Privacy Policy

My practice is governed by the following privacy and professional legislation:

• Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) — Ontario's primary law governing the collection, use, and disclosure of personal health information by health information custodians, including Registered Psychotherapists.
• Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) — Federal legislation governing personal information collected in the course of commercial activity, including website inquiries.
• College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) Standards of Practice — Professional standards that govern record-keeping, confidentiality, and the therapeutic relationship.
• Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) — Ontario legislation governing regulated health professions, including psychotherapy.

Through this website:

• Your name and email address when you submit the contact form.
• The content of your message, including any topic you select.
• Basic technical data (browser type, referring page) collected automatically by hosting infrastructure — this is not linked to your identity.

Through the therapeutic relationship:

• Personal health information including your presenting concerns, mental health history, and session notes, collected with your informed consent.
• Contact and scheduling information collected through Jane, my practice management platform.
• Billing information as required for invoicing and insurance purposes.

• To respond to your inquiry and determine whether we are a good fit to work together.
• To provide psychotherapy services and maintain clinical records as required by CRPO and PHIPA.
• To schedule, confirm, and manage appointments through Jane.
• To process fees and provide receipts.
• I do not use your information for marketing, advertising, or any purpose unrelated to your care.

Everything you share in therapy is confidential. I will not disclose your personal health information without your written consent, except in the following circumstances required or permitted by law:

• Risk of serious harm: If I have reasonable grounds to believe there is a risk of serious bodily harm to you or another identifiable person, I am required to take steps to prevent that harm, which may include disclosure to appropriate parties.
• Child protection: If I have reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection, I am required by the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 to report this to the Children's Aid Society.
• Court order or legal requirement: If I am ordered by a court to produce records or testify.
• CRPO complaints or investigations: As required by the RHPA and CRPO Standards of Practice.

These limits of confidentiality are discussed in detail at the start of our therapeutic relationship and are included in the informed consent process.

I maintain clinical records in accordance with CRPO Standards of Practice. Records are retained for a minimum of ten (10) years from the date of the last entry, or, if the client was a minor, until the client reaches the age of eighteen (18) plus ten (10) years, whichever is longer.

Records are stored securely using Jane, a Canadian-based, PHIPA-compliant practice management platform. Electronic records are protected by encryption and access controls.

I use the following third-party services in the operation of my practice and this website. Each has its own privacy policy:

• Jane App (janeapp.com) — Appointment scheduling, clinical records, and billing. Jane is a Canadian company and is PHIPA-compliant.
• GoDaddy Airo — Website hosting and contact form delivery.

I do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party.

Under PHIPA and PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal health information held by my practice.
• Request a correction to information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Withdraw consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of your information, subject to legal and professional obligations.
• File a complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) at ipc.on.ca if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact me directly using the information below.

This website does not use tracking cookies or third-party analytics services that identify individual visitors. Basic server-level access logs may be retained by the hosting provider for security purposes.

If you have questions about this policy or wish to make a privacy-related request, please contact me:

• Amy Lynch, RP (Qualifying)
• Braiding Healing Medicine Counselling
• Contact form

If you are not satisfied with my response, you may contact the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) at crpo.ca or the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario at ipc.on.ca.

I may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in my practice or legal requirements. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated accordingly. Continued use of this website or my services after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.