Your privacy is very important to us. Accordingly, we have developed this Policy in order for you to understand how we collect, use, communicate and make use of personal information.
When accessing our website, Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC will learn certain information about you during your visit. Similar to other commercial websites, our website utilizes a standard technology called “cookies” (see explanation below, “What Are Cookies?”) and web server logs to collect information about how our website is used. Information gathered through cookies and web server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our website, the websites visited just before and just after our website, and your IP address.
What Are Cookies?
A cookie is a very small text document, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier. When you visit a website, that site’s computer asks your computer for permission to store this file in a part of your hard drive specifically designated for cookies. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser’s preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.
IP Addresses
IP addresses are used by your computer every time you are connected to the Internet. Your IP address is a number that is used by computers on the network to identify your computer. IP addresses are automatically collected by our web server as part of demographic and profile data known as “traffic data” so that data (such as the webpages you request) can be sent to you.
Email Information
If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses. We provide the same protections for these electronic communications that we employ in the maintenance of information received online, by mail, and by telephone.
How Do We Use the Information That You Provide to Us?
Broadly speaking, we use personal information for purposes of administering our business activities, providing customer service, and making available other items and services to our customers and prospective customers. Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC will not obtain personally-identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us, nor will such information be sold or otherwise transferred to unaffiliated third parties without the approval of the user at the time of collection. We may disclose information when legally compelled to do so, in other words, when we, in good faith, believe that the law requires it or for the protection of our legal rights.
A Special Note About Children
Children are NOT eligible to use our website and services, and we ask that minors (under the age of 18) do not submit any personal information to us. If you are a minor, you can use this site only with the permission, guidance and always in the presence of a parent or legal guardian.
How Do We Protect Your Information and Secure Information Transmissions?
Email is not recognized as a secure medium of communication. For this reason, we request that you do not send private information to us by email. However, doing so is allowed, but at your own risk. Some of the information you may enter on our website may be transmitted securely via a secure medium known as Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL. Credit Card information is never transmitted via email. Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC may use software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas. For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC uses software programs to monitor network traffic and to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage.
Personal Health Information and Confidentiality
The Therapists, Consultants, and administrative staff at Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC guard very closely your personal health information, and your privacy is very important to us. Please read the remainder of this form carefully, as it explains our policies regarding your personal protected health information (including your past, present, or future mental health or physical condition and health care services for these conditions), and the legally mandated exceptions to that privacy. We reserve the right to amend the terms of this Privacy & Policy at any time. If an amendment to this policy occurs, a copy will be available to you online on our website. This policy is also available upon request. Any new Privacy & Policy changes will be considered effective for all protected health information that Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC maintains.
Limits to Confidentiality
All content and discussion in Therapy sessions and Consultation sessions are considered confidential. Information about a client (both written and verbal) cannot be shared with another person or party without the client’s written consent. There are a few exceptions to this confidentiality agreement as required by law:
Our Duty to Protect and Warn: If a client discusses his/her serious intention or plan to harm themselves or anyone else, we are required to report this information to the legal authorities and to warn the intended victim.
Child Abuse and Abuse of Dependent/Vulnerable Adults: If we believe that a minor or dependent adult is now being, has been, or will be abused, we are required to report this information to the local authorities.
Minor-aged Children: Minor-aged children may be clients of Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC for in-person therapy and consultation services, at the discretion and under the permission and guardianship of their parent or legal guardian. However, minor-aged children cannot be online live video clients of Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC. While children may take part in an online video session with a parent or legal guardian, at the parent’s or legal guardian’s discretion, the session will immediately terminate at any point when the minor-aged child is left alone in the camera view of the Therapist or Consultant. If parents or legal guardians request medical information about their minor-aged child who may also have been in attendance in a particular video session, we may disclose information to that parent or legal guardian about the child’s medical or mental health record insofar as it relates to the session in which the minor was present.
As part of our staff, some Therapists may be in postgraduate internships working toward clinical licensure hours. These Therapists will be supervised by a licensed clinical supervisor under contract, as required by law, and their communications and case review will preserve clients’ confidentiality as required by law.
In the event of a federal investigation, or a client involved in a lawsuit, and if the client discloses to the court that they are receiving treatment, the clinicians may be court-ordered to surrender records. Clients should consult with their legal counsel regarding these concerns and issues.
In the event of an emergency for the client, the Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC administrative staff, Therapist, or Consultant, may contact the Emergency Contact person that the client lists on their initial intake form, and local Emergency Services.
Clinical Notes
During the course of Therapy and Consultation, the clinicians may take personal notes from the conversation in session, including clinical impressions from these sessions. These are called “psychotherapy notes” and, while part of a client’s protected health information, they are separate from the client’s health record and clinical and Consultation session notes. These “psychotherapy notes” are relevant only to the Therapist’s or Consultant’s future work with the client, and they are not available to clients or third-parties. These notes are privacy-protected, can and will be destroyed at the conclusion of each session, and will not be kept with a client’s permanent file record at Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC.
Security of the Client and Therapist and Consultant
For safety and liability purposes, Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC records every session completed, both online and in-person. These video recordings are preserved on a HIPAA-secured format and will never be disclosed to any party except in cases where safety and liability are concerned. These recordings are secured and preserved for a specified period of time so as to maintain safety and liability protection, after which time they will be destroyed. These recordings are not available to clients for review. As a client receiving Therapy or Consultation from Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC, you acknowledge and accept that the recording will be engaged and operating at all times during Therapy or Consultation. If, at any point during an online video session, the video signal becomes pixelated, delayed, freezes, or ceases to broadcast an image, the session will be immediately resumed through the secure audio conference call function provided on the video teleconferencing platform. No refunds will be provided if the session is shifted to audio format due to poor video signal quality or malfunctioning video image delivery.
In Case of Emergency
If a client has a personal or medical crisis, they should call 911 or go to the emergency room immediately. Because this is a scheduled supportive service with limited hours each week, the Therapists and Consultants will not be able to assist clients in after-hours crises, and if ever one of our clients feels suicidal or unsafe, they should call a suicide hotline or go to an emergency room. Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC does not provide 24 hour emergency or crisis care.
Policy Changes
We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time with or without notice. However, please be assured that if the Privacy Policy changes in the future, we will not use the personal information you have submitted to us under this Privacy Policy in a manner that is materially inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, without your prior consent. We are committed to conducting our business in accordance with these principles in order to ensure that the confidentiality of personal information is protected and maintained.
If you have any questions regarding this Policy, or the services related to our website, please contact us.
Kirk Voss Therapy & Consulting, LLC
