Website policies
Terms of working
Sessions. Sessions last 50 minutes and cost £90 per session (booked in blocks of 4). We can meet at my therapy space in central Lisbon, on a walk in Lisbon, along the beach and coastal paths, or online. Most people come weekly.
Payment. Payment is due before each session, by bank transfer or card link. I review my fees no more than once a year, and I will give you at least four weeks’ written notice of any change.
Cancelling or moving a session. Please give me 48 hours’ notice. With 48 hours’ notice there is no charge. If you cancel with less notice or miss a session, the full fee is due, although I may waive it in an emergency. If you arrive late, the session still ends at the agreed time.
Weather and walking sessions. If the weather makes a walk unsuitable, we can move indoors or online at no extra cost, or rearrange.
If I need to cancel. I will give you as much notice as I can and offer another time. I will tell you well in advance about any planned break.
Length of work and endings. There is no fixed number of sessions for most work, and we review how it is going together as we go. You can end therapy at any time. Where it is safe, I would like us to plan an ending together.
Working agreement. Before we start, I will send you a written working agreement covering these terms, and you will keep a copy.
What I offer. I offer therapy to adults. I am not an emergency service. I am also a trained Health Coach but do not provide medical treatment or diagnosis, and where medical monitoring is needed I will work with your doctor.
Confidentiality and its limits
What you tell me is confidential. I share it only with your consent, or when the law requires or allows it. The limits are:
I believe you or someone else is at risk of serious harm.
There is a safeguarding concern about a child or an adult at risk.
A court order or other legal requirement applies, including serious crime.
I follow the legal obligations in Portugal and, where relevant, in the country where you live. Where it is safe and possible, I will talk to you first. I discuss my work in supervision (a BACP requirement for therapists for continued growth), and I do not identify you.
For online sessions, I use a private space and ask you to do the same. For walking sessions, I choose quiet routes, we agree what to do if we meet someone you know, and I may pause our conversation when other people are close by.
Privacy notice
Who is responsible for your data. Nicola McAdam, nicola@mindvibes.io Tel: +44 7584 658610
What I collect. Your contact details, booking and payment details, the personal and health information you share with me (which is sensitive information), my session notes, and our emails.
Why, and my legal basis. I use your data to provide therapy with your explicit consent for health information, and to meet legal obligations such as tax records and safeguarding.
How it is stored and for how long. I store data online in G Drive using encrypted and password protected files. I keep records for up to 7 years for legal reasons and then delete them securely.
Your rights. You can ask to see your data, correct it, have it deleted, restrict or object to how I use it, receive a copy, and withdraw your consent. Contact me at nicola@mindvibes.io
Complaints about your data. You can complain to the Portuguese regulator, the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (cnpd.pt), or, if you live in the UK, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
This website
I comply with data protection law in Portugal (the EU GDPR) and, for clients in the UK, the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
Cookies and analytics. This website is hosted by Framer and is configured to use Google Analytics 4 to help me understand how visitors use the site. Google Analytics may use cookies and collect information such as pages viewed, device and browser information, and interactions with the website. For more information about Google’s handling of data, visit policies.google.com/privacy.
Third-party services. Booking links take you to Calendly, which operates under its own privacy and cookie policies. Your browser settings allow you to manage or delete cookies. Blocking cookies may affect some website or third-party features.
Questions about website data or cookies can be sent to nicola@mindvibes.io.
Complaints route
If something is not right, please tell me first at nicola@mindvibes.io. I will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 7 days and aim to give a full response within 28 days. If we cannot resolve it, or you would rather not raise it with me, you can contact BACP, which will consider it under its Professional Conduct Procedure (bacp.co.uk). Nothing here limits your legal rights in Portugal or in England and Wales.
Legal status and jurisdiction
Services are provided by Nicola McAdam, a UK-registered Psychotherapist (BACP Registered Member). All therapeutic services are rendered under the legal jurisdiction of England & Wales. This does not affect any legal obligation that applies in Portugal or in the country where you live, and I will follow those obligations.