Privacy and cookie policy

At Return to Wellness I am committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy and cookie policy explains the data Return to Wellness collects about you, why and how it does that, how it stores your data and when it gets rid of it.

Return to Wellness is the trading name of Barbara Babcock Coaching & Consulting which is registered as a sole trader entity. Return to Wellness provides coaching, training, facilitation, consulting and research services to individuals, community groups, charities and organisations.

As Return to Wellness supports people to rebuild and renew their lives after experiencing a serious health issue and supports others doing the same (coaches and healthcare professionals for example), it does deal with sensitive health information. So respecting your privacy is very important to the work of Return to Wellness.

As Return to Wellness consists of one person, throughout this policy ‘Return to Wellness’ and ‘I’ are used interchangeably.

This isn’t a short read as I want and need to be clear with you on the data Return to Wellness collects, why, how it stores the data and for how long it keeps it. So you may want a cup of coffee, tea or water to hand.

If you subscribe to Return to Wellness’s email newsletter

You may subscribe to Return to Wellness’s e-newsletter by signing up for it directly here or by downloading a free resource such as the Wellness Appreciation Workbook or the Prepare for Coaching guide for example.

If you download a free resource, the process is double opt-in and makes it clear you will be put on the distribution list for the e-newsletter.

Whichever way you sign up for the newsletter, you are asked for your first and last name, which are optional to provide, and your email address, which is required.

The contact details you provide are stored in Mailchimp, which is a third-party web-based email service provider. Return to Wellness only uses your contact details to send you the information you requested, which may be the free resource and/or the e-newsletter.

From time to time, Return to Wellness downloads the contact list kept on Mailchimp as a security measure in case there is an issue with Mailchimp. This is file is password protected and is kept on a computer which is password protected.

Return to Wellness does not donate, give or sell your data to third parties and never will.

How to unsubscribe from receiving e-newsletters

If you no longer want to receive the e-newsletter, you can unsubscribe using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each e-newsletter. By clicking on that link, you will be automatically unsubscribed from all future e-newsletters.

You can also send an email to barbara@returntowellness.co.uk and I can unsubscribe you and delete your details from Mailchimp and my files.

If you take part in any research I am doing

From time to time I speak to people affected by a serious health issue to get their views on a particular topic in relation to living with a serious health issue such as acceptance or returning to work for example. The purpose is to keep up to date with the ways people deal with the many issues of dealing with a serious health issue, to find out their concerns, but also to collate people’s experiences to share them anonymously to help others in a similar situation.

When a person takes part, the purpose of the project or discussion is made clear to them including the info I gather, how I will store it and what I will do with it. The information I gather is their first and last name; email address or social media username (depending on how the person contacted me as people get in touch with me via my website, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn); a way to get in touch with the person (mobile, landline, or video conferencing such as skype); and information in relation to the research topic.

This means I inevitably collect some health information in relation to the individual including age (which can be approximate), gender, and the condition they have. I may also ask how the person is affected by their condition but only to the degree this knowledge is relevant to the topic being discussed and only as much as the person wishes to give.

Prospective participants receive an information sheet which outlines the info which will be collected. They can withdraw at any time from the project even after the interview and the data they provided will be deleted.

Notes are taken in hard copy form during the interview, typed up afterwards and stored in password protected files on a password protected computer. The hard copy version is then shredded.

Data is reported on an aggregate and anonymous basis so no one participant can be identified from it. The data is reported in the form of an article, blog post(s), and/or presentation. Once the data has been analysed and reported, it is deleted.

If you become a coaching client

If you decide to become a coaching client, I collect the following information.

For the purposes of being in touch with you and the coaching agreement, I collect your first and last name, email address, and phone number (mobile and/or landline). If we will have our sessions via video conference, I will collect any relevant username (skype for example). The coaching agreement also requests your postal address.

If you provide the signed coaching agreement in hard copy, I keep it under lock and key in a file cupboard. If you email a scanned signed copy, I keep it on my computer which is password protected.

Given my coaching practice focuses on supporting people who have experienced a serious health issue, whether they have the health issue or are in the caring role, I often hear sensitive health information from clients.

The only information I intentionally collect is your condition (particularly if I haven’t heard about it before, so I can look it up and learn about it), how long you have had it, and how it affects you but only in relation to how it may affect our work together. For example, a person who has fatigue may only be able to do a 30 or 45 minute session rather than the typical 60 minute session.

As a client you may voluntarily give me more information about your condition and how you are affected by it, but I do not record this information.

For the purpose of our coaching work, I also collect your goals/priorities and the actions you set yourself to meet them. Coaching is a confidential relationship built on trust and as the client you may tell me personal things about yourself. It is my practice as a coach not to take additional notes over and above the info I collect. However, I will invite you as the client to keep your own notes and reflections of our work together as it is a very useful way of dealing with what is happening for you. This is optional of course and I do not ask you to share this information with me.

I only hold the information I collect for the duration of the coaching relationship in a locked file cupboard if it is in hard copy, or in a password protected file on a password protected computer if I had typed up any notes I did make. It is shredded and deleted from my computer after our final coaching session.

I do not automatically put clients on Return to Wellness’s e-newsletter subscription list. As a client you will be invited to subscribe to it, but it is your choice whether you do or not.

The following are situations where I would like to provide high level information from our coaching sessions to a few parties.

• To anonymously and hypothetically share certain topics from our coaching sessions with my coach supervisor to enhance my professional development as a coach and ensure my coaching practice is ethical.
• When referring to previous experience to prospective clients, to describe the topics I often work with, i.e. coming to terms with a serious health issue, returning to work, family dynamics, mentor coaching, etc. This would be provided on a no-name basis unless you agree to act as a reference or provide a testimonial.

As a coach who maintains my professional credential with the International Coach Federation (ICF), I am required to complete an attestation of coaching experience when I seek to renew or upgrade my credential. The ICF may request me to verify my experience by providing a coaching log showing the name and email address of clients, start and end dates of coaching assignments, and the number of coaching hours per client (not the topics or content of sessions). The ICF may contact you to verify that we worked together. If I am requested by the ICF to submit my coaching log, the ICF retains this information for six months after my application has been processed and then deletes it.

When Return to Wellness would need to  break confidentiality for legal reasons

The only time I am bound to break confidentiality is when the law requires it.

• You tell me you are going to commit or have committed a crime/act of terror.
• I receive a court order requiring Return to Wellness to share information.
• You threaten the safety of Return to Wellness staff.
• You directly ask Return to Wellness to pass on information about you to someone else.
• You say you are going to harm yourself or others.
• You are in a situation which has or could cause you harm.
• You give Return to Wellness information about someone else who has caused harm or is planning to cause harm to someone who is deemed vulnerable.

If your contact details change

If your details change, you can update your them by clicking on the ‘update your preferences’ link at the bottom of an e-newsletter. Or you can email me at barbara@returntowellness.co.uk and I can update them.

If you are not happy about something

Return to Wellness seeks to support its clients, followers and readers to the best of its ability at all times. If there is something you are not completely happy with, please let me know. You can get in touch with me at barbara@returntowellness.co.uk.

The more specific you can be regarding whatever it is you are not happy about, the greater my ability to help you and/or change Return to Wellness’s practices.

Right to access information about you

You have the right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to ask for a copy of the information Return to Wellness holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected.  If you wish to make what is known as a ‘subject access request’, please email it to me at barbara@returntowellness.co.uk.

I will ask for proof of your identity including your name and postal address. I will provide the response by registered mail to a postal address. If you are unable to provide proof of your identity or do not wish to, Return to Wellness may not be able to provide you with the information you requested.

Return to Wellness uses email tracking

Since Return to Wellness uses MailChimp to send out its e-newsletters, the emails sent by Mailchimp use an email tracking technology. The purpose of this is to track how you interact with the emails. I’ll explain.

The Mailchimp technology automatically place single pixel gif, also known as a web beacon, in every email sent from Mailchimp. This is a tiny graphic file that contains unique identifiers that enables Return to Wellness to recognize when subscribers have opened an email or clicked on links. These technologies record each subscribers email address, IP address, date, and time associated with each open and click for a campaign.

I use this information to learn the how many and time of day people tend to read the newsletter and which links they click. This helps me understand what content may be popular with Return to Wellness subscribers and when, what may not, and therefore improve the content I send.

You can also email me at barbara@returntowellness.co.uk to tell me what content you want me to write more or less about.

Cookie policy

This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping baskets, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website or the All About Cookies website, both which offer guidance for all modern browsers.

Finally, here are some images of homemade cookies. From left to right, date filled cookies, Russian teacakes, and biscotti. I don’t bake as much as I used to as the other half has diabetes. It’s not a wise idea to leave such tempting delicacies in the house. If I bake, it’s for the holiday when guests are visiting or I have an event to take them to.