Disclaimer

Use of this site does not create a therapist-client relationship and does not constitute therapy services. The information shared on this site, including any links, is not a substitute for therapy. Please seek care from a mental health care provider or medical care provider or call 911 for any emergencies.

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 15, 2025

Our privacy practices are aligned with the standards of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), including those related to confidentiality, informed consent, record-keeping, and electronic practice.

Protecting your private information and being transparent is important to us. This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Your use of this website signifies your agreement to the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy concerning the collection and use of general Personal Data as described herein. Please note that the collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Health Information (PHI) for the purpose of providing psychotherapy services is subject to a separate, detailed informed consent process that will occur at or before the commencement of therapy. This website privacy policy complements, but does not replace, that specific informed consent for care.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Sanctuary Psychotherapy (Suite 270, 1063 King Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4S3. Under Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), Sanctuary Psychotherapy is a Health Information Custodian (HIC) and is responsible for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your Personal Health Information (PHI).

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

  • Country refers to: Ontario, Canada

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

  • Website refers to Sanctuary Psychotherapy, accessible from https://sanctuarypsychotherapy.ca.

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

This Privacy Policy distinguishes between "Personal Health Information" (PHI), which is subject to specific rules under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (hereafter PHIPA) and relates to your health and our provision of psychotherapy services, and other "Personal Data" (such as general website Usage Data or contact information provided for non-therapeutic inquiries). Where this policy refers to PHI, those specific provisions govern our handling of your PHI. General references to "Personal Data" apply primarily to non-PHI, unless the context explicitly includes PHI and is consistent with our PHIPA obligations.

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address

  • First name and last name

  • Phone number

  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

This website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace collects personal data when you visit this website, including:

  • Information about your browser, network and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Web pages you view while on this website

  • Your IP address

Squarespace needs the data to run this website, and to protect and improve its platform and services. Squarespace analyzes the data in a de-personalized form.

Form Block Submissions

When you submit information to this website via webform, we collect the data requested in the webform in order to track and respond to your submissions. We share this information with Squarespace, our online store hosting provider, so that they can provide website services to us. 

Cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies, which are small files or pieces of text that download to a device when a visitor accesses a website or app. For information about viewing the cookies dropped on your device, visit The cookies Squarespace uses.

These necessary and required cookies are always used, which allow Squarespace, our hosting platform, to securely serve this website to you. 

These analytics and performance cookies are used on this website, as described below, only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. This website uses analytics and performance cookies to view site traffic, activity, and other data.

Fonts

This website serves font files from and renders fonts using Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts. To properly display this site to you, these third parties may receive personal information about you, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, or device

  • Information about this site and the page you’re viewing on it

  • Your IP address

Use of Your Personal Data

We collect, use, and disclose your PHI primarily for the purposes of: providing you with psychotherapy services; scheduling and confirming appointments; billing and processing payments; communicating with you about your care; and complying with legal and professional obligations.

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.

  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.

  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication.

  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information. If you have separately and explicitly subscribed to a newsletter or marketing list (distinct from becoming a therapy client), we may use your provided contact information (such as email address) to send you general information or updates about our practice, from which you can unsubscribe at any time. This does not apply to your Personal Health Information.

  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

  • For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

We may share Your Personal Data in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your Personal Data with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to contact You.

  • With Your consent: We may disclose Your Personal Data for any other purpose with Your consent.

Retention of Your Personal Data

Your PHI will be retained for the period required by law and professional regulations (e.g., CRPO guidelines). Following this period, your PHI will be securely destroyed or de-identified in accordance with applicable standards. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your Personal Data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your Personal Data.

Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information and Personal Health Information (PHI)

You have certain rights regarding the personal information, including PHI, that we hold about you. Subject to legal and professional obligations (such as record retention requirements under PHIPA and CRPO), these may include:

  • Right to Access Your PHI: You have the right to request access to the PHI that we hold about you.

  • Right to Request Correction of Your PHI: You have the right to request corrections to your PHI if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete. We will make the requested corrections if the information is indeed inaccurate or incomplete and we are the custodian of that information.

  • Right to Request Deletion of Personal Data: For Personal Data that is not part of your PHI client record, you may have the right to request its deletion, subject to our need to retain certain information for legal or operational purposes (e.g., to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements). Your PHI client record is subject to specific retention requirements under Ontario law and CRPO guidelines and generally cannot be deleted upon request before the end of the mandatory retention period.

  • Right to Withdraw Consent (for certain uses/disclosures): Where our use or disclosure of your information is based on your consent (e.g., for uses beyond primary care purposes), you may have the right to withdraw that consent, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Withdrawing consent for the primary purposes of collecting, using, and disclosing PHI for psychotherapy services may impact our ability to provide you with care.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer (contact details provided below). We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable laws.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation

  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company

  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service

  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public

  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

We take all reasonable steps to protect your PHI. In the event of a privacy breach (e.g., unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of your PHI), we will notify you at the first reasonable opportunity and inform the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario as required by PHIPA. Specific safeguards include, but are not limited to: maintaining secure office premises with controlled access to physical records; implementing password protection, firewalls, and encryption for electronic records and communications; utilizing secure, PHIPA-compliant platforms for video therapy; ensuring regular software updates and security patching; restricting access to PHI to authorized personnel only; training our staff on privacy and security obligations; and using end-to-end encrypted email or secure client portals for the transmission of sensitive PHI when necessary and with your consent. We also have policies in place for data access, use, and secure disposal.

Any PHI submitted through website forms is transferred and stored securely. We will contact you to confirm your consent for its use in providing services.

Detailed Information on the Processing of Your Personal Data

We may use third-party service providers (agents) to assist us in areas such as website hosting (Squarespace), data storage, or communication. We ensure that these agents are contractually bound to protect your PHI in a manner consistent with our obligations under PHIPA and this policy. These third-party vendors collect, store, use, process and transfer information about Your activity on Our Service in accordance with their Privacy Policies.

Analytics

This website collects personal data to power our site analytics, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Your IP address

This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:

  • Clicks

  • Internal links

  • Pages visited

  • Scrolling

  • Searches

  • Timestamps

We share this information with Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.

Children's Privacy

This website is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. Our Service does not address or market to anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 18 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent's consent before We collect and use that information.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third-party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third-party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

Privacy Officer: Deborah Birkett is the Privacy Officer for Sanctuary Psychotherapy and is responsible for ensuring compliance with this privacy policy and PHIPA. You can contact our Privacy Officer at: deborah@sanctuarypsychotherapy.ca. 

Email Address: deborah@sanctuarypsychotherapy.ca

Terms & Conditions

Last updated: May 15, 2025

Please read these terms and conditions carefully before using Our Service.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions:

  • Country refers to: Ontario, Canada.

  • Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Sanctuary Psychotherapy.

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Terms and Conditions (also referred as "Terms") mean these Terms and Conditions that form the entire agreement between You and the Company regarding the use of the Service.

  • Third-party Social Media Service means any services or content (including data, information, products or services) provided by a third-party that may be displayed, included or made available by the Service.

  • Website refers to Sanctuary Psychotherapy, accessible from https://www.sanctuarypsychotherapy.ca. 

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Acknowledgment

These are the Terms and Conditions governing the use of this Service and the agreement that operates between You and the Company. These Terms and Conditions set out the rights and obligations of all users regarding the use of the Service.

Your access to and use of the Service is conditioned on Your acceptance of and compliance with these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions apply to all visitors, users and others who access or use the Service.

By accessing or using the Service You agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If You disagree with any part of these Terms and Conditions then You may not access the Service.

You represent that you are over the age of 18. The Company does not permit those under 18 to use the Service.

Your access to and use of the Service is also conditioned on Your acceptance of and compliance with the Privacy Policy of the Company. Our Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your personal information when You use the Application or the Website and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You. Please read Our Privacy Policy carefully before using Our Service.

Intellectual Property

The Service and its original content (excluding Content provided by You or other users), features and functionality are and will remain the exclusive property of the Company and its licensors.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to third-party web sites or services that are not owned or controlled by the Company.

The Company has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party web sites or services. You further acknowledge and agree that the Company shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such web sites or services.

We strongly advise You to read the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any third-party web sites or services that You visit.

Termination

We may terminate or suspend Your access immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if You breach these Terms and Conditions.

Upon termination, Your right to use the Service will cease immediately.

Limitation of Liability

Notwithstanding any damages that You might incur, the entire liability of the Company and any of its suppliers under any provision of this Terms and Your exclusive remedy for all of the foregoing shall be limited to the amount actually paid by You through the Service or 100 USD if You haven't purchased anything through the Service.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the Company or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, loss of data or other information, for business interruption, for personal injury, loss of privacy arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the Service, third-party software and/or third-party hardware used with the Service, or otherwise in connection with any provision of this Terms), even if the Company or any supplier has been advised of the possibility of such damages and even if the remedy fails of its essential purpose.

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or limitation of liability for incidental or consequential damages, which means that some of the above limitations may not apply. In these states, each party's liability will be limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

Governing Law

The laws of the Country, excluding its conflicts of law rules, shall govern this Terms and Your use of the Service. Your use of the Application may also be subject to other local, state, national, or international laws.

Disputes Resolution

If You have any concern or dispute about the Service, You agree to first try to resolve the dispute informally by contacting the Company.

For European Union (EU) Users

If You are a European Union consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which you are resident in.

United States Legal Compliance

You represent and warrant that (i) You are not located in a country that is subject to the United States government embargo, or that has been designated by the United States government as a "terrorist supporting" country, and (ii) You are not listed on any United States government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

Severability and Waiver

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable or invalid, such provision will be changed and interpreted to accomplish the objectives of such provision to the greatest extent possible under applicable law and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Waiver

Except as provided herein, the failure to exercise a right or to require performance of an obligation under these Terms shall not effect a party's ability to exercise such right or require such performance at any time thereafter nor shall the waiver of a breach constitute a waiver of any subsequent breach.

Translation Interpretation

These Terms and Conditions may have been translated if We have made them available to You on our Service. You agree that the original English text shall prevail in the case of a dispute.

Changes to These Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right, at Our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material We will make reasonable efforts to provide at least 30 days' notice prior to any new terms taking effect. What constitutes a material change will be determined at Our sole discretion.

By continuing to access or use Our Service after those revisions become effective, You agree to be bound by the revised terms. If You do not agree to the new terms, in whole or in part, please stop using the website and the Service.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms and Conditions, please contact us:

Email: deborah@sanctuarypsychotherapy.ca.