HopeWell Psychological’s Privacy Policy

This document outlines HopeWell Psychological’s privacy policies over the internet. Please read it to understand HopeWell Psychological conduct on the Internet as a mental health professional clinic and how you can expect HopeWell Psychological to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet.

If you have any questions about anything in this document, HopeWell Psychological encourages you to bring them to our attention. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when this policy is updated. Please visit this page to ensure that you are up to date on the most recent changes.

Communicating over the Internet or via Wireless Devices

There are limits to protecting your confidentiality over the internet or through any wireless communications (ie. Such as a cellular telephone). While we do our utmost to preserve your confidentiality, we cannot guarantee privacy when information is sent or received over the internet or wirelessly. Please consider the information you send over these mediums, prior to sending. Communicating with us in person or through mail are ways to avoid having to send information over the Internet or wirelessly.

Interacting

Please do not use SMS, iMessage (mobile phone text messaging), or messaging on Social Networking sites to contact HopeWell Psychological. These sites are not secure and HopeWell Psychological may not receive these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use wall postings, @replies, or other means of online engaging with HopeWell Psychological, in public if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with HopeWell Psychological this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal medical record. Should you need help immediately, please contact us via phone or private voice mail.the information you send over these mediums, prior to sending. Communicating with us in person or through mail are ways to avoid having to send information over the Internet or wirelessly.

Email

HopeWell Psychological uses email for administrative purposes, i.e. changing appointment times, contacting therapist or office to request an appointment, or confirm appointment times. Please do not email HopeWell Psychological content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with HopeWell Psychological by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and HopeWell Psychological Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails HopeWell Psychological receives from you and any responses that HopeWell Psychological send to you become a part of your legal record.

Use of Search Engines

It is NOT a regular part of HopeWell Psychological practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If HopeWell Psychological has a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with us via our usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if HopeWell Psychological ever resorts to such means, HopeWell Psychological will fully document it and discuss it with you when we next meet.

Google Reader

HopeWell Psychological does not follow current or former clients on Google Reader and does not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you want to share with HopeWell Psychological that you feel are relevant to your treatment, whether they are news items or things you have created, HopeWell Psychological encourages you to bring these items of interest into our sessions.

Business Review Sites

You may find HopeWell Psychological practice on sites such as Yelp, Health grades, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find HopeWell Psychological listing on any of these sites, please know that HopeWell Psychological listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as HopeWell Psychological client.

It is unethical for psychologists to solicit testimonials from current clients or other persons, who because of their particular circumstances, are vulnerable to undue influence.

Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But HopeWell Psychological may not respond to any reviews, whether they are positive or negative. HopeWell Psychological urges you to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with HopeWell Psychological about your feelings or about our work, there is a good possibility that HopeWell Psychological may never see it.

If we are working together, HopeWell Psychological hopes that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with HopeWell Psychological wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that HopeWell Psychological cannot tell people that you are our client and HopeWell Psychological Ethics Code prohibits us from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that HopeWell Psychological is involved in your care or how you feel about the treatment HopeWell Psychological provided to you, in any forum of your choosing.

If you do choose to write something on a business review site, HopeWell Psychological hopes you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. HopeWell Psychological urges you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.

If you feel HopeWell Psychological has done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with us, you can always contact the Board of Psychology, which oversees licensing, and they will review the services HopeWell Psychological has provided.

Friending/Liking/Following

HopeWell Psychological publishes a blog on HopeWell Psychological website and we post psychology news on Facebook. HopeWell Psychological has no expectation that you as a client will want to follow us on social media. However, if feel you would like to follow us and you use an easily recognizable name on your social media accounts, be aware that it may compromise your confidentiality. As an alternative, you may be able to subscribe to the page via RSS without creating a visible, public link to HopeWell Psychological Page.

HopeWell Psychological does not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) as there is a potential that your confidentiality may be compromised. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

Note that neither HopeWell Psychological nor our staff will follow any current or former client on social media. HopeWell Psychological staff only follow other health professionals related to the industry. Our reasoning is that HopeWell Psychological believes casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the therapeutic relationship can create confusion within the working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with your therapist, please bring them into your sessions where we can view and explore them together.

Location-Based Services

If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. HopeWell Psychological does not place HopeWell Psychological practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at HopeWell Psychological office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from HopeWell Psychological office or if you have a passive Location Based Service app enabled on your phone.

Newsletters

HopeWell Psychological may share a digital newsletter via email with those parties interested in receiving the communication. Clients reserve the right to subscribe or unsubscribe to the email as they see fit. HopeWell Psychological and our employees do not and will not track who is receiving or not receiving the newsletter. HopeWell Psychological does not share email or personal information with third parties. HopeWell Psychological may use emails to notify our subscribers of upcoming events, classes or groups. If you would like to opt out of being notified via newsletter simply unsubscribe at the top of each newsletter, contact us via email at reception@myhopewell.com, or call 780 298 9401.

Privacy Policy

HopeWell Psychological is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of our clients. HopeWell Psychological does not share, sell, or otherwise disclose information about our clients to any other party, except as requested by our clients in writing. None of your information will be distributed to individuals or agencies outside of HopeWell Psychological with the exception the following situations:

If there is suspected abuse of a child, a dependent adult, or any other person who is at risk and is unable to care for him/herself.In these cases, we are required by law to report to the appropriate authorities immediately, in order to ensure safety. If a client intends to harm him/herself, we will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If this is not possible, HopeWell Psychological is legally responsible to take appropriate measures without the person’s permission, in order to ensure their safety. If HopeWell Psychological therapist is served with a subpoena by a Judge/Court, we are lawfully obligated to respond but will contact you first.

Additionally, HopeWell Psychological clinical staff may consult with their supervisors as part of good client care. All HopeWell Psychological staff are contractually obligated to follow strict confidentiality ethical guidelines and standards when handling confidential data.
We abide by PIPA and PIPEDA practice standards.

Disclaimer

The contents of HopeWell Psychological site are for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing found on HopeWell Psychological website is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or mental disorder. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking help because of something you have read on our site.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. HopeWell Psychological does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on our website.

Reliance on any information provided by HopeWell Psychological or by any person or professional appearing on our website is solely at your own risk. HopeWell Psychological is not liable for any advice or information provided on the site, all of which is provided on an “as-is” basis. No warranties, either express or implied, are made on the information we provide.
Opinions and other statements expressed by third parties (including guest posts) are theirs alone, not opinions of HopeWell Psychological. While HopeWell Psychological makes an effort to review certain content for accuracy and completeness, it is not intended to be endorsed or guaranteed.

Information Gathered on HopeWell Psychological Site

HopeWell Psychological site generally stores no information about its visitors, with the exceptions of basic logging for site statistics and information provided by visitors who fill out on-line applications, surveys, or requests.

On certain pages, HopeWell Psychological gives visitors the option of providing us with names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, personal information, and various other kinds of details. This personal information is not gathered without visitors knowing and providing active permission and participation.

HopeWell Psychological site does not monitor private communications or make any use of such communications.

HopeWell Psychological site does not display or make available visitors’ personal information, such as contact information even if it is already publicly available, to any person except the user himself or herself, unless requested by the user.

HopeWell Psychological site does not retrieve personal information from the visitor’s computer that was not originally sent to us or by us.

HopeWell Psychological is the sole owner of the information collected on the www.myhopewell.com website. HopeWell Psychological collects information from users at several different points on our web site, such as contact form and newsletter sign up.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer and is tied to information about the user. HopeWell Psychological may use persistent cookies. A persistent cookie is a small text file stored on the user’s hard drive for an extended period of time. Persistent cookies can be removed by following internet browser help file directions for “removing cookies.”

Log Files

Like most standard web site servers, HopeWell Psychological uses log files. This includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movement in the aggregate, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. This data is not linked to personally identifiable information.

Browser Check

The information you share with web sites is only as safe as your web browser. Use the Browser Check, courtesy of VeriSign, to ensure you’ve got the latest, most secure Web browser.

Thank you for taking the time to review our policies. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to our attention at reception@myhopewell.com or 780-298-9401.