Ariadne Practice — Privacy Policy
30 Sept 2026 ·
Who we are
Ariadne Practice is a private psychotherapy practice run by Calum Roche at 8 Hop Gardens, London WC2N 4EH. Calum Roche is the data controller for the information described here.
This policy explains what personal information is collected through this website and in the course of therapeutic work, why it is held, how it is kept, and what rights you have over it.
You can contact me about anything in this policy at calum@ariadnepractice.com.
[ICO registration number: to be added once registered.]
What information is collected
When you make an enquiry. The enquiry form on this site asks for your name, your email address, and whatever you choose to tell me about what has brought you here. There is also an optional field about how it is safe to contact you. You decide how much to write; nothing beyond a name and an email address is required.
When you email me directly. Whatever you include in your message, and your email address.
If we begin working together. Contact details, a record of appointments and payments, and brief clinical notes. Notes are kept to what is necessary for the work and are not a verbatim record of sessions. Where relevant I may also hold the name of your GP or another professional involved in your care, if you have given this to me.
When you visit this website. Squarespace, which hosts the site, collects basic technical information such as your device type, browser, and general location. This is described in the cookies section below.
Why it is held, and the lawful basis
Information is used to respond to enquiries, to arrange and provide therapy, to keep the records required of a practitioner in training, and to meet legal and professional obligations.
Under UK GDPR, the lawful bases are:
Information
Lawful basis
Enquiry details
Legitimate interests — responding to someone who has contacted me about therapy
Contact and appointment records
Contract — necessary to provide the service agreed between us
Clinical notes and anything you tell me about your health
Article 9(2)(h) — the provision of health or social care
Records kept for insurance, tax, or complaints
Legal obligation
Information about your health, and anything touching on matters such as your beliefs or relationships, is special category data under UK GDPR and is treated with the additional protections that status requires.
How information is kept
Enquiries submitted through this website are held by Squarespace and sent to my practice email address. Email is held with [email provider].
Clinical notes are kept [describe: for example, in a locked cabinet at the practice address, or in an encrypted file on a password-protected device]. Notes are pseudonymised, so that identifying details are held separately from the notes themselves.
Devices are password-protected and encrypted. Paper records, where held, are stored in a locked cabinet.
No information is transferred outside the UK or European Economic Area except where a service provider, such as the website host, stores data elsewhere under the safeguards required by UK data protection law.
How long it is kept
Record
Kept for
Enquiries that do not lead to therapy
[6 months, then deleted]
Clinical notes and contact records
[7 years from the end of therapy — confirm with insurer]
Notes relating to a patient under 18
[until their 25th birthday, or 26th if they were 17 at the end of therapy]
Financial records
6 years, as required by HMRC
At the end of these periods, records are securely destroyed. Paper is shredded and electronic files are permanently deleted.
Who it is shared with
What you tell me is confidential. It is shared only in the circumstances set out below.
Clinical supervision. As a practitioner in training, I discuss my clinical work in regular supervision. Patient material is presented anonymously, without names or identifying details. My supervisor is bound by the same duty of confidentiality. This is a requirement of psychotherapeutic practice and a safeguard on the quality of the work.
Where there is serious risk. If I believe there is a serious risk to your life or to someone else's, I may need to contact your GP, another healthcare professional, or emergency services. Wherever possible I would discuss this with you first.
Where the law requires it. Certain disclosures are required by law, for example in relation to terrorism or the safeguarding of a child or vulnerable adult, or under a court order.
In the event of my death or incapacity. A nominated colleague would contact patients and manage records. This person is bound by the same duty of confidentiality.
Service providers. Squarespace hosts this website and processes enquiry form submissions. [Email provider] handles email. These providers act on my instructions and cannot use your information for their own purposes.
Your information is never sold, and is not used for marketing.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
ask for a copy of the information I hold about you
ask for inaccurate information to be corrected
ask for information to be deleted, where I am not required to keep it
ask that I restrict how your information is used
object to my holding information on the basis of legitimate interests
receive your information in a portable format
withdraw consent, where consent is the basis on which information is held
To exercise any of these, email calum@ariadnepractice.com. I will respond within one month.
Some limits apply to clinical notes. I may need to keep records for the periods described above even after therapy ends, and where notes refer to another identifiable person, parts may be withheld to protect their confidentiality.
Cookies and website analytics
This website is built on Squarespace, which sets cookies necessary for the site to function and to keep it secure.
[If analytics are enabled: The site also uses Squarespace Analytics, which collects anonymous information about how visitors use the site, such as pages viewed and how visitors arrived. This does not identify you individually.]
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking them may affect how parts of the site work.
[If no third-party analytics or advertising cookies are used, say so plainly here — it is reassuring on a site of this kind.]
Questions and complaints
If you have a question about this policy, or a concern about how your information has been handled, please contact me first at calum@ariadnepractice.com. I would rather hear about it directly and put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
This policy was last updated on 30 September 2026. It is reviewed annually, and sooner if the way information is handled changes.