Privacy Policy

Healing Tree Psychology and Wellness Centre, LLP

3608 boul. St-Charles, Suite 2B Kirkland, Quebec, H9H 3C3

514-558-9858 | info@healingtreemontreal.com

Privacy Officer: Elena Grinevitch, M.A., Psychologist

1. Purpose and Scope

Healing Tree Psychology and Wellness Centre, LLP (“Healing Tree,” “we,” “us”) is committed to protecting the personal information of our clients, prospective clients, and website visitors in accordance with Quebec’s Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (Law 25 / Loi 25) and the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and protect it, how long we keep it, and what your rights are.

2. Personal Information We Collect

Prospective client information — when you contact us to inquire about services, we collect only the information necessary to respond to your request and facilitate scheduling. This information is used for administrative purposes and is transferred to our secure clinical record system if you proceed with services. If you do not become a client, your information is retained only for a limited period and then securely deleted.

Personal and Clinical information — collected from clients in the course of providing psychological and psychotherapeutic services:

Name, date of birth, and contact information
Emergency contact information
Referring physician information (where provided)
Clinical notes, intake assessments, and treatment records

Administrative information — collected for billing and accounting purposes:

Name (used in our accounting platform, Zoho Books)

Website information — collected through contact forms on our website:

Name, email address, and/or phone number
In some cases, the name of the person seeking therapy when an inquiry is made on their behalf

Website analytics — our website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymized information about how visitors use the site, including pages visited, time spent, and general geographic location. This data does not identify individual visitors. Use of Google Analytics is subject to your consent, which is requested when you visit our website.

We adhere to the principle of data minimization and collect only the information that is necessary for the purposes identified.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We use personal information to:

Provide psychological and psychotherapeutic services
Manage appointments, billing, and administrative records
Communicate with clients about their care
Respond to inquiries submitted through our website
Fulfill legal and professional obligations
Understand how our website is used, in order to improve it (Google Analytics, with consent)

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties.

4. Disclosure of Personal Information

Personal information is kept strictly confidential. There are limited circumstances in which information may be disclosed without your consent:

Mandatory reporting: We are legally required to report any imminent risk of harm to you or to an identified third party, and any known or suspected abuse of a vulnerable person (child, elderly person, or person otherwise at risk).
Legal proceedings: Records may be subpoenaed by a court if you are involved in legal proceedings.
Insurance audits: In the context of insurance audits, we may confirm session details (dates, fees charged, provider name) to your insurer. No clinical information is disclosed in this context.

Any other disclosure — for example, to a referring physician or another health professional — requires your written consent.

When our therapists seek supervision or consultation to support their clinical work, any identifying information is minimized to protect your confidentiality.

Access to personal information within the clinic is limited according to role. Administrative staff have access only to the information necessary for scheduling and billing. Clinical information is accessible only to your therapist and, where applicable, their clinical supervisor. Interns providing services are supervised by licensed professionals, and access to records is managed accordingly.

Continuity of care and therapist transitions — in the event that your therapist leaves the clinic, you will be informed of your options for continuing care. With your consent, your personal information may be transferred to your therapist’s new practice to support continuity of care. Alternatively, you may choose to continue services within the clinic or have your file retained by Healing Tree in accordance with applicable legal and professional requirements.

5. How We Store Personal Information

Digital records are stored in Jane, our practice management platform. Jane stores data on Canadian servers and is compliant with PIPEDA and Canadian healthcare privacy standards. Jane uses bank-level encryption for data in transit and at rest.

Secure messaging — we use Jane’s secure messaging feature for communication with clients and recommend it over regular email for privacy reasons. Clients who choose to communicate by email do so understanding that regular email is not a fully secure channel.

Accounting records — client names are stored in Zoho Books, our accounting platform, for billing purposes. No clinical information is stored there.

Paper documents — we do not maintain paper-based client files. In the rare instance that paper documents are received, they are scanned, uploaded to the client’s file in Jane, and the original is either securely destroyed or stored in a locked cabinet at our office if retention of the original is required.

Use of digital and AI-assisted tools — we may use digital tools to support administrative tasks and improve service delivery. Any such tools are assessed for privacy risks, and we do not use them to process identifiable clinical information without your knowledge and consent.

Internal operational tools — we use secure internal tools (such as task management and team communication platforms) to coordinate clinic operations. These tools are used only for administrative purposes and are not used to store clinical records or detailed personal health information.

Any personal information included in these systems is limited to the minimum necessary (for example, first name or contact details for scheduling purposes), and access is restricted to authorized administrative personnel.

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information, including access controls, secure authentication measures, staff training, and confidentiality agreements.

We have completed Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) for all digital platforms we use, and have addressed any identified security concerns.

Cross-border data transfers — some of the digital tools we use may process or store information outside of Québec or Canada. In such cases, we conduct privacy impact assessments and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information in accordance with applicable laws.

6. Retention of Personal Information

Client records are retained in accordance with applicable professional and legal requirements. In general, records are kept for a minimum of five (5) years following the date of the last service provided. For clients who were minors at the time of service, records are retained for a minimum of ten (10) years from the date they reach the age of majority.

After the applicable retention period, records may be securely deleted or destroyed.

7. Your Rights

Under Law 25, you have the following rights with respect to your personal information:

Right of access — you may request access to your personal information held by Healing Tree. Requests should be directed to your therapist, who will discuss the request with you, including the intended purpose and any clinical considerations associated with releasing the file. In some cases, a summary of the file may be recommended in place of the complete record.

Right of correction — if you believe that information in your file is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request a correction. Valid corrections will be made to the relevant record.

Right to withdraw consent — where your personal information is collected on the basis of consent (for example, Google Analytics), you may withdraw that consent at any time.

Right to file a complaint — if you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled, you may contact our Privacy Officer directly (see contact information above). You also have the right to file a complaint with the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (CAI):

Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec www.cai.gouv.qc.ca 1-888-528-7741

8. Privacy Breach Protocol

In the event of a confidentiality incident involving personal information, we will take immediate steps to contain the situation, assess the risk of harm, and implement corrective measures. Where required, we will notify affected individuals and the Commission d’accès à l’information (CAI), and maintain a register of such incidents as required by Law 25.

9. Website Cookies and Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymized data about site usage. This constitutes the collection of personal information under Law 25 and requires your explicit consent. A consent banner is displayed when you visit our website, allowing you to accept or decline analytics tracking.

Our website does not use advertising, targeting, or profiling cookies.

10. Contact and Questions

Questions, requests, or concerns related to this privacy policy should be directed to our Privacy Officer:

Elena Grinevitch, Psychologist Healing Tree Psychology and Wellness Centre LLP 3608 boul. St-Charles, Suite 2B Kirkland, Quebec, H9H 3C3 514-558-9858 info@healingtreemontreal.com

This policy was last updated: April 18, 2026. Subject to review and legal approval.