How this website handles information about you, written plainly. This page covers the website itself. The confidentiality of therapy, for people who become clients, is a separate and stronger protection described below.

What this policy covers, and what it does not

This policy describes how this website handles information about the people who visit it: what is collected when you browse, what happens when you send a message through the contact form, and what is and is not done with any of it. It is written to be read rather than to be impressive, and if anything here is unclear you are welcome to ask.

It is important to be precise about one distinction. This is a website privacy policy. It is not the same thing as the confidentiality that protects therapy itself. If you become a client, the handling of your clinical information is governed by law, by the ethical obligations of a licensed clinician, and by the separate notice of privacy practices and consent paperwork you receive and sign at the start of services. Those protections are considerably stronger than anything a website policy can offer, and they are explained to you directly before any clinical work begins. Nothing on this page limits them, and nothing on this page should be read as a description of them.

Information you give me directly

If you send a message through the contact form, request a consultation, or call or text, you may provide your name, an email address or phone number, and whatever you choose to write about why you are reaching out. That is the whole of it. The forms on this site deliberately ask for very little, because a long intake questionnaire standing between a person and a first conversation is a barrier, not a service.

You decide how much to write. A single sentence is a completely sufficient first message, and many people send exactly that. You never need to describe your situation in detail in order to get a reply, and you should not feel that a fuller message will get a better one. Please do not send financial account numbers, card details, passwords, or government identification numbers through this site. None of that is needed to answer a question or arrange a consultation, and the forms here do not ask for it.

Information collected automatically

Like nearly every website, this one records basic technical information when a page is served: the page requested, the date and time, a browser type and version, a general geographic area derived from network information, and the page that referred you, if any. This is ordinary server and security logging. It exists so the site can be kept working, kept fast, and kept protected from automated abuse, and it is looked at in aggregate rather than person by person.

How the information is used

Information you send is used to reply to you, to arrange a consultation if that is what you want, and to keep track of the conversation so that you are not asked to repeat yourself. Technical information is used to operate and secure the site and to understand in general terms which pages people find useful. That is the extent of it.

How information is shared, and how it is not

Your information is not sold, rented, or traded. It is not shared with advertisers or data brokers, and it is not used to follow you around the internet with advertising. There is no lead-selling arrangement here of the kind that exists in many industries; a message sent through this site reaches this practice and nowhere else.

A small number of service providers necessarily handle information in the course of running the site: the company that hosts it, the service that delivers form submissions and email, and the security service that filters automated traffic. They act on instructions and for the purpose of providing those services. Beyond that, information would be disclosed only where the law requires it, in response to a valid legal request, or where genuinely necessary to protect the safety or rights of a person.

Email and web forms are not a secure clinical channel

This is worth stating plainly because it is easy to assume otherwise. Ordinary email and website forms travel across systems that neither of us controls, and they are not an encrypted channel suitable for sensitive clinical detail. Your message comes only to me and I am the person who reads and answers it, so it is confidential in the everyday sense. It is not, however, the protected setting that a session is.

The practical implication is simple and reassuring: you do not need to put anything sensitive in writing. Say as much or as little as you like in a first message. The detailed conversation belongs in the session itself, where it is protected properly. If a written channel is not private for you at home, say so, and we will find another way to be in touch.

This website is not an emergency service

Messages sent here are not monitored around the clock. I am a solo practitioner and often in session, and a reply typically takes one to two business days. If you are in immediate danger, or thinking about harming yourself or someone else, please do not wait for an email. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is free, confidential, and available at any hour, or call 911. If you are experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. Once you are safe, I remain glad to hear from you about ongoing work.

Cookies and analytics

This site uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies to function correctly and to understand traffic in aggregate. These are not used to build an advertising profile of you, and they do not identify you personally. Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through their settings, and the substantive parts of this site will continue to work if you do. Where analytics are used, the purpose is to see which pages are helpful and where visitors run into difficulty, not to track individuals across the web.

Do Not Track and browser privacy signals

Browser privacy signals are honored where the tools in use support them. Because this site does not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising or sell personal information, the practical effect of such a signal here is limited, which is by design rather than by omission.

How long information is kept

Messages and the correspondence arising from them are kept only as long as there is a reason to keep them, such as an ongoing conversation or a professional or legal obligation, and are then deleted. Technical logs are retained for a short period for security and troubleshooting. Clinical records, for people who become clients, are an entirely separate matter, governed by professional and legal requirements and described in the paperwork provided at the start of services.

How information is protected

The site is served over an encrypted connection, access to the systems behind it is limited, and automated abuse is filtered. No website or email system can be guaranteed absolutely secure, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overstating the case. That honest limitation is precisely why the request above matters: send only what you are comfortable sending in writing.

Your choices and rights

You can ask what information is held about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be deleted, and you can withdraw a request for contact at any time simply by saying so. Depending on where you live, you may have specific statutory rights of access, correction, deletion, or portability, including under Florida and Connecticut law. You are welcome to exercise any of them by writing to the address at the end of this page, and you will not be treated differently for having asked.

Marketing

You will not be added to a marketing list because you sent a message. There is no automated drip sequence here and no follow-up campaign. If you ever do opt in to receive something, every message will carry a working way to stop, and stopping takes effect promptly.

Children's privacy

This site is intended for adults and is not directed to children. Information is not knowingly collected from children. If you believe a child has provided information through this site, please get in touch so it can be removed.

Links to other sites

This site links to other organizations, including professional bodies, crisis resources, and reference material. Those sites have their own policies and are not controlled by this practice. A link is offered because the resource is likely to be useful, not as an endorsement of how that organization handles data.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the revised version will be posted on this page. Material changes will be reflected here rather than announced individually, so it is worth glancing at this page if you are returning after a long gap.

Information other people give me about you

Occasionally someone reaches out on behalf of another person: a partner enquiring about couples work, or someone concerned about a person they love. If a message includes information about somebody else, only what is necessary to respond is used, and the person described is under no obligation of any kind as a result of a message they did not send. Nobody is enrolled in anything by a third party. If you become a client through such an introduction, your own confidentiality belongs to you from that point forward, and the person who made the introduction is not entitled to information about your care.

Text messages and phone calls

You are welcome to call or text, and many people find that easier than a form. Please bear in mind that text messages pass through mobile carriers and are stored on the devices at both ends, which means they carry the same limitation as email: convenient, but not an encrypted clinical channel. Texts are used for practical matters such as arranging or confirming a time. Please keep clinical detail out of them, and know that no reply of substance about your care will be sent by text.

Workshops, groups, and events

If you register for a workshop, group, or talk, the information you provide is used to run that event and to be in touch with you about it. A group setting is not confidential in the way individual therapy is, because other attendees are present and their conduct is not something anyone can guarantee. Attending an event does not make you a client of the practice, and attendance is not added to any clinical record.

Automated tools

Automated tools are used to build and maintain this website and to keep it secure. They are not used to make decisions about individual people, and the content of messages sent through this site is not fed into any advertising system or used to train any commercial model.

How to reach me

Questions about this policy, or requests about your information, can be sent through the contact page, by email to wendyhaggerty@sexandlovetherapist.com, or by phone or text to (941) 374-7323. The practice office is at MindSpa Integrative Wellness Center, 5632 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, FL 34233.