Privacy Policy

Last Updated: September 2, 2026

At Rise & Renew Therapy, your privacy matters. We understand that seeking psychotherapy often means sharing deeply personal and sensitive information, and we are committed to protecting your personal information and maintaining your confidentiality.

This Privacy Policy explains how Rise & Renew Therapy collects, uses, stores, protects, and discloses personal information when you visit our website, contact us, or access our online psychotherapy services in Ontario.

By using this website, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Who We Are

Rise & Renew Therapy is a virtual psychotherapy practice providing online therapy to adults, young adults, and university and college students throughout Ontario.

Rise & Renew Therapy is operated by Julia Mazzotta, MSW, RSW, Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist, and other practitioners where applicable.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact us using the information provided at the bottom of this page.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with Rise & Renew Therapy, we may collect personal information such as:

  • Your name and contact information

  • Email address and telephone number

  • Date of birth or age

  • Information you provide when contacting us

  • Information provided through intake or registration forms

  • Information related to your therapy appointments

  • Information you voluntarily provide during psychotherapy sessions

  • Billing and payment information

  • Insurance or benefits information where required for administrative purposes

  • Information necessary to provide and coordinate psychotherapy services

  • Technical information collected when you use our website

We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise permitted or required by law.

3. Information You Provide Through Our Website

You may voluntarily provide personal information when you:

  • Submit a contact form

  • Request information about therapy

  • Book an appointment

  • Join an email list, where applicable

  • Send us an email

  • Communicate with us through our website

  • Access or complete forms connected to our psychotherapy services

Please avoid submitting highly sensitive personal health information through general website contact forms unless specifically requested.

If you are seeking therapy, we recommend using the secure systems provided for client communication and clinical information whenever available.

4. How We Use Your Information

We may use personal information to:

  • Respond to inquiries

  • Schedule and manage appointments

  • Provide psychotherapy services

  • Communicate with you about your appointments and care

  • Maintain appropriate clinical and administrative records

  • Process payments and manage billing

  • Coordinate insurance or benefits information when applicable

  • Provide and improve our website and services

  • Meet professional, legal, regulatory, accounting, and record-keeping obligations

  • Protect the security of our website, systems, clients, and practice

  • Communicate important information about our services

We do not sell your personal information.

5. Psychotherapy and Health Information

Information shared during psychotherapy may include highly sensitive personal health information.

Clinical information is treated as confidential and is handled in accordance with applicable professional, ethical, and privacy obligations.

Information collected as part of psychotherapy services may include information about your mental health, relationships, family circumstances, personal history, treatment goals, and other information relevant to providing care.

We collect, use, and disclose this information only for appropriate purposes and in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and professional requirements.

6. Confidentiality and Its Limits

Psychotherapy is a confidential service. However, confidentiality is not absolute.

There are circumstances where information may need to be disclosed without your consent when required or authorized by law or professional obligations.

Depending on the circumstances, these may include situations involving:

  • A serious risk of harm to you or another person

  • Suspected abuse or neglect where reporting is legally required

  • A court order or other legal requirement

  • Professional regulatory or legal obligations

  • Situations where disclosure is otherwise permitted or required by applicable law

The specific circumstances and obligations will depend on the situation and applicable legislation.

Where appropriate and legally permitted, we will discuss required disclosures with you.

7. Online Therapy and Virtual Care

Rise & Renew Therapy provides online therapy and virtual psychotherapy services throughout Ontario.

Virtual therapy involves the use of technology to communicate remotely. While reasonable safeguards are used to protect your privacy, no electronic communication or internet-based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are encouraged to participate in online therapy from a private location and to use a secure internet connection whenever possible.

Please avoid accessing therapy sessions from public spaces where conversations may be overheard.

8. Third-Party Service Providers

We may use trusted third-party platforms and service providers to support the operation of our practice.

These may include services used for:

  • Appointment scheduling

  • Secure client management

  • Electronic communication

  • Video therapy sessions

  • Payment processing

  • Website hosting

  • Website analytics

  • Email communication

  • Administrative services

Where third-party providers are used, we take reasonable steps to select services with appropriate privacy and security safeguards and to limit the information shared to what is reasonably necessary.

Some third-party service providers may store or process information outside Ontario or Canada. Where applicable, we take reasonable steps to understand the privacy and security implications of using these services.

9. Website Analytics and Cookies

Our website may use cookies, analytics tools, or similar technologies to understand how visitors use our website and to improve website performance and user experience.

This information may include:

  • Pages visited

  • Approximate location

  • Device type

  • Browser type

  • Referring website

  • Time spent on pages

  • General website usage information

Analytics information is generally collected in aggregate and is not intended to identify individual therapy clients.

You may be able to manage or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect how some website features function.

10. Email and Electronic Communication

If you contact Rise & Renew Therapy by email, your communication may contain personal information.

Email is not always a fully secure method of communication. Please consider this when deciding what information to include in an email.

For sensitive clinical information, we may direct you to use a more secure communication or client-management platform.

We may use your contact information to respond to your inquiry, manage appointments, and communicate with you regarding services.

We will not use your information for unrelated marketing purposes without appropriate consent where required.

11. Marketing Communications

If you choose to subscribe to marketing communications, you may receive information such as:

  • Educational resources

  • Therapy-related information

  • Blog updates

  • Practice announcements

  • Other communications related to Rise & Renew Therapy

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions included in the communication.

12. How We Protect Your Information

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, loss, theft, or destruction.

Safeguards may include:

  • Password protection

  • Secure technology platforms

  • Access controls

  • Limiting access to information based on need

  • Secure storage practices

  • Appropriate disposal of personal information

  • Staff and practitioner privacy practices

No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

13. How Long We Keep Your Information

Personal information is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and to meet applicable professional, legal, regulatory, and record-retention requirements.

Clinical records may therefore be retained for a longer period than general website information.

When personal information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed, erased, or anonymized in accordance with applicable requirements.

14. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have rights relating to your personal information, including the ability to:

  • Request access to personal information we hold about you

  • Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information

  • Ask questions about how your information is collected, used, or disclosed

  • Withdraw consent where applicable, subject to legal or professional limitations

  • Raise concerns about our privacy practices

Some requests may be subject to legal, professional, or other permitted limitations.

To make a privacy-related request, please contact us using the information below.

15. Privacy Concerns or Complaints

If you have a question, concern, or complaint about how your personal information has been handled, we encourage you to contact Rise & Renew Therapy first so that we can review and address your concern.

You may also have the right to contact the applicable privacy oversight authority, including the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC), depending on the nature of your concern and the legislation that applies.

16. Children's Privacy

Our services and website are primarily intended for adults, young adults, and post-secondary students.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through our website for purposes unrelated to providing services.

If you believe that personal information has been submitted to us by a child without appropriate consent, please contact us.

17. External Links

Our website may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties.

Rise & Renew Therapy is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of external websites.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

18. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practice, technology, legal requirements, or privacy practices.

When changes are made, the updated version will be posted on this page with a revised “Last Updated” date.

We encourage you to review this page periodically.

19. Contact Us About Privacy

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal information, or our privacy practices, please contact:

Rise & Renew Therapy
Ontario, Canada

Email: julia@riseandrenewtherapy.ca

Website: www.riseandrenewtherapy.com

Privacy Contact: Julia Mazzotta, MSW, RSW, Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist

We will make reasonable efforts to respond to privacy inquiries in a timely manner.

A Note About Privacy

Your therapy journey is personal. You deserve a space where you can speak openly, ask questions, and feel confident that your information is being treated with care.

At Rise & Renew Therapy, protecting your privacy is part of providing safe, respectful, and professional online psychotherapy.