Privacy Policy
Psychology for Life is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information and personal health information entrusted to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and protect it, when it may be disclosed, and your rights regarding your information. We are committed to handling your information in accordance with applicable privacy legislation, including Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA).
Who We Are
Psychology for Life is a multidisciplinary mental health practice providing psychological assessment and therapy services. Our team includes psychologists, psychological associates, registered social workers, registered psychotherapists, nurse psychotherapists, psychometrists, and administrative staff. We also provide services through supervised clinicians and trainees where appropriate, under the supervision of a registered psychologist, in accordance with professional standards.
Our website address is: psychologyforlife.ca
What is Personal Information?
The term “personal information” (as used in this Privacy Policy) has the same meaning as set out in Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and generally means information about an identifiable individual. This may include, but is not limited to, your name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, and any other information you choose to provide to Psychology for Life.
The term “personal health information” has the same meaning as set out in Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). Personal health information includes identifying information relating to your physical or mental health, your family health history, the provision of health care, your health card number, medical records, test results, treatment information, and other information collected in the course of providing psychological services.
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, the term “personal information” includes personal health information unless otherwise specified.
Personal information does not generally include business contact information used solely for business purposes, such as an individual’s business name, title, business address, business telephone number, or business email address, where such information is excluded under applicable privacy legislation.
How We Use Your Personal Information
We collect, use, and disclose personal information only for purposes that are necessary to provide our professional services and operate our practice.
Examples include:
- Providing psychological assessments, psychoeducational assessments, autism assessments, ADHD assessments, and other psychological services;
- Providing individual, family, couples, and group therapy;
- Preparing psychological reports and professional opinions;
- Developing treatment plans;
- Scheduling appointments;
- Communicating with clients regarding services;
- Maintaining clinical records;
- Processing payments and direct billing;
- Responding to inquiries;
- Meeting legal, ethical, and regulatory obligations.
When conducting assessments, we may collect information from clients, parents, guardians, schools, physicians, and other professionals where appropriate and with consent or legal authority.
Additional Purposes
Like most organizations, we also collect and use information for purposes reasonably related to the delivery of our services, including:
- Billing clients and processing payments;
- Processing insurance claims and direct billing;
- Communicating with referring professionals, insurers, schools, lawyers, rehabilitation providers, or other authorized parties with consent or legal authority;
- Internal quality assurance and professional supervision;
- Practice administration;
- Regulatory compliance;
- Responding to complaints, audits, inspections, or legal proceedings.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
Embedded Content From Other Websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Security & Bot Protection
Our website uses Google reCAPTCHA to help protect against spam, automated abuse, and malicious activity. Use of reCAPTCHA is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Information collected through reCAPTCHA is used solely for security purposes.
Information Submitted Through Our Website
If you contact us using a form on our website, we collect the information you choose to provide, such as your name, email address, telephone number, and the contents of your message. We use this information solely to respond to your inquiry or to assist you in accessing our services.
Third-Party Service Providers
To help us operate our practice and provide services efficiently, Psychology for Life uses trusted third-party service providers. These providers may collect, process, transmit, or securely store personal information or personal health information on our behalf in accordance with applicable privacy laws and contractual obligations.
Examples of third-party service providers we may use include:
- Electronic health record and practice management systems (e.g., Owl Practice)
- Secure email, document storage, and productivity platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365)
- Payment processing services (e.g., Stripe)
- Direct billing service providers for insurance claims (e.g., Sunlife)
- Secure virtual care and videoconferencing platforms (e.g., Owl Practice)
- Website hosting, security, analytics, and spam prevention services
We take reasonable steps to ensure that third-party service providers handling personal information on our behalf maintain appropriate privacy and security safeguards and only use your information for the purposes for which they have been engaged.
Some third-party service providers may store or process information outside of Ontario or Canada. Where this occurs, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is stored or processed. Psychology for Life takes reasonable steps to ensure that all service providers are contractually required to protect personal information in a manner consistent with applicable privacy legislation.
Security of Personal Information
We maintain physical, electronic, and administrative safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we hold.
Examples include:
- encrypted electronic systems;
- password-protected records;
- secure cloud-based storage;
- role-based access controls;
- locked filing systems where applicable;
- staff privacy training;
- confidentiality agreements;
- policies governing access, retention, and destruction of records.
Only individuals who require access to your information in order to perform their duties are permitted to access it.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We do not disclose your personal information without your consent unless permitted or required by law.
Examples include:
- where there is a risk of serious harm to yourself or another person;
- mandatory reporting obligations involving children;
- reporting obligations under applicable legislation;
- court orders, subpoenas, or warrants;
- regulatory college investigations or inspections;
- quality assurance or peer review activities permitted by law;
- where disclosure is otherwise authorized or required under PHIPA or other applicable legislation.
When disclosure is required, only the minimum necessary information will be disclosed.
Professional Supervision and Quality Assurance
Some clinicians may practise under supervision as part of their professional training or registration requirements. Supervisors may review clinical records as necessary for supervision, quality assurance, and professional development in accordance with applicable professional standards.
Regulatory colleges may also inspect clinical records as part of authorized quality assurance or practice review programs.
Retention and Destruction of Records
We retain records in accordance with applicable legislation and the record retention requirements of the relevant regulatory colleges.
When records are no longer required to be retained, they are securely destroyed or permanently de-identified using appropriate methods.
Access to Your Information
Subject to limited exceptions under applicable law, you have the right to request access to your personal information and request corrections to factual inaccuracies.
Requests should be made in writing.
We may require proof of identity before releasing information and may charge a reasonable fee where permitted by law.
Where we cannot grant access, we will explain the reasons in accordance with applicable legislation.
Website Information
If you contact us through our website, we collect the information you choose to provide (such as your name, email address, telephone number, and message) so that we can respond to your inquiry.
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to improve functionality, enhance security, analyze website traffic, and improve user experience.
We may use third-party services such as Google reCAPTCHA to protect our website from spam and abuse.
Our website may contain embedded content from third-party websites (such as YouTube videos or maps). Embedded content behaves as though you visited those websites directly and may collect information in accordance with their own privacy policies.
Your Privacy Choices
You may request access to your personal information, request corrections where appropriate, or ask questions about our privacy practices by contacting our Privacy Officer.
Changes to This Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, technology, or our privacy practices. The most current version will always be posted on our website.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:
Email: info@psychologyforlife.com
Phone: 705-408-2798
Mailing Address: 93 Bell Farm Road, Suite 108; Barrie, Ontario; L4M 5G1
Additional Information
For more information about your privacy rights, you may contact:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
Telephone: 1-800-387-0073
Website: https://www.ipc.on.ca
