Website & Social Media Privacy Policy

 This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit vaki@vakiholistichealing.com (the “Site”). By using this website, you consent to the processing of your personal data.

Personal Information We Collect 

When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the ‘cookies’ that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically collected information as “Device Information. ”We collect Device Information using the following technologies: “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.; “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site. You have the right to turn off cookies by turning cookies off or disable them from your browser.

How We Use Your Personal Data

Your email and any other personal data will only be used for the following purposes: 

• to identify you;
• to provide you a service;
• to send you notices of new blog posts or newsletter;
• to communicate creation of new invoices or statements on your client portal;
• to enhance your customer experience

We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns). We may use your data to inform our marketing or retargeting efforts.

Sharing Your Personal Information

In some cases, personal data about you is provided to our partners in order to make providing a service to you possible or to enhance your customer experience. For example, we use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site–you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here:  https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here:  https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. We may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.

External Links

This website will at times include links to some other websites in order to provide you with additional information. Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

• GoDaddy.com
• Google Workspace
• Microsoft Office 
• Facebook​

Be Aware of Location-Based Services

Location-Based Services (LBS) If you use location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. If you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a client due to regular check-ins at our office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in” from our office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone. 

Minors 

This Site is not intended for individuals under the age of 18.

Changes/Updates/Contact Us

We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy. You have the right to withdraw consent for the processing of your personal data at any time. You also have the right to access the personal data collected from/about you or to have it erased. For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e-mail at  vaki@vakiholistichealing.com.

Updated November 2024

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 Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul has various social media accounts (ie: Facebook & others are in the works), allowing us to share practice information, news and event updates with other social media users. This document outlines our practice’s policy related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how we conduct ourselves on the social sites as mental health professionals and how you can expect us to respond to various interactions that may occur between clients and clinicians on the Internet. This policy is not meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy at Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation or with a particular therapist wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that we cannot tell people that you are a client. You are encouraged to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you.

• The American Psychological Association (APA) recommends that therapists do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social media networking site. This recommendation is also in agreement with our ethics, morals, and both your therapist’s privacy. We believe “friending” or accepting a friend request compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when you meet with your therapist.

• “Liking/Following” - You are welcome to “like” or “follow” our social media feeds and read or share articles we post; however, because social media sites are public spaces, anyone who can see our social media pages can see your post or comment. In addition, when you post, comment, or “like” a page, it will be published on your page as well. Our primary concern is your privacy. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow our practice. In order to maintain ethical boundaries, therapists are not permitted to follow you back. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when you meet with your therapist.

• We keep a professional Facebook Page that allows us to share blog posts, practice updates, and other events related to Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation with other Facebook users. 

• We will not follow your social media content due to our ethics and your privacy. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with your therapist,, please bring them into a session where you and your therapist can view and explore them together. 

• It is NOT a regular part of our practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Due to the fact that therapists are mandated reporters, extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If a therapist has reason to suspect you are in danger and you have not been in touch with your therapist via usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if your therapist resorts to such means, the information will be fully documented and discussed with you during your next session. 

• We request that all clients refrain from taking photos, videos, or audio recordings on the premises of Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation and to not post any photos, videos, or audio recordings onto any social media platform(s), in order to protect privacy and confidentiality.

• Please be mindful of the information you write if and when you are reaching out via social media messenger on the professional social media business page, inquiring sites (Psychology Today, etc.), on this Site, business email, or the business phone number for any reason as this is NOT secure and NOT HIPAA compliant. 

• If you are a current client, please use your secure HIPAA compliant portal. If you need it re-sent to you, please let your therapist know.

• Texting to the business number will not be monitored nor responded to. Please do not text the business phone. You may receive text message and email appointment reminders from the client portal system.

• Please DO NOT email/text/message/call if you are experiencing an emotional or psychiatric crisis, or for any other reason, that would require emergency services. We cannot guarantee that the email, text, message, or phone call by you in regards to seeking emergency help will be seen soon enough to respond properly to keep you or others safe. Please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

• Location-Based Services (LBS) If you use location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. If you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a client due to regular check-ins at our office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in” from our office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.

• You may find Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation on sites such as Google, Yelp, Yahoo, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find our clinic listing on any of these sites, please know that our listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as our client. If you so chose to write a review, you do so at your own risk with identifying information in respect to your privacy and confidentiality.

• Our respective professional associations’ ethics codes prohibit us from soliciting client testimonials so as not to take advantage of client’s potential vulnerability to undue influence. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, we cannot respond directly to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. We urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with us about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that we may never see it.

• We hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions about our work directly into the therapy process with your therapist, if needed. However, this social media policy is not meant to keep you from sharing that you are working with Väki Holistic Healing - Mind, Body, & Soul Rejuvenation, wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that we cannot tell people that you are our client and our professional Ethics Codes prohibits us from requesting testimonials.

• If you do choose to write something on a business review site, we hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. We urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.

• If you feel we have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with your therapist, you can always contact the professional licensing board of your therapist which oversees licensing, and they will review the services which have been provided to you at:

Social Workers (LICSW) - Minnesota Board of Social Work | 335 Randolph Ave Suite 245, St Paul, MN 55102 |  888.234.1320 social.work@state.mn.us 

Thank you for taking the time to review our Website Policy and Social Media Policy. If you have any questions about anything within this document, you are encouraged to bring them up with Annikki. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when this policy needs to be updated. Any updates or changes will be posted in our office and on our website: www.vakiholistichealing.com.

Updated November 2024