Privacy Policy

In short: We collect information you provide voluntarily and certain technical information collected automatically when you use the website.

Personal information you provide

We may collect personal information when you request information, submit an inquiry, contact the practice, subscribe to communications, register for an offering, complete forms, use the client portal, schedule an appointment, or otherwise communicate with us.

The information you provide may include:

• Your name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Mailing or billing address
• Contact and communication preferences
• Requested services or general reason for contacting us
• Insurance information
• Scheduling preferences
• Information submitted through intake or inquiry forms
• Payment or billing information submitted through an approved payment platform

Sensitive and health-related information

Information submitted during the process of seeking or receiving mental health services may include sensitive or health-related information. This may include information about mental health, trauma history, symptoms, treatment, disability, family circumstances, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, financial circumstances, or other sensitive matters.

Sensitive clinical information should only be submitted through secure intake forms, the client portal, or another method specifically approved by Honey & Twine Counseling. Please do not submit detailed clinical information through ordinary website forms, newsletter forms, social media, or standard email.

Payment information

When you make a payment, your payment information may be collected and processed by an authorized third-party payment processor. Honey & Twine Counseling generally does not directly store complete payment-card numbers or security codes.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the website, certain information may be collected automatically. This information does not necessarily reveal your identity but may include:

• Internet Protocol address
• Browser and device type
• Operating system
• Language preferences
• Referring website or URL
• Pages viewed and links selected
• Date and time of access
• Approximate location derived from an IP address
• Website performance and diagnostic information

This information may be used to maintain website security, understand website use, resolve technical problems, and improve the user experience.

In short: We use information to respond to inquiries, provide services, operate the practice, communicate with you, protect our systems, and comply with legal obligations.

We may use personal information to:

• Respond to questions and service inquiries
• Determine whether our services may be an appropriate fit
• Match prospective clients with a provider
• Schedule, confirm, or manage appointments
• Provide requested therapy or related services
• Manage client accounts and portal access
• Process billing, insurance, and payment activities
• Provide administrative and service-related communications
• Send requested newsletters, resources, or announcements
• Request feedback
• Maintain and improve the website and services
• Identify website usage trends
• Prevent fraud and protect website security
• Meet professional, legal, and regulatory obligations
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal rights

Where required, we will rely on consent or another lawful basis to process personal information.

In short: We may disclose information to service providers that help us operate the website and practice, when legally required, or during a business transaction.

Service providers

We may provide limited information to vendors, contractors, or service providers that perform services on our behalf. These providers may include:

• Squarespace or other website-hosting providers
• SimplePractice or another electronic health record and client portal provider
• Payment-processing providers
• Email and newsletter providers
• Secure form and communication providers
• Insurance billing or eligibility-verification providers
• Website analytics and security providers
• Professional advisers, accountants, or legal counsel

Providers are given access only as reasonably necessary to perform their services. When appropriate or legally required, contractual or other safeguards are used to protect information.

Legal obligations and safety

We may disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is required by law, subpoena, court order, professional obligation, safety concern, mandated-reporting requirement, or another lawful process.

Business transactions

Information may be disclosed or transferred in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale, financing, restructuring, or transfer of all or part of the practice, subject to applicable legal and professional obligations.

No sale of clinical information

Honey & Twine Counseling does not sell clinical records or protected health information for advertising purposes.

In short: The website may use cookies and similar technologies for functionality, security, preferences, and analytics.

Cookies are small files placed on a browser or device. The website and its service providers may use cookies, pixels, scripts, or similar technologies to:

• Support essential website functions
• Remember user preferences
• Maintain website security
• Identify and resolve errors
• Understand website traffic and usage
• Measure the effectiveness of website content

You may be able to remove or reject cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect certain website functions.

Where analytics services are used, those providers may receive technical information such as your IP address, device information, browser details, and website interactions in accordance with their own privacy policies.

In short: Services accessed through third-party platforms are also governed by those providers’ privacy and security practices.

The website may link to a client portal, scheduling platform, payment service, insurance resource, social media page, or other third-party website.

When you leave the Honey & Twine Counseling website or use an embedded third-party service, information you provide may be collected directly by that third party. Their handling of your information is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

We encourage you to review the privacy practices of any third-party platform before submitting personal or sensitive information.

In short: We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide services, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and maintain required records.

Retention periods vary depending on the type of information, the reason it was collected, applicable professional record-keeping requirements, insurance requirements, legal obligations, and operational needs.

Clinical records may be retained for the period required by California law, licensing requirements, professional standards, contracts, and other applicable rules.

When information is no longer required, we may delete, de-identify, anonymize, or securely archive it. Information stored in backups may remain until the relevant backup is overwritten or securely destroyed.

In short: We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards, but no online system can be guaranteed completely secure.

Honey & Twine Counseling takes reasonable steps designed to protect information against unauthorized access, use, loss, alteration, or disclosure. Safeguards may include:

• Secure clinical platforms
• Password-protected accounts
• Access limitations
• Encryption where supported
• Secure payment processing
• Workforce privacy and security procedures
• Vendor privacy and security reviews

No website, email system, electronic transmission, or data storage method can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Information transmitted through the public internet is submitted at your own risk.

Please use secure methods provided by the practice when sharing clinical or highly sensitive information.

In short: We may provide services to minors, but website submissions and consent must be handled in accordance with applicable law and practice procedures.

Honey & Twine Counseling may provide therapeutic services to children and adolescents when legally authorized and clinically appropriate.

The public website is not designed for a child to independently create an account, submit sensitive information, or consent to treatment without appropriate authorization.

Parents, guardians, and minors may have different rights regarding access to, control of, and confidentiality of treatment information. These rights depend on the minor’s age, circumstances, applicable California law, and the nature of the services provided.

Questions about consent, confidentiality, or access to a minor’s records should be directed to the practice.

In short: You may unsubscribe from promotional email communications at any time.

When you voluntarily join an email list or request resources, Honey & Twine Counseling may send educational resources, practice updates, event information, or other communications.

You may unsubscribe from promotional emails by using the unsubscribe option included in the message or by contacting the practice.

Unsubscribing from promotional communications does not prevent us from sending necessary administrative, scheduling, billing, safety, or service-related communications.

Telephone numbers, text-message opt-in information, and SMS consent will not be sold or shared with unaffiliated third parties for their independent marketing purposes.

In short: Depending on your location and the law that applies, you may have rights concerning your personal information.

Available rights may include the right to:

• Know whether we process your personal information
• Request access to certain personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of certain information
• Receive a copy of certain information
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent
• Opt out of certain uses of information where required by law
• Receive equal service and treatment when exercising privacy rights

These rights are not absolute. A request may be limited or denied when an exception applies, including when information must be retained to provide care, comply with healthcare record-retention requirements, complete a transaction, protect safety, prevent fraud, or meet another legal obligation.

Submitting a privacy request

To submit a request, email hello@honeytwinecounseling.com . Please describe your request and provide enough information for us to identify the applicable records.

We may need to verify your identity or authority before fulfilling a request. Information provided for verification will only be used for the verification and request-response process.

Categories of information

In short: Information collected as part of clinical treatment may be subject to healthcare privacy laws and separate clinical privacy notices.

Honey & Twine Counseling provides mental health services through licensed and supervised professionals. Information created, received, or maintained in connection with treatment may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, California medical privacy laws, professional confidentiality rules, or other healthcare laws.

The privacy practices that apply to clinical records may be described more fully in a separate Notice of Privacy Practices, informed-consent document, service agreement, or client-portal notice.

Not all information collected through a public website is necessarily protected health information under HIPAA. For example, ordinary website analytics, newsletter subscriptions, and general browsing data may fall outside HIPAA.

Do not use a public contact form or ordinary email to send urgent messages or detailed protected health information.

In short: We use third-party systems to support scheduling, records, communications, billing, and practice administration.

Honey & Twine Counseling may use SimplePractice or another electronic health record platform for functions such as:

• Appointment scheduling
• Client intake
• Electronic documents and signatures
• Clinical records
• Secure messaging
• Telehealth
• Insurance and billing administration
• Payment processing

We may also use Squarespace for public website hosting and additional service providers for forms, analytics, email delivery, communications, insurance functions, and payment processing.

Third-party services are selected based on operational, privacy, security, professional, and legal considerations. However, Honey & Twine Counseling does not own or control every third-party platform and cannot guarantee their systems.

In short: The website may not currently respond to all browser do-not-track signals.

Some browsers and devices provide a “Do Not Track” or similar privacy setting. Because there is not currently a universally accepted standard for recognizing or implementing all such signals, the website may not respond to every do-not-track mechanism.

We will update this notice if our practices change or if a legally required standard becomes applicable.

In short: The practice and website are based in the United States.

The website is operated from the United States, and information may be processed and stored in the United States. Privacy laws in the United States may differ from laws in another country.

Honey & Twine Counseling provides clinical services only in jurisdictions where its clinicians are legally authorized to practice.

In short: We may update this notice when our services, technology, vendors, or legal obligations change.

The updated version will display a revised “Last updated” date. Material changes may also be communicated through the website, email, client portal, or another appropriate method.

We encourage you to review this page periodically to remain informed about our privacy practices.

Questions, comments, or privacy requests may be directed to:

Honey & Twine Counseling
Email: hello@honeytwinecounseling.com
Phone: (650) 294-9587
Website: www.honeytwinecounseling.com

To protect client privacy, the exact in-person office address is provided directly to confirmed clients rather than displayed publicly on the website.

To request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information, contact hello@honeytwinecounseling.com .

Please include your name, contact information, the nature of the request, and enough detail for us to identify the relevant information.

Requests concerning clinical records may be subject to separate healthcare-record procedures, identity verification, legal limitations, fees permitted by law, and mandatory retention periods.