PRIVACY POLICY

Wendy Kenrick, Registered Psychotherapist (RP), respects the privacy of her clients and recognizes the need for appropriate protections and management of personal information that is provided. This Privacy Policy has been established to assist you in understanding what information is collected, how it is used, and how it may be disclosed. Please note: the use of this website is limited to residents of Ontario, Canada, who are 18 years of age & older.

About Wendy Kenrick’s Practice

Wendy Kenrick is a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) in the province of Ontario, and is authorized to provide the controlled act of psychotherapy in the province of Ontario. Wendy Kenrick, RP, respects your right to privacy and will only collect, use or disclose personally identifiable information (personal information) in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Wendy Kenrick, RP, recognizes your right to privacy and acknowledges her obligation to preserve the confidentiality of personal information.

This Privacy Policy will also outline the personal health information collected as part of services, as well as the limitations of confidentiality in relation to services provided. While the limitations to confidentiality are discussed in detail during the intake session, they are also included on this website for your review in advance of any communication with Wendy Kenrick, RP.

Please note, Wendy Kenrick, RP, reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time and such modifications shall be effective immediately, unless otherwise stated. This policy was last reviewed in October 2024.

This Privacy Policy will cover the following items:

What is personal information?
What personally identifiable information is collected as a result of using this website, how it is used, and who might it be shared with?
What are the limitations of protection (also known as limitations of confidentiality) for personal information?
Are there any other reasons that my information may be shared?
What are the security procedures in place to protect the misuse of information?
Who is the Privacy officer?
How are updates to the Privacy Policy handled?

What is Personal Information?

The term “personal information” (as used in this Privacy Policy) has the same meaning as set out in Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and means any information about an individual including contact information, name, address, phone number or email address, gender, date of birth, and any data about yourself that you choose to provide to Wendy Kenrick, RP.

The term “personal health information” has the same meaning as set out in Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (“PHIPA”), and can include information relating to your physical or mental health, as well as your health history, medical records, and prescriptions.

In this Privacy Policy, the term personal information also encompasses personal health information. Personal information is different from business information (e.g., an individual’s business address and business phone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

What personally identifiable information is collected through this website, how it is used, and who might it be shared with?

As you interact with www.wendykenrick.com, the website provider is automatically collecting, receiving and recording information from your browser including browsing actions and patterns. The information includes data like your demographic information, internet protocol (IP) address, cookie information, and the pages requested.

The website provider may collect and store anonymous demographic information (such as your postal code). Such demographic information may be shared with partners, market researchers and other third parties on an aggregate, non-personally identifiable basis.

No personally identifiable information will be linked to such aggregated demographic information that is shared with third parties.

The website provider may collect and store certain types of information whenever you interact with this website. For example, servers track the type of web browser you are using and the page from which you link. Additionally, an IP address (a unique number assigned to every computer on the Internet) is logged in order to improve security, analyze trends and administer this website. This website provider may track your movement within this website, the third-party website pages from which you were referred, access times and browser types. The website provider uses this information to gauge the effectiveness of this website, track information for statistical purposes and to improve products and services.

This website may use “cookie” technology for such purposes as enhancing your online experience by making it easier for you to navigate through the website and making certain features work better. Cookies are text files which are commonly deposited by websites on a user’s hard drive when the user visits a website. The file identifies a user’s computer and can record the user’s preferences and other data about the user’s website visit. Wendy Kenrick, RP, does not extract information about individual users during this process. Your web browser may enable you to disable cookies, but please note that certain sites may not function correctly without it and your experience on this website may be hindered.

What are the limitations of protection (also known as limitations of confidentiality) for personal information?

No personal information will be communicated directly or indirectly to any third party without the client’s expressed written consent, except when there is a legal obligation to release personal information. Legal obligations include:

Harm to Self:

If Wendy Kenrick, RP, in her capacity as a Registered Psychotherapist, has reason to believe that a client is in significant or imminent danger of physically harming themselves in ways that may be life-threatening, she is legally obligated to make a referral to a hospital and/or contact a family member, close other, or another person such as emergency service personnel who may be able to help protect the client. There may be other emergency health care related circumstances where disclosure is reasonably necessary for the protection of health, in which case Wendy Kenrick, RP, will disclose personal information to other health care professionals as long as a client has not expressly prohibited her from doing so.
Harm to Others:

If Wendy Kenrick, RP, has reason to believe that a client is seriously threatening physical violence against another person, or if a client has a history of physically violent behaviour, and if she believes that a client is an actual threat to the safety of another person, then she is required to take some action (such as contacting the police, notifying the other person, seeking hospitalization, or some combination of these actions) to ensure that the other person is protected.
Abuse/Neglect:

If Wendy Kenrick, RP, has reason to believe that a child under the age of 18 is being abused or neglected, she is legally obligated to report this situation to the Children’s Aid Society.

If Wendy Kenrick, RP, suspects or is informed of unlawful conduct that resulted in harm or risk of harm to a resident of a Long-Term Care Facility or Retirement Home, or that a senior citizen is being harmed or is at risk of being harmed in any way (e.g., sexual or physical abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident’s funds), she may be required to contact the applicable Ministry or Regulatory Authority and report all relevant information.
Sexual Abuse:

If Wendy Kenrick, RP, learns that a client has been sexually abused by a member of the regulated health profession, she is required to report this information in accordance with the guidelines of her regulatory college, the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). The client’s name will not be released without their consent, unless such release is court ordered.
Court Order:

Wendy Kenrick, RP, as well as her clinical records, can be subpoenaed by a court order. Wendy Kenrick, RP, can be required to testify and give information obtained during sessions. Without a court order, this information would not be provided voluntarily without a client’s direct request or consent.
Quality Control:

On occasion, Wendy Kenrick, RP, may be randomly selected to participate in a Peer Assisted Review by her regulatory college (or another Regulatory Body). As part of this process, a file may be potentially reviewed by a member of the regulatory college. Regulatory colleges have strict privacy and security policies in place in order to protect personal information.

Wendy Kenrick, RP, may be supervised in her clinical work by senior colleagues. A client will be informed of any such supervisory arrangement. Personally identifiable information is not released in this arrangement.

If disclosure of personal information is required or allowed by law or by order of a court, Wendy Kenrick, RP, will not release more information than is required or allowed.

Are there any other reasons that my personally identifiable information may be shared?

Like most organizations, Wendy Kenrick, RP, also collects, uses, and discloses information related to a secondary purpose. The most common examples include:

Using a third party for invoicing purposes, to process credit card payments, to collect funds for services that were not paid for at the time of service, or to collect unpaid accounts,
Responding to regulatory oversight inquiries by the CRPO, or
Situations where some services provided by the Wendy Kenrick, RP is paid for by third parties (e.g., insurance companies, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, CUPE), and these third-party payers often have your consent or legislative authority to direct Wendy Kenrick, RP, to collect and disclose to them certain information in order to demonstrate client entitlement to this funding.

What are the security procedures in place to protect the misuse of information?

Wendy Kenrick, RP, takes many precautions to protect your information. While information that you provide online is maintained in a secure environment, any interaction online cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While Wendy Kenrick, RP, strives to protect your personal information, it is not possible to guarantee the security of any personal information you transmit to her, and by doing so, you do so at your own risk.

Wendy Kenrick, RP, has implemented and maintains reasonable and appropriate security measures, procedures, and practices to protect against the loss and unauthorized access, use, modification, destruction, or disclosure of your personal information while it is in her custody. Examples for physical (hard copy) information include storing files in a fire-protected location with restricted access and multiple lock points in place. Examples for electronic communication include SSL encryption, firewalls, and anti-virus monitoring. Wendy Kenrick, RP, also limits access to your personal information to those employees, contractors and agents who have a business need to know.

Physical (hard copy) information is cross-shredded and any electronic information is protected by deleting it in accordance with the record retention policies from the CRPO, and, when the hardware is replaced or discarded, the hard drive is physically destroyed.

If Wendy Kenrick’s private practice is sold due to illness or her being otherwise unable to provide ongoing counselling or psychotherapeutic therapy services, records would be assigned to be under the protection of a qualified and regulated mental health professional who is legally required to follow the same laws, professional and ethical obligations that have been outlined above.

Who is the Privacy Officer?

Wendy Kenrick, RP, is the Privacy Officer. If you feel that Wendy Kenrick, RP, is not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact her immediately via telephone at 226-808-0473 or via email to info@wendykenrick.com

How are Updates to the Privacy Policy Handled?

This Privacy Policy may change from time to time and all updates will be posted on this page. Any change, update or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on this website. By going to this website or utilizing services provided by Wendy Kenrick, RP, you are deemed to have consented to the Privacy Policy and will be bound by its terms.