Legal Notice
GCLS LEGAL, PRIVACY & REGULATORY NOTICE
Last updated: September 2026
This Legal, Privacy and Regulatory Notice applies to www.gcls.co.uk, all pages within that website and the counselling, supervision and life-coaching services promoted through it.
1. Website operator
This website is operated by:
Goldoption Counselling and Lifecoaching Services (GCLS)
Proprietor/Legal Entity: Dr Jo-Ann Rowland trading as Goldoption Counselling and Lifecoaching Services
Business status: Sole Trader
Business address: +44 07957727096
Telephone: +44 07957727096
Email: goldoptions@hotmail.co.uk
2. Professional status and accreditation
Dr Jo-Ann Rowland is an accredited and registered counsellor with the Association of Christians Counsellors (ACC).
Dr Rowland practises in accordance with the professional and ethical standards applicable to her ACC membership, including ACC's Ethics and Practice and relevant professional practice requirements.
ACC maintains a counselling and psychotherapy register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). ACC distinguishes between registered counsellors and those who have undergone its further accreditation process. ACC provides professional registration, accreditation, ethical standards and accountability through its accredited register.
GCLS will endeavour to ensure that all statements concerning qualifications, professional membership, registration and accreditation remain accurate and current.
3. Christian counselling and respect for clients' beliefs
ACC is a Christian professional membership organisation. However, GCLS welcomes clients irrespective of religion, belief or absence of religious belief.
Religious or spiritual matters will be incorporated into counselling only where appropriate to the client's needs and wishes. A counsellor's personal beliefs will not be imposed upon a client.
ACC expressly states that its members work with people of all faiths and none and that its ethical framework does not permit counsellors to impose their faith upon clients.
GCLS is committed to treating clients fairly and without unlawful discrimination.
4. Purpose of this website
The information on this website is provided to explain the counselling, supervision, life-coaching and related professional services offered by GCLS.
Accessing or reading this website, sending an enquiry or completing a contact form does not by itself establish a counsellor-client, supervisor-supervisee or coach-client relationship.
A professional relationship begins only when GCLS has agreed to provide a service and any required assessment, client agreement, consent arrangements and booking requirements have been completed.
Information appearing on the website is general information and is not intended to constitute individual psychological, medical, psychiatric, legal or other professional advice.
5. Counselling and life coaching
Counselling and life coaching have different purposes.
Counselling may involve exploration of emotional, psychological, relationship, behavioural, spiritual and life experiences.
Life coaching normally focuses on goals, decision-making, development, performance, confidence and personal or professional growth.
Life coaching should not be regarded as a substitute for medical, psychiatric or psychological diagnosis or treatment where such treatment is required.
GCLS will exercise the professional care and skill reasonably expected when providing its services. UK consumer law requires services supplied to consumers to be performed with reasonable care and skill.
No counsellor or coach can guarantee a particular result, improvement or outcome. Progress depends on numerous factors, including individual circumstances and client engagement.
6. Emergencies and crisis situations
GCLS is not an emergency, crisis-response or emergency psychiatric service.
Website forms, email, voicemail and ordinary appointment channels should not be used where a person is in immediate danger or requires urgent medical or psychiatric assistance.
If you or another person is in immediate danger, call 999 or attend the nearest Accident & Emergency department.
Where urgent but non-emergency NHS assistance is required, contact the appropriate NHS urgent-care or mental-health service.
7. Confidentiality
Counselling communications are treated as confidential in accordance with professional standards, applicable law and the terms agreed with the client.
Confidentiality is not absolute.
Information may need to be disclosed where, for example, there is a serious safeguarding concern, a significant risk of serious harm, a legal obligation to disclose information, a court order, prevention or detection of serious unlawful activity, or another lawful and professionally justified reason.
Where reasonably possible and professionally appropriate, relevant confidentiality limitations will be discussed with the client.
The existing GCLS FAQ already explains that confidentiality may be limited where withholding information would place the client or another person at risk.
8. Professional supervision
Counselling professionals may discuss aspects of clinical work within professional supervision for the purpose of maintaining safe, ethical and effective practice.
Where practicable, information used within supervision will be minimised and clients will not unnecessarily be identified.
Professional supervisors are themselves expected to observe appropriate duties of confidentiality.
9. Fees
Current fees are displayed on the GCLS Fees page.
Unless otherwise stated, quoted counselling, supervision and life-coaching fees are:
per session or per hour.
Where a personalised quotation is given, the quotation and any conditions applying to it will be confirmed before the service begins.
10. Distance bookings and 14-day cancellation rights
Where a consumer concludes a contract with GCLS remotely — for example by telephone, email or online — statutory cancellation rights may arise under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
In circumstances where those Regulations apply, a consumer will ordinarily have 14 days from conclusion of the service contract in which to cancel without giving a reason.
If the client expressly requests that counselling, coaching or another service starts within that 14-day period, GCLS may begin providing the service. If the client later cancels during the cooling-off period, the client may be required to pay a proportionate amount for services already provided.
Where the service has been completely performed during the cancellation period following the client's express request and acknowledgement that the cancellation right will be lost on complete performance, the statutory cancellation right may cease.
These statutory rights are separate from GCLS's ordinary appointment cancellation/no-show policy, which should be stated in the client agreement.
Nothing in GCLS's terms removes statutory consumer rights.
11. Appointment cancellation and missed appointments
GCLS's normal appointment cancellation terms are:
“At least 48 hours' notice is required to cancel or rearrange an appointment. Where less notice is provided, the full session fee is payable unless GCLS agrees otherwise.”
12. Complaints
GCLS seeks to provide services professionally, fairly and ethically.
A client who has a concern should normally raise it initially with:
Dr Jo-Ann Rowland / GCLS
Email: goldoptions@hotmail.co.uk
Complaints address: goldoptions@hotmail.co.uk
Telephone: +44 7957727096
GCLS will acknowledge and consider complaints appropriately and aim to resolve concerns fairly.
As an ACC accredited member, Dr Jo-Ann Rowland is also accountable to the relevant ACC professional standards. A complaint concerning alleged professional or ethical misconduct may, where appropriate, be made through the ACC complaints procedure.
ACC states that counsellor members are required to follow its Ethics and Practice and provides a formal route for complaints concerning professional conduct.
13. Consumer rights
Nothing contained on this website or within GCLS's client terms is intended to exclude or restrict rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Consumer services are subject, where applicable, to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and other consumer-protection legislation.
Commercial statements made on the website must be truthful, transparent and not misleading. The unfair-commercial-practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 have applied since 6 April 2025 and prohibit misleading, aggressive and otherwise unfair commercial practices.
14. Website information and limitation of liability
GCLS takes reasonable steps to keep website information accurate and current but cannot guarantee that every page will at all times be free from typographical errors, technical faults or outdated information.
Website information should not be relied upon as a substitute for advice tailored to an individual's circumstances.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, GCLS is not responsible for losses arising solely from reliance upon general website information where no professional service has been agreed.
Nothing in this Legal Notice excludes or restricts liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or statutory consumer rights that cannot legally be excluded.
15. Intellectual property
Unless otherwise stated, the text, branding, GCLS logo, original graphics, documents and other original material appearing on this website are owned by or licensed to GCLS and are protected by applicable intellectual-property law, including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
GCLS material must not be reproduced, republished, modified, sold or commercially exploited without prior permission unless permitted by law.
Third-party names, logos, photographs and other content remain the property of their respective owners.
16. External websites
The GCLS website may contain links to independent third-party websites and services.
Links are provided for convenience and information. Unless expressly stated otherwise, a link does not constitute GCLS endorsement of all information, products, opinions or services appearing on the linked website.
Third-party sites operate under their own terms, security measures, privacy notices and cookie practices.
17. Online counselling platforms
GCLS currently states that online and telephone sessions are available, and previous pages identify services such as Zoom.
Where an online communication provider is used, clients may also be subject to that provider's technical and privacy arrangements.
GCLS will take reasonable steps to select and configure online services appropriately, but clients should use a private environment, secure device and suitable internet connection when attending confidential remote sessions.
PRIVACY NOTICE
18. Who controls your information?
For data-protection purposes, the controller is:
Dr Jo-Ann Rowland trading as Goldoption Counselling and Lifecoaching Services (GCLS)
Email: goldoptions@hotmail.co.uk
Telephone: +44 7957727096
Data-protection contact: Dr Jo-Ann Rowland
The UK GDPR requires organisations to tell people who controls their information, why it is used, the lawful basis, recipients, retention, international transfers and their individual rights.
19. Information GCLS may collect
Depending upon the relationship with GCLS, personal information may include your name, address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, emergency contact details, appointment information, payment and invoice information, correspondence, referral information, counselling or coaching records, assessment information, safeguarding information and complaints.
Counselling may involve information about physical or mental health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual life or sexual orientation and other particularly sensitive matters.
Such information may constitute special-category personal data and receives additional protection under UK data-protection law.
GCLS may also receive limited technical information when you use the website, such as IP address, browser information and cookie or similar technology data.
20. Why GCLS uses personal information
Personal information may be used to respond to enquiries, arrange appointments, assess whether GCLS can appropriately provide a service, deliver counselling, supervision or coaching, communicate with clients, maintain appropriate professional records, process fees and accounts, fulfil professional and insurance obligations, protect clients and others where safeguarding concerns arise, manage complaints, establish or defend legal claims, administer the website and comply with applicable legal obligations.
21. Lawful basis
For ordinary personal information, GCLS may process information where necessary to take steps requested before entering a contract, to perform its contract with the client, comply with a legal obligation, protect vital interests or pursue legitimate interests where those interests are not overridden by the individual's rights.
For special-category information, GCLS must have an additional Article 9 condition. Depending on the circumstances this may include the individual's explicit consent, processing connected with lawful health or care purposes where applicable, legal claims, vital interests, or the statutory provisions concerning counselling and safeguarding.
The DPA 2018 expressly contains conditions relating to counselling and safeguarding of children and individuals at risk. Where the counselling substantial-public-interest condition is relied upon, additional documentation and safeguards may be required.
GCLS documents the lawful bases it actually relies upon rather than choosing a basis retrospectively.
22. Confidentiality and sharing
GCLS does not sell client information.
Information will be shared only where reasonably necessary and lawful. Recipients may include carefully selected service providers supporting secure IT, website hosting, email, accounting, payment processing or video communications; a professional supervisor; an insurer or professional adviser; ACC in appropriate professional proceedings; safeguarding bodies; emergency services; courts; regulators; or other authorities where a lawful disclosure is required.
Where possible, only the minimum necessary information will be disclosed.
23. International transfers
Some electronic service providers may process or permit access to information outside the United Kingdom.
Where this amounts to a restricted international transfer, GCLS will take appropriate steps required by UK data-protection law, such as relying on UK adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards.
The ICO confirms that restricted international transfers must have a recognised transfer mechanism.
24. Retention
GCLS will retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to comply with professional, safeguarding, legal, insurance and accounting requirements.
The final policy should state GCLS's actual retention periods, for example:
Client clinical/counselling records: 2 years
Unsuccessful enquiries: 6 months
Financial records: 2 years
Complaints: 2 years
Website/contact enquiries: 1 year
These periods should be agreed with GCLS's professional insurer and ACC requirements before publication. The ICO requires a privacy notice to state either actual retention periods or the criteria used to determine them.
25. Security
GCLS will use appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration or disclosure.
Because ordinary email and internet communications can never be guaranteed to be completely secure, clients should avoid placing unnecessary highly sensitive information in the website's initial contact form.
A useful notice immediately underneath every website enquiry form would be:
Privacy notice: Please provide only the information needed for us to respond to your enquiry. Do not include detailed confidential or clinical information in this form. Information submitted will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Notice.
26. Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis being used, individuals may have rights to obtain access to their personal information, request correction, request erasure, restrict processing, object to certain processing, obtain data portability and withdraw consent where processing depends upon consent.
Some rights are qualified and may not apply to every item of counselling information.
Requests should be sent to goldoptions@hotmail.co.uk.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your personal information has been handled unlawfully.
Information Commissioner's Office
COOKIES AND WEBSITE TRACKING
27. Cookies
GCLS may use cookies and similar storage or access technologies to operate, secure and understand use of the website.
Strictly necessary technologies may be used where the law permits them without consent.
Other technologies will be used only where the required consent has been obtained or a specific statutory exception applies.
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduced additional limited exceptions for certain low-risk functionality and statistical uses, and the ICO issued final updated storage-and-access guidance in April 2026.
GCLS should carry out a technical cookie audit before publishing a cookie table, because the exact cookies used by the website platform, analytics provider, embedded social-media tools and other third parties cannot safely be guessed from the visible pages.
28. Changes to this notice
GCLS may update this notice where services, technology, professional requirements or legislation change.
The latest version will be published on the GCLS website and identified by its revision date.
Material changes affecting the way existing client information is used will be communicated where required by law.
29. Governing law
This website and these terms are governed by the law of England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland, subject to any mandatory rights that a consumer has under applicable law.
The courts of England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland will have jurisdiction, except where applicable consumer law gives the consumer the right to bring proceedings elsewhere.
