I take your privacy seriously and am committed to handling your personal information carefully and confidentially. This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and protect personal data when you use my website, contact me, book an appointment or work with me for counselling, coaching or couples counselling.

This Privacy Policy is primarily governed by the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP/DSG) and the associated Data Protection Ordinance (DPO/DSV). Where applicable, other data protection laws may also apply, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Who is responsible for your personal data?

The person responsible for processing your personal data is:

Sara Nicol
Heliosstrasse 12
Zürich, Switzerland

Email: contact@saranicolpsychology.com

If you have any questions about how your personal data is handled, or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact me using the email address above.

2. What personal information do I collect?

Depending on how you interact with me, I may collect:

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

• Appointment and booking information

• Payment and invoicing information

• Information you choose to provide when making an enquiry

• Information discussed during counselling, coaching or couples counselling sessions

• Relevant information about your personal circumstances, wellbeing and reasons for seeking support

• Correspondence between you and me, including emails and other communications

• Technical information relating to your use of my website, such as IP address, browser type and information collected through cookies or analytics

Some of the information you may provide in the course of counselling or coaching may constitute sensitive personal data, including information relating to your health or psychological wellbeing. I only collect and process information that is relevant to providing my services and managing my professional relationship with you.

3. How I use your information

I use your personal information where necessary to:

• Respond to enquiries and communicate with you

• Arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments

• Provide counselling, coaching and couples counselling

• Maintain appropriate professional records

• Communicate with you about your sessions

• Process payments and issue invoices or receipts

• Meet accounting, tax and other legal obligations

• Maintain the security and proper functioning of my website and systems

• Respond to legal requests or protect my legal rights where necessary

I will not sell your personal information or use your counselling or coaching information for advertising purposes.

4. Your counselling and coaching records

Information discussed during your sessions is treated as confidential.

I may keep appropriate notes relating to your sessions to support continuity and quality of care. These records are stored securely and are accessible only to me, except where access by a service provider is necessary to operate the systems used to store or process the information.

I will retain personal and session information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, taking into account professional, legal, accounting and other applicable obligations.

Where there is a legal requirement to retain particular information, I will retain it for the required period.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or destroyed where appropriate.

5. Confidentiality

Information you share with me during counselling, coaching or couples counselling is treated as confidential.

I will not normally disclose information about you or your sessions to another person without your permission.

There may, however, be circumstances where information needs to be disclosed without your consent, for example where this is required by law, by a court or other competent authority, or where disclosure is necessary to protect someone from a serious and imminent risk of harm.

Where reasonably possible and appropriate, I will discuss any proposed disclosure with you beforehand.

If your sessions are arranged or paid for by another person or organisation, such as an employer or family member, I will not disclose the content of your sessions to them without your consent, unless there is a legal requirement to do so.

6. Supervision and professional development

As part of my ongoing professional development, I may discuss aspects of my professional work with a suitably qualified professional supervisor or peer.

Where a case is discussed, I take care to protect your confidentiality and avoid sharing information that would unnecessarily identify you.

7. Online sessions and communications

Where sessions take place online, I use third-party technology providers to facilitate video or telephone sessions.

I take reasonable steps to use services that provide appropriate security measures. However, no internet-based communication or technology can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You should avoid sending highly sensitive information by ordinary email where it is not necessary to do so.

8. Email

I use Zoho Mail for professional email communication.

Your emails and contact information may therefore be processed by Zoho as a service provider. I take reasonable steps to ensure that the devices and accounts I use to access your information are protected by passwords, encryption and appropriate security measures.

9. Appointments and payments

Appointments may be booked through Acuity Scheduling, which is part of Squarespace.

If you book an appointment through Acuity, information such as your name, contact details, appointment details and other information you choose to provide through the booking process may be processed by Acuity/Squarespace.

Payments may be processed through third-party payment providers such as Stripe or PayPal, depending on the payment method you choose.

I do not receive or store your full card or payment credentials where these are processed directly by the relevant payment provider.

These providers process personal data according to their own privacy policies and terms.

10. Third-party service providers

I use selected third-party providers to operate my website, booking system, communications and payment services.

These may include:

• Squarespace – website hosting and related services

• Acuity Scheduling – appointment booking

• Stripe – payment processing

• PayPal – payment processing

• Zoho Mail – email

• Video/online-session providers used for remote sessions

• Google Analytics, where enabled, for website analytics

These providers may process personal data on my behalf in order to provide their services.

Where personal data is transferred outside Switzerland, I take the measures required under Swiss data protection law for international data transfers. Depending on the destination, this may include relying on a country recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection or using appropriate contractual safeguards.

11. Website and cookies

When you visit my website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including information about your device, browser and how you interact with the website.

My website is hosted by Squarespace.

The website may use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the operation, security and functionality of the website. Other cookies or analytics technologies may be used where applicable.

I may use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use my website and to improve its content and functionality.

You can control or restrict cookies through your browser settings and, where applicable, through the cookie settings provided on the website.

Swiss data protection guidance requires website privacy information to explain what data is collected, why it is processed and whether it is passed to third parties.

12. Marketing communications

I may send occasional marketing or informational emails where you have chosen to receive them.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link provided in the email or by contacting me directly.

I will not sell your contact information or provide it to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

13. Data security

I take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures include appropriate password protection, device security and secure storage systems.

However, no method of electronic storage or transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

14. How long I keep your information

I retain personal information only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required by law.

Different types of information may therefore be retained for different periods.

For example, accounting and business records may need to be retained for 10 years under Swiss law.

Information relating to counselling or coaching will be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for professional, legal and administrative purposes, taking into account any applicable professional or legal requirements.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or destroyed.

15. Your rights

Under Swiss data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal data, including, where applicable:

• The right to request information about whether I process personal data about you and to receive information about that data

• The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data

• The right to request deletion of personal data, subject to legal or other legitimate reasons why information may need to be retained

• The right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances

• The right to object to certain processing

• The right to request data portability where the legal requirements are met

Swiss data protection law does not give an unrestricted right to have all information immediately deleted. For example, information may need to be retained to meet legal obligations or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact:

contact@saranicolpsychology.com

I may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

16. Withdrawal of consent

Where I rely on your consent to process particular personal information, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before the withdrawal.

Please note that some information may continue to be processed where there is another legal basis or obligation allowing me to do so.

17. International data protection

Because I use international technology and service providers, your personal data may in some circumstances be processed outside Switzerland.

Swiss law requires appropriate safeguards for international transfers where the destination country does not provide an adequate level of data protection. Where required, appropriate contractual or other safeguards will be used.

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in my services, technology or legal requirements.

The current version will always be available on this website, together with the date on which it was last updated.

19. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the way your personal information is handled, please contact me:

Sara Nicol
Heliosstrasse 12
Zürich, Switzerland
contact@saranicolpsychology.com

Last updated: September 2026