Who We Are
This website is operated by WhysCounselor Family Therapy Services (“WhysCounselor”, “we”, “us”), the practice of Denise Dugan, LMFT.
Denise is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, licensed in California (CA BBS LMFT #127910) and in Washington State (WA MFT #MFT.LF 70020681).
For anything to do with this notice or with information held about you, contact us at denise@whyscounselor.com or write to 11755 Malaga Dr. Unit 1014, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730.
What This Notice Covers — and What It Does Not
This is the most important section on the page, so it comes first.
This notice covers the website. It explains what happens to information you give us through this site — a consultation request, a newsletter signup, a shop order, a comment on an article — and what our website tools record as you browse.
This notice does not cover your clinical record. If you become a therapy client, the information created in the course of your care — your intake paperwork, session notes, diagnoses, treatment plans, billing records and anything you tell Denise in session — is protected health information. It is governed by HIPAA, by California and Washington state law, and by the ethical obligations of Denise’s licences.
Put simply: submitting a consultation request through this website does not make you a client, and it does not place that request inside your clinical record. Until care begins, a request sits with the website’s ordinary contact information described below.
Information We Collect
We collect only what a given interaction needs.
When you request a consultation
The consultation form asks for the kind of support you are looking for, a preferred date and time, your name, your email address, your phone number, and the state you live in. We ask for the state because Denise can only provide therapy to residents of the states where she holds a licence.
Please keep what you write in that form brief. It is an ordinary website form, not a secure clinical channel, so it is not the place for detailed health history.
When you subscribe to the newsletter
Your email address, and the date you subscribed. Nothing more.
When you buy something
Your name, email address, billing and shipping address, phone number if you give one, what you ordered, and the amount paid. Card details go directly to our payment processor and are never stored on our website.
When you create an account
A username, your email address, an encrypted password, and your order and download history.
When you comment on an article
The name and email address you enter, your comment, and — as WordPress does by default — your IP address.
Automatically, as you browse
Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs: IP address, browser and device type, the pages requested, and the date and time. Cookies and similar technologies are covered in their own section below.
How We Use Your Information
We use it to reply to your enquiry and arrange a consultation; to send the newsletter you subscribed to; to take payment, fulfil orders and handle returns; to run your account; to publish and moderate comments; to keep the site secure and working; and to meet our legal, tax and professional record-keeping obligations.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and we do not use it to build advertising profiles. We do not use what you tell us on this website to make automated decisions about you.
Cookies, Analytics and Tracking
This website sets cookies that are necessary for it to function: keeping you signed in, remembering what is in your shopping cart, and storing your cookie choices.
Beyond those, we use no analytics or advertising tools to understand in aggregate which articles and resources people find useful.
We do not run advertising pixels or retargeting tags. If that changes, we will update this notice and ask for your consent before any such tool loads.
You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings. Blocking the necessary ones will stop the cart and sign-in from working.
Consumer Health Data
Washington State’s My Health My Data Act treats a broad range of information as consumer health data — including information that merely suggests someone is seeking mental health care. Because this is a therapy practice, we treat information of that kind carefully wherever it appears on the website, not only for Washington residents:
- We do not sell consumer health data. We have never done so and we do not intend to.
- We do not share it with advertising networks, and we do not run tools that would infer a health interest from the pages you visit and pass that inference to a third party.
- We collect it through this website only where you have given it to us on purpose — for example, by telling us on the consultation form what kind of support you are looking for.
- Washington and Nevada residents have specific rights over this category of data, including the right to have it deleted. See Your Privacy Rights below.
Who We Share Information With
We share information only with the service providers we need to run the practice, and only with what each one needs to do its job:
- Email and newsletter delivery: denise@whyscounselor.com
We may also disclose information where the law requires it, where it is needed to establish or defend a legal claim, or where disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm. Denise’s professional and legal duties as a licensed clinician — including mandatory reporting — apply in the clinical context and are described in the Notice of Privacy Practices, not here.
How Long We Keep Information
Consultation requests that do not lead to care are kept for [[ FILL IN: period, e.g. 12 months ]] and then deleted. Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe. Order and payment records are kept for as long as tax and accounting rules require. Comments stay published until you or we remove them. Server logs are kept for [[ FILL IN: period, or “the period our host retains them” ]].
Clinical records are kept for the period California and Washington law require of a licensed marriage and family therapist. That period is longer than the website retention above and is set by regulation, not by us.
How We Protect Your Information
The site is served over an encrypted connection. Accounts are password-protected and administrative access is limited to those who need it. Payment card details are handled by our payment processor and never touch our servers.
No website or email system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that information sent over the internet will never be intercepted. That is the reason clinical communication happens in the client portal rather than by ordinary email.
Your Privacy Rights
Wherever you live, you may ask us to tell you what information we hold about you, correct it if it is wrong, delete it, or send you a copy. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email we send.
To make a request, email denise@whyscounselor.com. We will reply within 45 days, and will tell you if we need longer. We may need to verify who you are before acting — particularly for a deletion request — and we will not treat you differently for exercising a right.
If you live in California
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and why, to correct it, to delete it, to receive a portable copy, and to opt out of sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined in the Act, so there is nothing to opt out of. You may use an authorised agent to make a request on your behalf.
Note that information held in your clinical record is treated as medical information under California law and is exempt from the CCPA — it is protected under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act instead, which is stricter.
If you live in Washington
Under the My Health My Data Act you may ask us to confirm whether we hold consumer health data about you, tell you which third parties have received it, and delete it. You may withdraw consent to its collection or sharing at any time. Requests go to the same address above.
Children’s Privacy
This website is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information through the site from anyone under 13, and we do not direct the site’s content to children. If you believe a child has given us information through this website, contact us and we will delete it.
This is separate from how the practice works with minors as clients. Where Denise provides therapy to a minor, consent, records and confidentiality are governed by California or Washington law and are addressed in the intake paperwork.
Emails and Text Messages
If you give us your phone number on the consultation form, we may use it to reach you about that request. We do not send marketing text messages.
Ordinary email and SMS are not secure. We keep what we send to the minimum needed to arrange an appointment, and we ask you to do the same.
This Website Is Not for Emergencies
Forms and email on this site are checked during business hours only. They are not monitored overnight, at weekends or on holidays, and nobody is alerted when a message arrives.
If you are in crisis, or worried about your immediate safety or someone else’s, do not use this website. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room.
Third-Party Links
Some pages link to other websites — book retailers, recommended reading, professional directories. Once you follow such a link you are on someone else’s site, governed by their privacy policy, not this one. We have no control over what they collect.
Visitors from Outside the United States
We operate from the United States and information you send us is processed there. If you are visiting from a country with different data protection law, please be aware that United States law may offer protections different from those you are used to.
Changes to This Notice
If we change this notice we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of the page. Where a change materially affects how we handle information we already hold, we will say so more prominently — by email to subscribers, or with a notice on the site.
How to Contact Us
Questions about this notice, or about information we hold about you:
WhysCounselor Family Therapy Services
11755 Malaga Dr. Unit 1014
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
denise@whyscounselor.com
(909) 413-4733
If you have a concern about how the practice has handled protected health information, the Notice of Privacy Practices explains how to complain to us and to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.