Privacy Policy

Vikara Psychotherapy

Last updated: 08/12/2025

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Introduction

Vikara Psychotherapy ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and respect. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your information when you use our website and services.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

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Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

When you contact us or book a consultation, we may collect:

• Your name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Your preferred method of contact
• Whether you prefer online or in-person sessions
• A brief description of why you are seeking therapy
• Your preferred appointment times

Information collected automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• Your IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages you visit and time spent on our site
• Referring website address

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How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information to:

• Respond to your enquiries
• Schedule and manage consultations and appointments
• Provide psychotherapy services
• Send you information you have requested
• Comply with legal and professional obligations
• Improve our website and services

If you opt in to our newsletter, we will also use your email address to send you occasional updates about our services. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information under the following legal bases:

Consent — When you submit a contact form or sign up for our newsletter, you consent to us using your information for the stated purposes.

Contract — When you engage our therapy services, processing your information is necessary to fulfil our contract with you.

Legitimate interests — We may process data to improve our services and website functionality, where this does not override your rights.

Legal obligation — We may need to process your data to comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

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Special Category Data

As a psychotherapy practice, we may process sensitive personal information relating to your mental and physical health. This "special category" data is subject to additional protections under UK GDPR.

We only process health-related information:

• With your explicit consent
• Where necessary for the provision of health or social care services
• Where required by law

All clinical information shared during therapy sessions is kept strictly confidential in accordance with our professional and ethical obligations as a UKCP-registered psychotherapist.

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How We Store and Protect Your Data

Your personal information is stored securely and access is restricted to authorised personnel only. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Data retention: We retain your contact information for as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry or provide our services. Clinical records are retained in accordance with professional guidelines, typically for a minimum of seven years following the end of therapy.

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Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties.

We may share your information with:

• Professional supervisors (in anonymised form, as required by our professional body)
• Third-party service providers who help us operate our website (e.g., Squarespace, email providers), subject to appropriate data protection agreements
• Legal or regulatory authorities, if required by law

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Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Rectification — Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Erasure — Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal and professional retention requirements)
• Restriction — Request that we limit how we use your data
• Portability — Request transfer of your data to another service provider
• Objection — Object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing
• Withdraw consent — Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.

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Cookies

Our website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

We use:

• Essential cookies — Required for the website to function properly
• Analytics cookies — Help us understand how visitors use our site

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

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Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to external sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party websites and encourage you to read their privacy policies.

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Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

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Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact:

Sreena Pluck
Vikara Psychotherapy
Email: sreena@vikaratherapy.com

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Complaints