TERMS & CONDITIONS

The Website and its Content is owned by Audrey Zatopek, owner of Mental Health Institute, PLLC. The term “you” refers to the user or viewer of www.mentalhealthinstitute.com (“Website”).

This page does not serve as a replacement for client agreement, client terms, or a client contract.   

If you have any questions about these T&C, please contact me.

Last Updated: June 2024

Please read these Terms and Conditions (“T&C”) carefully. I reserve the right to change these T&C on the Website at any time without notice, and by using the Website and its Content you are agreeing to the T&C as they appear, whether or not you have read them. 

If you do not agree with these T&C, please do not use my Website or its Content.

The words, design, layout, graphics, photos, images, information, materials, documents, data, databases and all other information and intellectual property accessible on or through this Website (“Content”) is my property when not a stock image or a referenced source and is protected by United States intellectual property laws.

If you have purchased a service, program, product or subscription or otherwise entered into a separate agreement with me you will also be subject to the terms of that agreement or those terms of use, which shall prevail in the event of a conflict. Online purchases have additional terms of use relating to the transaction.

By accessing or using this Website and its Content, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old and that you agree to and to abide by these T&C. Any registration by, use of or access to the Website and its Content by anyone under age 18 is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these T&C.

My Limited License to You: This Website and its Content is property solely owned by me and/or my affiliates or licensors, unless otherwise noted, and it is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. If you view, purchase or access my Website or any of its Content, you will be considered my Licensee. For the avoidance of doubt, you are granted a revocable, non-transferable license for personal, non-commercial use only, limited to you only. As a Licensee, you understand and acknowledge that this Website and its Content have been developed or obtained by me through the investment of significant time, effort and expense, and that this Website and its Content are valuable, special and unique assets of mine which need to be protected from improper and unauthorized use. I clearly state that you may not use this Website or its Content in a manner that constitutes an infringement of my rights or that has not been authorized by me.

When you purchase or access my Website or any of its Content, you agree that:

• You will not copy, duplicate or steal my Website or Content. You understand that doing anything with my Website or its Content that is contrary to these T&C and the limited license I am providing to you herein is considered theft, and I reserve my right to prosecute theft to the full extent of the law.
• You are permitted from time to time to download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Website or its Content, for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you give us full attribution and credit by name, keep intact all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices and, if used electronically, you must include the link back to the Website page from which the Content was obtained. 
• You may not in any way at any time use, copy, adapt, imply or represent that my Website or its Content is yours or created by you.  By downloading, printing, or otherwise using my Website Content for personal use you in no way assume any ownership rights of the Content – it is still my property.
• You must receive my written permission before using any of my Website Content for your own business use or before sharing with others. This means that you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, market, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email, website, link or any other electronic means) any Website Content because that is considered stealing my work.
• I am granting you a limited license to enjoy my Website and its Content for your own personal use, not for your own business/commercial use or in any way that earns you money, unless I give you written permission that you may do so.  

The trademarks and logos displayed on my Website or its Content are trademarks belonging to me, unless otherwise indicated. Any use including framing, meta tags or other text utilizing these trademarks, or other trademarks displayed, is strictly prohibited without my written permission.

All rights not expressly granted in these terms or any express written license, are reserved by me.

Your License to Me: By posting or submitting any material on or through my Website such as comments, posts, photos, images or videos or other contributions, you are representing that you are the owner of all such materials and you are at least 18 years old. When you voluntarily submit to me or post any comment, photo, image, video or any other submission for use on or through my Website, you are granting me, and anyone authorized by me, consent to make it part of my current or future Website and its Content. This right includes granting us proprietary rights or intellectual property rights under any relevant jurisdiction without any further permission from you or compensation by me to you. You may, however, at any time, ask me to delete this information. Your rights regarding this personal information can be found in my Privacy Policy. You acknowledge that I have the right but not the obligation to use any contributions from you and that I may elect to cease the use of any such contributions on my Website or in my Content at any time for any reason. 

Any request for written permission to use my Content, or any other intellectual property or property belonging to me, should be made BEFORE you wish to use the Content by completing the “Contact Us” form on this Website on the Contact page. I very clearly state that you may not use any Content in any way that is contrary to these T&C unless I have given you specific written permission to do so. If you are granted permission by me, you agree to use the specific Content that I allow and ONLY in the ways for which I have given you my written permission. If you choose to use the Content in ways that I do not specifically give you written permission, you agree now that you will be treated as if you had copied, duplicated and/or stolen such Content from me, and you consent to immediately stop using such Content and to take whatever actions as I may request and by the methods and in the time frame that I prescribe to protect my intellectual property and ownership rights in my Website and its Content.

I respect others’ copyright and intellectual property rights. However, if you believe that the Content on this Website infringes upon any copyright owned by you and was posted on my Website without your authorization, you may provide me with notice requesting that I remove the information from the Website. Any request should only be submitted by you, or an agent authorized to act on your behalf on my Contact page.

As a Licensee, you agree that you are using your own judgment in using my Website and its Content and you agree that you are doing so at your own risk. You agree and understand that you assume all risks and no results are guaranteed in any way related to this Website and/or any of its Content. This Website and its Content are merely to provide you with education and tools to help you make your own decisions for yourself. You are solely responsible for your actions, decisions and results based on the use, misuse or non-use of this Website or any of its Content.

My Website and its Content are for informational and educational purposes only. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I expressly exclude any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by you or others in connection with my Website and its Content, including without limitation any liability for any accidents, delays, injuries, harm, loss, damage, death, lost profits, personal or business interruptions, misapplication of information, physical or mental disease, condition or issue, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual injury or harm, loss of income or revenue, loss of business, loss of profits or contracts, anticipated savings, loss of data, loss of goodwill, wasted time and for any other loss or damage of any kind, however and whether caused by negligence, breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable. You specifically acknowledge and agree that I am not liable for any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any other Website participant or user, including you.

Medical Disclaimer: I am a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor (LPC) and Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) who sees a limited number of clients within my practice in the state of Texas. Although I am a LPC-S and LCDC, this website is not intended to provide mental health treatment and again, does not constitute a client/therapist relationship which will be established after an initial consult and signed consent. I do not provide diagnosis via this website. The information provided on this site is not a replacement for the therapeutic relationship in psychotherapy. The information on this website is not intended to replace medical advice. I am not a Medical Provider (Physician, Psychiatrist, Nurse Practitioner, etc.). You agree and acknowledge the I am not providing health care, medical or nutritional therapy services, or attempting to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any physical, mental or emotional issue, disease or condition.  I am not giving medical, psychological, or religious advice whatsoever. 

Legal and Financial Disclaimer: This Website and its Content are not to be perceived or relied upon in any way as business, financial or legal advice. The information provided through my Website and its Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice that can be provided by your own accountant, lawyer, or financial advisor. I am not giving financial or legal advice in any way. You are hereby advised to consult with your own accountant, lawyer or financial advisor for any and all questions and concerns you have regarding your own income and taxes pertaining to your specific financial and/or legal situation. You agree that I am not responsible for your earnings, the success or failure of your business decisions, the increase or decrease of your finances or income level, or any other result of any kind that you may have as a result of information presented to you through my Website or its Content. You are solely responsible for your results,

Earnings Disclaimer: You acknowledge that I have not and do not make any representations as to the health physical, mental, emotional, spiritual or health benefits, future income, expenses, sales volume or potential profitability or loss of any kind that may be derived as a result of your use of this Website or its Content. I cannot and do not guarantee that you will attain a particular result, positive or negative, financial or otherwise, through the use of my Website or its Content and you accept and understand that results differ for each individual. I also expressly disclaim responsibility in any way for the choices, actions, results, use, misuse or non-use of the information provided or obtained through the use of my Website or its Content. You agree that your results are strictly your own and I am not liable or responsible in any way for your results.

Warranties Disclaimer: I make no warranties as to my website or its content. You agree that my website and its contents are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, I disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. I do not warrant that the website or its content will be functional, uninterrupted, correct, complete, appropriate, or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that any part of the website, content are free of viruses or other harmful components. I do not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of my website or its content or on third-party websites in terms of their correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or otherwise.

Technology Disclaimer: I try to ensure that the availability and delivery of my Website and its Content is uninterrupted and error-free. However, I cannot guarantee that your access will not be suspended or restricted from time to time, including to allow for repairs, maintenance or updates, although, of course, I will try to limit the frequency and duration of suspension or restriction. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I will be not be liable to you for damages or refunds, or for any other recourse, should my Website or its Content become unavailable or access to the them becomes slow or incomplete due to any reason, such as system back-up procedures, internet traffic volume, upgrades, overload of requests to the servers, general network failures or delays, or any other cause which may from time to time make my Website or its Content inaccessible to you.

Errors and Omissions: I make no warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information on my Website or its Content. Every effort has been made to present you with the most accurate, up-to-date information, but because the nature of scientific research is constantly evolving, I cannot be held responsible or accountable for the accuracy of my content. I assume no liability for errors or omissions on the Website, its Content, or in other information referenced by or linked to the site. You acknowledge that such information may contain inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Links to Other Websites: I may provide links and pointers to other websites maintained by third parties which may take you outside of my Website or its Content. These links are provided for your convenience and the inclusion of any link in my Website or its Content to any other website does not imply my endorsement, sponsorship, or approval of that website or its owner. I do not endorse and I am not responsible for the views, opinions, facts, advice, statements, errors or omissions provided by external resources referenced in my Website or its Content, or their accuracy or reliability. I have no control over the contents or functionality of those websites and so I accept no responsibility for any loss, damage, or otherwise that may arise from your use of them. It is your responsibility to review the terms and conditions and privacy policies of those linked websites to confirm that you understand and agree with those policies.

Limitations on Linking and Framing: You may establish a hypertext link to my Website or Content so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship, endorsement by, or ownership by in my Website or Content and does not state or imply that I have sponsored, endorsed or have ownership rights in your website. However, you may not frame or inline link my Content without my written permission.

By purchasing and/or using my Website and its Content in any way or for any reason, you also implicitly agree to my full Disclaimer which may be found on this Website. 

Indemnification: You agree at all times to defend, indemnify and hold harmless my Company, as well as any of my affiliates, agents, contractors, officers, directors, shareholders, employees, joint venture partners, successors, transferees, assignees, and licensees, as applicable, from and against any and all claims, causes of action, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including legal fees and expenses, arising out of or related to my Website, its Content or your breach of any obligation, warranty, representation or covenant set forth in these T&C or in any other agreement with me. 

Limitation of Liability: Unless otherwise limited by law, I will not be held responsible or liable in any way for the information, products or materials that you request or receive through or on my Website and its Content. I do not assume liability for accidents, delays, injuries, harm, loss, damage, death, lost profits, personal or business interruptions, misapplication of information, physical or mental disease, condition or issue, or otherwise, due to any act or default of anyone or any business, whether owners, staff, agents, joint venture partners, contractors, vendors, affiliates or otherwise, affiliated with me.  I do not assume liability for any owners, staff, agents, joint venture partners, contractors, vendors, affiliates or otherwise who is engaged in rendering my Website or its Content, or in any way or in any location. In the event that you use my Website and its Content or any other information provided by us or affiliated with me, I assume no responsibility, unless otherwise provided by law.

Release of Claims: In no event will I be liable to any party for any type of direct, indirect, special, incidental, equitable or consequential damages for any use of or reliance on my Website and its Content, or on those affiliated with me in any way, and you hereby release me from any and all claims; including, without limitation, those related to lost profits, personal or business interruptions, personal injuries, accidents, misapplication of information, or any other loss, physical or mental disease, condition or issue, or otherwise, even if I am expressly advised of the possibility of such damages or difficulties. 

You are agreeing that you will not use my Website or its Conduct in any way that causes or is likely to cause the Website, Content, or access to them to be interrupted, damaged or impaired in any way. You understand that you are solely responsible for all electronic communications and content sent from your computer to this Website and its Content and to me.

You agree to only purchase goods or services for yourself or for another person for whom you are legally permitted to do so or for whom you have obtained the express consent to provide their name, address, method of payment, credit card number, and billing information.  
 

You agree to be financially responsible for all purchases made by you or someone acting on your behalf through the Website or its Content. You agree to use the Website and its Content for legitimate, non-commercial purposes only and not for speculative, false, fraudulent, or illegal purposes.  

You must use the Website and its Content for lawful purposes only. You agree that you will not use the Website or its Content in any of the following ways:

• For fraudulent purposes or in connection with a criminal offence or otherwise carry out any unlawful activity.
• To send, use or re-use any material that is illegal, offensive, abusive, indecent, harmful, defamatory, obscene or menacing, threatening, objectionable, invasive of privacy, in breach of confidence, infringing of any intellectual property rights, or that may otherwise may injure others.
• To send, negatively impact, or infect my Website or its Content with software viruses or any other harmful or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings or any spam, whether intended or not.
• To cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety,
• To impersonate any third party or otherwise mislead as to the origin of your contributions.
• To reproduce, duplicate, copy or resell any part of my Website or its Content in a way that is not in compliance with these T&C or any other agreement with us.

Certain sections of the Website or its Content may allow you to make purchases from me or from other merchants. If you make a purchase from me on or through my Website or its Content, all information obtained during your purchase or transaction and all of the information that you give as part of the transaction, such as your name, address, method of payment, credit card number, and billing information, may be collected by me, the merchant, and my payment processing company. Please review my Privacy Policy for how I comply with securing your personal data.

Your participation, correspondence or business dealings with any affiliate, individual or company found on or through my Website, all purchase terms, conditions, representations or warranties associated with payment, refunds, and/or delivery related to your purchase, are solely between you and the merchant. You agree that I shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, refunds, or other matters of any sort that incurred as the result of such dealings with a merchant.

Payment processing companies and merchants may have privacy and data collection practices that are different from mine. I have no responsibility or liability for these independent policies of the payment processing companies and Merchants. In addition, when you make certain purchases through my Website or its Content, you may be subject to the additional terms and conditions of a payment processing company, Merchant or us that specifically apply to your purchase. For more information regarding a Merchant and its terms and conditions that may apply, visit that merchant’s Website and click on its information links or contact the Merchant directly.

You release me, my affiliates, my payment processing company, and Merchants from any damages that you incur, and agree not to assert any claims against us or them, arising from your purchase through or use of my Website or its Content. 

I reserve the right in my sole discretion to refuse or terminate your access to the Website and its Content, in full or in part, at any time without notice. In the event of cancellation or termination, you are no longer authorized to access the part of the Website or Content affected by such cancellation or termination. The restrictions imposed on you in these T&C with respect to the Website and its Content will still apply now and in the future, even after termination by you or me.

This document outlines my office policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how I conduct myself on the Internet as a mental health professional and how you can expect me to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet. 

If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when we meet. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when I need to update this policy. If I do so, I will notify you in writing of any policy changes and make sure you have a copy of the updated policy. 

Friending 

I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can 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 we meet and we can talk more about it. 

Fanning / Liking 

I keep a Facebook Page for my professional practice to allow people to share my blog posts and practice updates with other Facebook users. The information shared on this page may be available on my website. You are welcome to view my Facebook Page and read or share articles posted there. Note that you should be able to subscribe to the page via RSS without becoming a Fan and without creating a visible, public link to my Page. Not being a fan reduces the likelihood for a breach in confidentiality. You are more than welcome to do this. 

Following 

I may publish a blog on my website, and I post wellness-related information on social media. I have no expectation that you as a client will want to follow such pages. However, if you use an easily recognizable name on social media and I happen to notice that you’ve followed me there, we may briefly discuss it and its potential impact on our working relationship. My primary concern is your privacy. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow me. 

Note that I will not follow your profile back. I only follow other health professionals or persons from my personal life on Twitter, and I do not follow current or former clients on blogs or social media. My reasoning is that I believe casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the therapy hour can create confusion in regard to whether it’s being done as a part of your treatment or to satisfy my personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without our explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on our working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy hour. 

Interacting 

Please do not use SMS (mobile phone text messaging) or messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure, and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me in public online if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with me this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart. 

If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone by calling 832-585-2874 Direct email at audrey@mentalhealthinstitute.com is second best for quick, administrative issues such as changing appointment times. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions. 

Use of Search Engines 

It is NOT a regular part of my practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If I have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with me via our 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 I ever resort to such means, I will fully document it and discuss it with you when we next meet. 

Google Reader 

I do not follow current or former clients on Google Reader, and I do not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you want to share with me that you feel are relevant to your treatment whether they are news items or things you have created, I encourage you to bring these items of interest into our sessions. 

Business Review Sites 

You may find my counseling practice on sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, Google My Business, Yahoo Local, 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 my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client. 

The American Counseling Association’s Ethics Code states under Code C.3.b states that it is unethical for counselors to solicit testimonials: “Counselors who use testimonials do not solicit them from current clients, former clients, or any other persons who may be vulnerable to undue influence. Counselors discuss with clients the implications of and obtain permission for the use of any testimonial.”

Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with me about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that I may never see it. 

If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client, and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided to you, in any forum of
your choosing. 

If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I 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 I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can always contact the Board of Psychology, which oversees licensing, and they will review the services I have provided. 

Location-Based Services (LBS)

If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I do not place my practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at my office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from my office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone. 

Email 

I prefer using email only to arrange or modify appointments. Please do not email me content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record. 

Conclusion 

Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. By engaging with my website, you are indicating that you have read this policy, understand my rights as a client, and accept the responsibility as stated. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them. You are invited to ask any questions you may have regarding these policies through my Contact page.