forms and email

Information submitted through the consultation form is processed through WordPress and Fluent Forms on the website. Form notifications are sent to my business email account so that I can respond to your enquiry.

Form submissions may remain temporarily within the WordPress administration area until they are transferred, dealt with or no longer required.

Hosting and service providers

Hostinger provides the website-hosting and email infrastructure used by Invoke Hypnotherapy. These services may process or store limited personal information on my behalf while providing their services. Hostinger publishes a data-processing agreement covering its handling of personal information for customers.

Limiting access and disclosure

I only access, use or disclose personal information where it is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Where information must be shared, I aim to disclose only the minimum information required.

Enquiries that do not become clients

Enquiry forms, emails and related correspondence will normally be retained for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact. They may be deleted sooner where they are no longer required.

Client notes and therapy records

Consultation information, consent records, session notes and clinically relevant correspondence will normally be retained for seven years after your final session.

Records may be retained for longer where this is required by law, requested by my professional indemnity insurer or reasonably necessary in connection with a complaint, safeguarding matter or legal claim.

Routine communications

Routine appointment messages and administrative correspondence will be deleted when they are no longer required. Communications that form an important part of your client record may be retained with that record.

Financial and accounting information

Invoices, payment information and accounting records will be retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.

Self-employed business records will normally be retained for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year.

Website-form submissions

Information submitted through the website may remain temporarily within WordPress and Fluent Forms while the enquiry is being handled. Relevant information may be transferred to the appropriate client record if you become a client.

Form entries will be reviewed and deleted from the website when they are no longer needed, taking account of the retention periods described above.

Technical and security records

Website, hosting and security logs may be retained for the period set by the relevant hosting or security provider before being deleted or overwritten.

Website, hosting and email providers

Hostinger, WordPress and Fluent Forms may process limited personal information while providing website hosting, email, website-form and administrative services on my behalf.

These providers act as service providers or data processors and are only permitted to handle information for the purposes of delivering their services and supporting the operation of Invoke Hypnotherapy.

Healthcare and other professionals

I may contact your GP, another healthcare professional or another person involved in your care where this appears relevant and you have given clear consent for me to do so.

Where possible, I will explain what information will be shared, why it is needed and who will receive it before making contact.

Professional advisers

Personal information may be shared with professional advisers, such as an accountant, insurer or legal adviser, where this is reasonably necessary to obtain professional advice, manage the business, comply with legal duties or establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

Legal and safeguarding disclosures

Information may be disclosed where I am required to comply with a court order, warrant or other legal requirement.

Information may also be disclosed where this is reasonably necessary to protect you or another person from a serious risk of harm, safeguard a child or adult at risk, prevent or detect serious crime or respond to an emergency involving someone’s life.

Business transfer or service change

If Invoke Hypnotherapy is sold, transferred or restructured, limited information may be disclosed to professional advisers or a successor business where necessary. Appropriate steps would be taken to protect confidentiality and ensure that personal information continues to be handled lawfully.

Form entries will be reviewed and deleted from the website when they are no longer needed, taking account of the retention periods described above.

Professional supervision

I may discuss aspects of my client work with a suitably qualified professional supervisor or peer consultant to support safe and effective practice. Wherever reasonably possible, information is anonymised and names or other directly identifying details are not disclosed.

Where applicable, you may have the right to:

• Ask for access to the personal information I hold about you and receive a copy.

• Ask for inaccurate information to be corrected or incomplete information to be completed.

• Ask for your information to be deleted where there is no valid reason for it to continue being held.

• Ask for the use of your information to be restricted in certain circumstances.

• Object to the use of your information, particularly where it is being used on the basis of legitimate interests.

• Ask to receive or transfer information you provided electronically where the right to data portability applies.

• Withdraw your consent at any time where consent is being relied upon.

Complaints to Invoke Hypnotherapy

You can make a data-protection complaint by emailing info@invokehypnotherapy.com. Please explain your concern and include any information that may help me identify the relevant records and investigate what has happened.

I will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days. I will take appropriate steps to investigate it, keep you informed where necessary and communicate the outcome without undue delay.

Complaints to the Information Commissioner’s Office

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the United Kingdom’s independent data-protection regulator, particularly if you are dissatisfied with how your concern has been handled.

Strictly necessary technologies

This website may use technologies that are necessary for security, website administration, form operation and other functions requested by the visitor. These cannot always be disabled without affecting how the website works.

Consent is not normally required where a technology is strictly necessary to provide a service requested by the visitor, although visitors must still be given clear information about its use.

Analytics and advertising

Invoke Hypnotherapy does not currently use Google Analytics, advertising pixels or similar technologies to analyse visitors, create advertising profiles or deliver targeted advertising.

Embedded third-party content

The website does not currently use embedded Google Maps or embedded video services that track visitors through this website.

Future changes

If analytics, advertising, embedded media or other non-exempt technologies are added in the future, this notice will be updated and an appropriate consent mechanism will be introduced before those technologies are activated.

Keeping this notice current

This Privacy Notice may be updated if my services, website systems, legal obligations or the ways in which I handle personal information change.

The date shown at the top of this page indicates when the notice was most recently updated. Where a significant change affects how existing personal information is used, I will take reasonable steps to bring that change to the attention of the people affected before beginning the new use.

Contact details

Questions about this Privacy Notice or the handling of your personal information can be sent to: