Privacy Policy – The Alvee Practice

Who we are

The Alvee Practice is a private psychotherapy practice operated by Christopher Spanton, located at 1715 London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 2SW. Christopher Spanton is the data controller for personal data collected through this website and through the direct provision of therapy services by Christopher Spanton.

Christopher Spanton and The Alvee Practice are not the data controller for any personal data relating to therapy conducted by associate therapists. Associates are self-employed practitioners who operate independently. Once you have been referred to and have begun working with an associate therapist, that associate is solely responsible for your data and acts as your data controller. The Alvee Practice has no access to, or responsibility for, data held by associate therapists in connection with your care.

Contact: therapy@thealveepractice.co.uk · 07742 569890

What personal data we collect

We may collect the following types of personal data:

Contact information — your name, email address, and phone number when you submit our contact form or contact us directly
Clinical information — information you share about your mental health, history, and presenting difficulties in the course of assessment and therapy
Session notes — confidential clinical records relating to your therapy sessions
Billing information — records of payments made for therapy sessions
Website usage data — anonymised data about how visitors use this website, collected via standard web analytics

How we use your data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries submitted via the contact form
To provide psychological therapy services and maintain clinical records
To manage appointments and communicate with you about your care
To fulfil legal and professional obligations, including those set by our accrediting bodies (BABCP, EMDR Europe)
To process payments for services

Legal basis for processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

Legitimate interests — responding to enquiries and providing information about our services
Contract — providing therapy services you have agreed to receive
Legal obligation — maintaining clinical records as required by our professional bodies
Vital interests — in rare circumstances where there is a serious risk to life

Clinical (special category) data is processed on the basis of health and social care purposes under Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR.

Confidentiality and when we may share your data

Everything you share in therapy is treated with strict confidentiality. We will not share your personal information with third parties except in the following circumstances:

Where you have given explicit consent
Where we are legally required to do so (e.g. a court order)
Where there is a serious and immediate risk to your life or the life of another person
Where required by our professional supervisors (in anonymised form)

Associate therapists and data sharing

The Alvee Practice works with a number of associate therapists. Associates are self-employed practitioners and are not employed by The Alvee Practice or by Christopher Spanton. Each associate operates their own independent clinical practice, holds their own professional indemnity insurance, and is responsible for their own data protection compliance and privacy policy. Their clinical records and client data are entirely separate from those of The Alvee Practice.

When you first make contact with The Alvee Practice, it may be that — following an initial conversation — it is suggested that working with one of our associate therapists would be the most appropriate option for you. In this situation, we will always seek your explicit consent before sharing any of your personal information with an associate therapist.

If you consent to a referral to an associate, the limited information shared (typically your name and contact details, and a brief summary of your reason for seeking help) will be passed directly to that therapist. From that point, your care will be solely with the associate therapist — not with Christopher Spanton or The Alvee Practice. The associate will be your data controller for all information relating to your therapy, and their own privacy policy will apply. You should request a copy of their privacy policy at the outset of your work with them.

The Alvee Practice will not retain clinical information relating to therapy conducted by an associate, and will not have access to the content of your sessions with them.

We use Formspree to process contact form submissions. Formspree acts as a data processor on our behalf and stores submitted data securely. Their privacy policy is available at formspree.io.

How long we keep your data

Clinical records are retained for a minimum of 7 years from the end of treatment (or until age 25 for records relating to children), in line with professional guidance. Contact enquiries that do not result in therapy are deleted within 12 months. You may request deletion of your data at any time, subject to our legal and professional obligations.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

The right to access your personal data
The right to rectification of inaccurate data
The right to erasure (in certain circumstances)
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object to processing

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at therapy@thealveepractice.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

Cookies

This website uses only essential functionality to operate. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. Standard server logs may record your IP address and browser information for security purposes.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page indicates when it was last revised. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.