Frequently Asked Questions

Thriving Spirit Counseling

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

This Notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can access this information. Please review it carefully.

Effective Date: January 30, 2026

Covered Entity Duties

Thriving Spirit Counseling (“TSC,” “we,” or “us”) is a Covered Entity as defined under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your Protected Health Information (PHI), provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your PHI, comply with the terms of this Notice currently in effect, and notify you in the event of a breach of your unsecured PHI.

In addition to HIPAA, TSC complies with applicable California privacy laws, including the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA). Where state and federal laws differ, we follow the law that provides greater privacy protection.

Protected Health Information (PHI) is information about you, including demographic information, that can reasonably be used to identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care services to you, or payment for those services.

This Notice explains how we may use and disclose your PHI, your rights regarding your PHI, and how you may exercise those rights. Any uses or disclosures of PHI not described in this Notice will be made only with your written authorization.

TSC reserves the right to change this Notice at any time. Any revised Notice may apply to PHI we already maintain as well as PHI we receive in the future. We will promptly update and redistribute this Notice when there is a material change to permitted uses or disclosures, your rights, our legal duties, or other privacy practices described in this Notice. Updated versions will be made available on our website and communicated to you through Sessions Health, the electronic system we use to maintain PHI.

Protection of Oral, Written, and Electronic PHI

TSC maintains administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of your PHI. We are also committed to maintaining the privacy of information related to race, ethnicity, and language (REL), as well as sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI).

Our safeguards include :

• staff training on privacy and security requirements

• requiring business associates to comply with applicable privacy protections

• maintaining secure office environments

• limiting access to PHI to individuals with a legitimate business need

• protecting electronic transmission and storage of PHI

• and using technology designed to prevent unauthorized access.

Permitted Uses and Disclosures of PHI

The following describes how we may use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization.

Treatment: We may use or disclose your PHI to physicians, therapists, or other health care providers involved in your care, to coordinate treatment among providers, or to assist in obtaining prior authorizations related to your benefits.

Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for health care services provided to you. This may include disclosures to insurance plans or entities subject to federal privacy regulations. Payment activities may include processing claims, determining eligibility or coverage, issuing billing statements, processing credit card transactions, reviewing services for medical necessity, and conducting utilization review.

Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI to support the operation of our practice and ensure quality care. These activities may include customer service, responding to complaints or appeals, care coordination and case management, quality assessment and improvement, medical review, and administrative operations.

As part of our health care operations, we may disclose PHI to business associates who perform services on our behalf, provided that written agreements are in place requiring the protection of your PHI. We may also disclose PHI to another entity subject to federal privacy rules that has a relationship with you for purposes of its health care operations, including quality improvement activities, provider credentialing, care coordination, and fraud prevention.

Information related to race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity is protected by applicable state and federal laws and secure systems. This information may be shared only with health care providers as permitted by law and will not be disclosed to other parties without your authorization. We use this information to help improve care quality, understand health care needs, accommodate language preferences, and offer programs that support overall health. This information is not used for underwriting purposes or to determine eligibility for services.

Group Health Plan Disclosures (If Applicable): If TSC participates in or administers a group health plan, we may disclose PHI to the plan sponsor, such as an employer, provided the sponsor has agreed to restrictions on the use and disclosure of PHI and has agreed not to use the information for employment-related actions or decisions.

Other Permitted or Required Disclosures

We may use or disclose your PHI as permitted or required by law in the following circumstances: 

Psychotherapy Notes. We do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:

1. For our use in treating you.

2. For our use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.

3. When billing insurance.

4. For our use in defending ourselves in legal proceedings instituted by you.

5. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our compliance with HIPAA.

6. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.

7. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes.

8. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.

9. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.

10. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.

11. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations by insurance companies.

12. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.

Uses and Disclosures Requiring Written Authorization

We are required to obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your PHI for: 

1. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.

2. Specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.

3. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, we may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.

4. Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services. We will ask your permission to disclose day and time of appointments to remind you that you have an appointment with us. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that we offer.

5. Marketing Purposes. As mental health professionals, we will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.

6. Sale of PHI. As mental health professionals, we will not sell your PHI in the regular course of business.

Certain uses and disclosures require you to have the opportunity to object.

Disclosures to family, friends, or others. We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

You have the following rights with respect to your phi:

You have the right to revoke an authorization in writing, request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures, request confidential communications, access and receive copies of your PHI (with limited exceptions), request amendments to your PHI, receive an accounting of certain disclosures, file a complaint, and receive a copy of this Notice at any time. We may not be able to comply with your request if health insurance contracts or state or federal law require us to comply with sharing your PHI.

The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.

The Right to Choose How We Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.

You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your Protected Health Information (PHI), including your medical record, in either electronic or paper format. Upon written request, you may receive a copy of your medical record or, if you agree, a summary of your record in place of individual progress notes. If you do not agree to receive a summary, copies of the applicable record will be provided. Records or summaries will be provided within 30 days of receiving your written request, and a reasonable, cost-based fee may be charged as permitted by law.

The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which I have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided us with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list we will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you a reasonable cost based fee for each additional request.

The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.

The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with TSC using the contact information below. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights or, for California residents, with the California Department of Health Care Services or the California Attorney General’s Office. We will not take any action against you for filing a complaint.

Contact Information

Thriving Spirit Counseling
2674 E. Main Street, Suite E523
Ventura, CA 93001
Phone: 805-669-6109
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Acknowledgement of Receipt of Privacy Notice

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), you have certain rights regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information. By agreeing to this form, you are acknowledging that you have received a copy of HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.

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