Privacy Policy
Pyramid Psychology website is owned and managed by Pyramid Psychology Incorporated. Pyramid Psychology makes every reasonable effort to keep your personal information protected and private. We do not share personal information collected unless prior authorization is give
This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) applies to our website available at: https://www.pyramidpsychology.com or any other website or mobile application to which this Policy applies to (collectively the “Sites”). This Policy will not apply to any of your interactions with Pyramid Psychology offline.
This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, process and distribute your information, including Personal Data (as defined below) used to access this Website. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy. The use of information collected through our Website shall be limited to the purposes under this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use for customers.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. We reserve the right to change this Privacy Policy on the Website at any time without notice. In the event of a material change, we will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Website.
Use of any personal information or contribution that you provide to us, or which is collected by us on or through our Website or its content is governed by this Privacy Policy. By using our Website or its content, you consent to this Privacy Policy, whether or not you have read it.
BY USING ANY OF OUR SITES YOU CONSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY AND TO PYRAMID PSYCHOLOGY'S COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES STATED BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SITES.
Photography on the Site
Besides images of self (Chantal Cote) and/or the therapy office space, all photos on the Site are posed by stock models. All other photographs on this website (hereafter known as “Content”) use models/actors. The Content is being used for illustrative purposes only.
Information Collected
We generally collect two types of information from users of the Pyramid Psychology site: 1) Personal Information (e.g. name, email address, payment information); and, 2) Non-Personal Information (e.g. cookies or IP address).
Personal Information
“Personal Information” is defined as information that identifies you personally, such as your name, address, phone numbers, or email address. Pyramid Psychology collects and stores the Personal Information that you have provided to us. Here are some examples of manners in which we may collect your Personal Information on the site:
- Billing information including name, address and credit card information so that we can process payment to deliver our services to you under our contractual obligation.
- A name and an email address if you complete our contact form. We may send you marketing emails with either your consent or if we believe we have a legitimate interest to contact you based on your contact or question.
- A name and an email address so we can deliver our newsletter to you – you would be affirmatively consenting to this by providing this to us in our contact forms.
- Information from you from a co-branded offer. In this case, we will make clear as to who is collecting the information and whose privacy policy applies. If both / all parties are retaining the information you provide, this will also be made clear as will links to all privacy policies.
Please note that the information above (“Personal Data”) that you are giving to us is voluntarily, and by you providing this information to us you are giving consent for us to use, collect and process this Personal Data. You are welcome to opt-out or request for us to delete your Personal Data at any point by contacting us.
If you choose not to provide us with certain Personal Data, you may not be able to participate in certain aspects of our Website or content.
Retention and Deletion
We retain your Personal Data for the minimum amount of time necessary to provide you with the information and/or services that you requested from us. We may include certain Personal Data for longer periods of time if necessary for legal, contractual and accounting obligations.
Sensitive Information
We ask that you not send us, and you do not share any sensitive Personal Information (e.g., Social Insurance numbers)
Anonymous Data Collection and Use
To maintain our Website’s high quality, we may use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer the Website by identifying which areas of the Website are most heavily used, and to display content according to your preferences. Your IP address is the number assigned to computers connected to the Internet. This is essentially “traffic data” which cannot personally identify you, but is helpful to us for marketing purposes and for improving our services. Traffic data collection does not follow a user’s activities on any other websites in any way. Anonymous traffic data may also be shared with business partners and advertisers on an aggregate basis.
Non-Personal Information
“Non-Personal Information” can be technical information or it can be demographic information, such as your age, gender, postal code or other geolocation data, or interests. Non-Personal Information does NOT identify you personally. Here are some examples of the Non-Personal Information that may be collected via the site and a description of how this information is used:
Internet Protocol (IP) address — Your IP address is a number that lets computers attached to the Internet know where to send you data — such as the webpages you view. We use this information to deliver our webpages to you upon request, to tailor our Site to the interests of our users and to measure traffic within our Site.
Cookies — our Site uses “cookies” to improve functionality and usability. We use this information for planning, tracking and to improve the technical functions of our Site and services. By using our services and agreeing to this Policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this Policy.
Blocking cookies
Most browsers allow users to refuse to accept cookies. Blocking all cookies will, however, have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites. If you block cookies, you may not be able to log on, access content or use search functions, for example.
Deleting cookies
Users can also delete cookies already stored on their computers. Doing this may have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.
Use of Information Collected Via the Site
Personal Information
We use your Personal Information that we collect on the Site primarily for the following purposes:
- To deliver services, such as counselling supports, educational programs, information you request;
- To let you know about updated information and other new services from Pyramid Psychology or other third parties or to forward promotional materials;
- To ensure the Site is relevant to your needs;
- To help us create and publish content most relevant to you;
- To contact you regarding additional services and features;
- To request your feedback about your experience with ;
- To notify you about a material change to this Policy, if necessary; and
- To allow you access to limited-entry areas of the Site.
Non-Personal Information
- Non-Personal Information is used as described above and in other ways as permitted by applicable laws, including combining Non-Personal Information with Personal Information.
- Release of Information to Third Parties
- By using the Site you grant Pyramid Psychology the right to use your Non-Personal Information for marketing and to improve the Site. This use may involve the disclosure of your Non-Personal Information to third parties. Pyramid Psychology will not share or disclose your Personal Information with third parties.
Third Party Websites and Advertisers
The Site may provide you with links to other websites, although we do not necessarily advise that you link to another website. In the event that you choose to access such websites, Pyramid Psychology is not responsible for any actions or policies of those sites. Further, please note that the third party’s privacy policies and security practices may differ from Pyramid Psychology. Pyramid Psychology neither assumes responsibility for, nor does it control, endorse or guarantee any aspect of your use of any linked sites. We recommend that you check the privacy policy of such a party before providing Personal Information to it.
Pyramid Psychology may also permit advertisers, third party ad networks or other advertising companies to serve advertisements on the Site. Please be advised that such advertising companies may gather information about your visit to the Sites or other sites (such as through cookies, Web beacons and other technologies) to enable such advertising companies to market products or services to you, to monitor which ads have been served to your browser and which Web pages you were viewing when such ads were delivered. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POLICY DOES NOT COVER THE COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION BY SUCH ADVERTISING COMPANIES.
Opt-Out
We may communicate with our members via email. For example, we may use your email address to confirm your request, to send you notice of payments, to send you information about changes to our services, and to send notices and other disclosures as required by law. Generally, members cannot opt-out of these communications, but they will be primarily informational in nature rather than promotional.
We provide you the opportunity to opt-out if you do not want to receive other types of communications from us, such as messages or updates from us regarding new services and products offered on the Site. For emails, you may opt-out by sending us an email requesting to "opt-out". We will process your request to opt-out as soon as possible, but please be aware that in some circumstances you may receive a few more messages until the opt-out is processed. Please note that electing to opt-out of our promotional emails does not mean that we will delete or remove your email address from our systems.
Changes in Our Privacy Policy
Pyramid Psychology reserves the right to make changes to this Policy at any time and for any reason without prior notice. Any changes to this Policy will be posted on this page so that you are always aware of our current policies. We may also contact you by email with changes. Additionally, we will update the “last updated” date below.
Website Security
No data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% (percent) secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you understand that any information that you transfer to Pyramid Psychology is done at your own risk. Pyramid Psychology uses website security measures consistent with current best practices to protect the Site, email and mailing lists. These measures include technical, procedural, monitoring and tracking steps intended to safeguard data from misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, loss, alteration or destruction.
THE SITE DOES NOT PROCESS PURCHASES. THE SITE USES THIRD PARTY VENDORS (such as, PayPal, Square, etc.) TO PROCESS PURCHASES. User and purchaser information is a high priority and we use our own protective measures, as well as the capabilities of our software and hardware vendors.
We realize there can be incidents of misuse or unauthorized program incursions, as almost every website, service and user encounters. In those instances, our goals are to move quickly to isolate the problem, ensure or restore proper functionality and minimize any inconvenience to our users. As appropriate and necessary, Pyramid Psychology will notify the relevant authorities of these incidents of misuse or unauthorized program incursions of the Pyramid Psychology Site.
Process Payments
We will use the Personal Data you give to us in order to process your payment for the purchase of goods or services under a contract. We only use third party payment processors that take the utmost care in securing data and comply with the GDPR.
Targeted Social Media Advertisements
We may use the data you provide to us to run social media advertisements and/or create look-alike audiences for advertisements.
Share with Third Parties
We may share your information with trusted third parties such as a newsletter provider in order to contact you via email, our merchant accounts to process payments, and Google / social media accounts in order to run advertisements and our affiliates.
Viewing by Others
Note that whenever you voluntarily make your Personal Data available for viewing by others online through this Website or its content, it may be seen, collected and used by others, and therefore, we cannot be responsible for any unauthorized or improper use of the information that you voluntarily share (i.e., sharing a comment on a blog post, posting in a Facebook group that we manage, etc.).
Submission, Storage, Sharing and Transferring of Personal Data
Personal Data that you provide to us is stored internally or through a data management system. Your Personal Data will only be accessed by those who help to obtain, manage or store that information, or who have a legitimate need to know such Personal Data (i.e., our hosting provider, newsletter provider, payment processors or team members).
It is important to note that we may transfer data internationally. By using our Website and providing us with your Personal Data, you consent to these transfers in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Data Retention
We retain your Personal Data for the minimum amount of time necessary to provide you with the information and /or services that you requested from us. We may include certain Personal Data for longer periods of time if necessary for legal, contractual and accounting obligations.
Confidentiality
We aim to keep the Personal Data that you share with us confidential. Please note that we may disclose such information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that: (1) such action is necessary to protect and defend our rights or property or those of our users or licensees, (2) to act as immediately necessary in order to protect the personal safety or rights of our users or the public, or (3) to investigate or respond to any real or perceived violation of this Privacy Policy or of our Disclaimer, Terms and Conditions, or any other terms of use or agreement with us.
Passwords
To use certain features of the Website or its content, you may need a username and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the username and password, and you are responsible for all activities, whether by you or by others, that occur under your username or password and within your account. We cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your username, password or account information. If you share your username or password with others, they may be able to obtain access to your Personal Data at your own risk.
You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized or improper use of your username or password or any other breach of security. To help protect against unauthorized or improper use, make sure that you log out at the end of each session requiring your username and password.
We will use our best efforts to keep your username and password(s) private and will not otherwise share your password(s) without your consent, except as necessary when the law requires it or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary, particularly when disclosure is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to others or interfering with our rights or property.
How You Can Access, Update or Delete Your Personal Data
You have the right to:
- Request information about how your Personal Data is being used and request a copy of what Personal Data we use.
- Restrict processing if you think the Personal Data is not accurate, unlawful, or no longer needed.
- Rectify or erase Personal Data and receive confirmation of the rectification or erasure.
- Withdraw your consent at any time to the processing of your Personal Data.
- Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you feel we are using your Personal Data unlawfully.
- Receive Personal Data portability and transference to another controller without our hinderance.
- Object to our use of your Personal Data.
- Not be subject to an automated decision based solely on automatic processing, including profiling, which legally or significantly affects you.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect the Personal Data you provide to us from misuse, disclosure or unauthorized access. We only share your Personal Data with trusted third parties who use the same level of care in processing your Personal Data. That being said, we cannot guarantee that your Personal Data will always be secure due to technology or security breaches. Should there be a data breach of which we are aware, we will inform you immediately.
Third Party Websites
We may link to other websites on our Website. We have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of any other individual, company or entity whose website or materials may be linked to our Website or its content, and thus we cannot be held liable for the privacy of the information on their website or that you voluntarily share with their website. Please review their privacy policies for guidelines as to how they respectively store, use and protect the privacy of your Personal Data.
Notification of Changes
We may use your Personal Data, such as your contact information, to inform you of changes to the Website or its content, or, if requested, to send you additional information about us. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify or otherwise alter our Website, its content and this Privacy Policy at any time. Such changes and/or modifications shall become effective immediately upon posting our updated Privacy Policy. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically. Continued use of any of information obtained through or on the Website or its content following the posting of changes and/or modifications constituted acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. Should there be a material change to our Privacy Policy, we will contact you via email or by a prominent note on our Website.
Data Controller and Processors
We are the data controllers as we are collecting and using your Personal Data. We use trusted third parties as our data processors for technical and organizational purposes, including for payments and marketing. We use reasonable efforts to make sure our data processors are GDPR- compliant.
Contacting the Pyramid Psychology Incorporated
You may contact us by mail at 206 Queenston Heights SE Calgary, AB- with any questions. You may also email any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy to chantal@pyramidpsychology.com. While we may not be able to respond to every report, we take each report seriously and will investigate it thoroughly.
Edited from The Practice of Therapy- Privacy Policy-
Updated Jan, 2020
Social Media Policy
Chantal Côté, MC, R.Psych #4418.
403.812.1716
Website: https://www.pyramidpsychology.com, Email: chantal@pyramidpsychology.com
This document outlines my office policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how I conduct myself on the Internet as a mental health professional and how you can expect me to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet. If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when we meet.
As new technology emerges and the Internet changes, there may be times when I need to update this policy. If I do so, I will notify you of any policy changes and make sure you have a copy of the updated policy.
Friending
I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.
Fanning
I keep a Facebook Page for my professional practice to allow people to access certain resources, find my service, share my blog posts and practice updates with other Facebook users. All of the information shared on this page is available on my website. You are welcome to view my Facebook Page and read or share articles posted there, but I do not encourage clients to Fan 'Like' this Page. I believe having clients as Facebook Fans creates a greater likelihood of compromised client confidentiality and I feel it is best to be explicit to all who may view my list of Fans to know that they will not find client names on that list. In addition, the College of Alberta Psychologists Practice Guidelines prohibit my soliciting testimonials from clients. I feel that the term “Fan” comes too close to an implied request for a public endorsement of my practice. Note that you should be able to subscribe to the page via RSS without becoming a Fan and without creating a visible, public link to my Page. You are more than welcome to do this.
Following
Note that on any given social media platform that I am using for business use (e.g. Instagram, Twitter), that I will not 'follow' you back. I only follow other health professionals and I do not follow current or former clients. My reasoning is that I believe casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the therapy hour can create confusion in regard to whether it’s being done as a part of your treatment or to satisfy my personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without our explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on our working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy hour.
Interacting
Please do not use messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me in public online if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with me this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal professional record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.
If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone. Direct email at chantal@pyramidpsychology.com is second best for quick, administrative issues such as changing appointment times. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.
Use of Search Engines
It is NOT a regular part of my practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If I have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with me via our usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if I ever resort to such means, I will fully document it and discuss it with you when we next meet.
Google Reader
I do not follow current or former clients on Google Reader and I do not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you want to share with me that you feel are relevant to your treatment whether they are news items or things you have created, I encourage you to bring these items of interest into our sessions.
Business Review Sites
You may find my psychology practice on sites such as Google Maps, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client.
The College of Alberta Psychologists, Canadian Psychological Association , and American Psychological Association’ state that it is not permitted for psychologists to solicit testimonials. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment of confidentiality to you.
You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with me about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that I may never see it. If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided to you, in any forum of your choosing.
If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.
If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can always contact the College of Alberta Psychologists which oversee licensing and registration, and they will review the services I have provided. The College of ALberta Psychologists can be reached at, https://www.cap.ab.ca/concerns-about-br-a-psychologist, 780-424-5070 or Toll free in Alberta at 1-800-659-08572100 Sun Life Place 10123 - 99 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3H1.
Location-Based Services
If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I do not place my practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at my office. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from my office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.
Email
I prefer using email only to arrange or modify appointments. Please do not email me content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record.
Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.
Edited from Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. – Social Media Policy –
Updated February, 2020
403.812.1716
Website: https://www.pyramidpsychology.com, Email: chantal@pyramidpsychology.com
This document outlines my office policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how I conduct myself on the Internet as a mental health professional and how you can expect me to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet. If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when we meet.
As new technology emerges and the Internet changes, there may be times when I need to update this policy. If I do so, I will notify you of any policy changes and make sure you have a copy of the updated policy.
Friending
I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.
Fanning
I keep a Facebook Page for my professional practice to allow people to access certain resources, find my service, share my blog posts and practice updates with other Facebook users. All of the information shared on this page is available on my website. You are welcome to view my Facebook Page and read or share articles posted there, but I do not encourage clients to Fan 'Like' this Page. I believe having clients as Facebook Fans creates a greater likelihood of compromised client confidentiality and I feel it is best to be explicit to all who may view my list of Fans to know that they will not find client names on that list. In addition, the College of Alberta Psychologists Practice Guidelines prohibit my soliciting testimonials from clients. I feel that the term “Fan” comes too close to an implied request for a public endorsement of my practice. Note that you should be able to subscribe to the page via RSS without becoming a Fan and without creating a visible, public link to my Page. You are more than welcome to do this.
Following
Note that on any given social media platform that I am using for business use (e.g. Instagram, Twitter), that I will not 'follow' you back. I only follow other health professionals and I do not follow current or former clients. My reasoning is that I believe casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the therapy hour can create confusion in regard to whether it’s being done as a part of your treatment or to satisfy my personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without our explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on our working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy hour.
Interacting
Please do not use messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me in public online if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with me this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal professional record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.
If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone. Direct email at chantal@pyramidpsychology.com is second best for quick, administrative issues such as changing appointment times. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.
Use of Search Engines
It is NOT a regular part of my practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If I have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with me via our usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if I ever resort to such means, I will fully document it and discuss it with you when we next meet.
Google Reader
I do not follow current or former clients on Google Reader and I do not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you want to share with me that you feel are relevant to your treatment whether they are news items or things you have created, I encourage you to bring these items of interest into our sessions.
Business Review Sites
You may find my psychology practice on sites such as Google Maps, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client.
The College of Alberta Psychologists, Canadian Psychological Association , and American Psychological Association’ state that it is not permitted for psychologists to solicit testimonials. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment of confidentiality to you.
You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with me about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that I may never see it. If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided to you, in any forum of your choosing.
If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.
If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can always contact the College of Alberta Psychologists which oversee licensing and registration, and they will review the services I have provided. The College of ALberta Psychologists can be reached at, https://www.cap.ab.ca/concerns-about-br-a-psychologist, 780-424-5070 or Toll free in Alberta at 1-800-659-08572100 Sun Life Place 10123 - 99 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3H1.
Location-Based Services
If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I do not place my practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at my office. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from my office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.
I prefer using email only to arrange or modify appointments. Please do not email me content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record.
Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.
Edited from Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. – Social Media Policy –
Updated February, 2020
