Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and what this policy covers

Thrive Counseling Services ("Thrive," "we," "us," or "our") is a nonprofit counseling practice serving North Texas. We provide professional, faith-based counseling on a sliding scale so that cost is not a barrier to care.

Our mailing address is 2803 Taylor St., Dallas, Texas 75226.

This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information collected through our website at thrivecounselingservices.org, our online forms, our donation pages, and our email and text communications with prospective clients, donors, and other visitors.

This policy applies to:

• Visitors who browse our website without contacting us.
• People who submit a contact or appointment request form.
• People who subscribe to our email or text updates.
• Donors and supporters who give to Thrive.

Relationship to your counseling records

This policy does not govern your counseling records. Communications between you and your counselor, and records of your identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment, are confidential under Texas law and are handled under our clinical confidentiality practices, which are explained to you at intake. Where this policy and those practices differ with respect to counseling records, the clinical confidentiality practices control. Section 8 describes the protections that apply.

Information you submit through a website form before becoming a client may become part of your clinical record once services begin. We treat every inquiry as confidential from the moment we receive it.

2. Categories of personal data we process

We collect only what is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy.

Information you give us directly

• Name, email address, phone number, and preferred method of contact.
• City or general location, so we can confirm we are able to serve you.
• Scheduling preferences and appointment requests.
• Anything you choose to write in a free-text message field. We ask that you keep this brief and save detail for a confidential conversation.
• If you donate: your name, email address, mailing address, and the amount, date, and frequency of your gift. Donations are processed by Givebutter, and payment card details are handled by Givebutter's payment partner, Stripe. Thrive does not receive or store your card number.

Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type and version, operating system, and device type.
• Pages viewed, time spent on pages, and the site that referred you.
• Approximate city-level location derived from your IP address.
• Cookie identifiers, as described in Section 6.

Sensitive information

We recognize that simply contacting a counseling practice can reveal something private about you, and that Thrive offers faith-based counseling, so contact with us may also touch on religious belief. We treat the fact of your inquiry as confidential.

Our website forms are deliberately limited. They do not ask for your diagnosis, symptoms, treatment history, or reason for seeking counseling. We do not use any information you give us for advertising or profiling, and we do not sell it.

Information we do not collect

Through this website we do not collect Social Security numbers, passport or other national identification numbers, dates of birth, precise GPS location, genetic data, or biometric identifiers. We do not receive or store payment card numbers.

3. Why we process personal data

• To respond to you. Answering inquiries, scheduling appointments, and arranging care.
• To provide and administer services. Intake, scheduling, billing, and sliding-scale determinations.
• To communicate. Appointment reminders, and — where you have opted in — newsletters and practice updates.
• To operate and improve the website. Aggregate analytics, security monitoring, and error correction.
• To support our mission. Processing donations, issuing receipts and acknowledgements, and communicating with donors who have opted in.
• To meet legal and professional obligations. Recordkeeping, charitable and tax reporting, licensing requirements, mandatory reporting, and responding to lawful requests.

We will not process your personal data for a purpose that is not disclosed here without first obtaining your consent.

4. How we share personal data

We share personal data only in the circumstances below.

• Service providers. Vendors who process data on our behalf, listed in Section 5.
• When you direct us to. For example, coordinating with another provider at your written request.
• When required by law. In response to a subpoena, court order, or other lawful process, or where a counselor has a mandatory reporting duty under Texas law, including suspected abuse or neglect of a child, an elderly person, or a person with a disability.
• To prevent imminent harm. Where a counselor determines there is an imminent risk of physical injury to you or another person, disclosure may be made to medical or law enforcement personnel as Texas law permits.

What we do not do

• We do not sell personal data, for money or for any other valuable consideration.
• We do not run advertising on this website and we do not share visitor data with advertising platforms.
• We do not disclose client or donor identities to third parties for marketing.
• We do not trade, rent, or exchange donor lists.
• We do not disclose counseling records except as Texas law expressly permits or as you authorize in writing.

5. Third parties who process data on our behalf

The table below lists the third parties that receive personal data through this website and what they receive.

Our contact and appointment forms are configured so that they do not collect clinical detail. Clinical information is gathered separately, through our intake process, and is not stored in the platform that powers our website forms.

6. Cookies and tracking technologies

Cookies are small files placed on your device. We use them, and similar technologies such as tags, for the purposes below.

• Strictly necessary. Required for the site to function, including security and form submission.
• Analytics. Google Analytics helps us understand which pages are useful and where the site is failing people. We use it to see aggregate patterns, not to identify individual visitors.

We do not use advertising or retargeting cookies on this website. We do not sell personal data and we do not carry out targeted advertising, so nothing collected here is passed to an advertising network.

For a full list of the cookies we use, what each one does, and how long it lasts, see our Cookie Policy at thrivecounselingservices.org/cookie-policy.

Your choices

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, either for all sites or for this one specifically, and most offer a private browsing mode that discards cookies when you close the window. Blocking cookies will not limit your ability to contact us or receive services; some parts of the site may work less smoothly.

You can also opt out of Google Analytics across all websites by installing Google's opt-out browser add-on, available from Google's website.

If you would prefer that we delete analytics or contact information we hold about you, contact us using the details in Section 14 and we will do so.

7. Your rights

7.1 Rights we honor

The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act exempts nonprofit organizations, so Thrive is not legally required to follow it. We have chosen to honor the following rights anyway, because we think people should have them regardless of how the organization holding their data is incorporated.

• Right to know and access. Confirm whether we hold personal data about you and obtain a copy.
• Right to correct. Correct inaccuracies in your personal data.
• Right to delete. Request deletion of personal data we hold about you. Some donation records must be kept to meet charitable and tax reporting obligations.
• Right to data portability. Obtain a copy of data you provided to us in a portable, readily usable format, where technically feasible.
• Right to opt out. Opt out of marketing communications. We do not sell personal data, run targeted advertising, or carry out profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
• Right against discrimination. We will not deny you services, change your fee, or reduce the quality of your care because you exercised a privacy right.

Access to counseling records is governed separately by Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 611, described in Section 8. Those rights are legally enforceable and are not affected by anything in this section.

7.2 How to submit a request

You may submit a request using any of the following. You do not need an account with us to make a request.

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +1 214-233-6853
• Mail: Thrive Counseling Services, 2803 Taylor St., Dallas, Texas 75226

We will verify your identity before acting on a request. If we cannot reasonably authenticate a request, we may decline it and will tell you why.

We respond within 45 days of receipt. We may extend this once by a further 45 days where reasonably necessary, and we will tell you before the first period ends if we do. We provide this information free of charge.

7.3 How to appeal

If we decline your request, we will tell you why and explain how to appeal. To appeal, contact us using any method above within 45 days and state that you are submitting an appeal. We will review it and respond in writing within 60 days, explaining our reasoning.

If you remain dissatisfied, you may contact the Texas Attorney General at texasattorneygeneral.gov. Complaints about a counselor's handling of confidential records may also be directed to the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.

7.4 Consent and withdrawal

Where we rely on your consent, such as for marketing messages, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out beforehand. Use the unsubscribe link in any email, reply STOP to any text message, or contact us directly.

7.5 Children

Our website is not directed to children and we do not knowingly collect personal data online from children under 13. Where we provide counseling to a minor, information is collected through our intake process with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, not through this website. If you believe a child has provided personal data through our website, contact us and we will delete it.

8. Confidentiality of counseling records under Texas law

Your counseling records are protected by Texas law independently of anything in this policy.

• Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 611. Communications between you and your counselor, and records of your identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment, are confidential. They may not be disclosed except in the specific circumstances Chapter 611 allows. This protection applies regardless of when you received services. Chapter 611 also gives you the right to access your mental health record, and gives you a private right to seek damages and injunctive relief in court if your records are disclosed improperly.
• Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 181. The Texas Medical Records Privacy Act applies to any person or organization that assembles, collects, analyzes, uses, evaluates, stores, or transmits protected health information in Texas. Among other things, it restricts electronic disclosures of protected health information to treatment, payment, and health care operations unless you authorize the disclosure, and it requires notice of that practice.
• Licensing board rules. Our counselors are bound by the confidentiality rules of their licensing boards, which require written client permission before releasing information about a client and independently prohibit unauthorized disclosure.
• Mandatory exceptions. Texas law requires disclosure in limited circumstances, including suspected abuse or neglect of a child, an elderly person, or a person with a disability, and permits disclosure where there is an imminent risk of physical injury. Your counselor will explain these at intake.

If you want a fuller explanation of how your counseling records are handled, ask your counselor or contact us using the details in Section 14.

9. Data security

We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we hold. These include:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest.
• Role-based access controls, so staff can reach only the information their work requires.
• Multi-factor authentication on systems holding client information.
• Written confidentiality obligations in our contracts with vendors who handle data on our behalf.
• Workforce training on Texas and federal confidentiality law, delivered within 90 days of hire and refreshed when the law or our practices change, with a signed attestation retained on file.
• Separation of website contact data from clinical records.
• Use of a PCI-compliant payment processor, so that payment card details never reach our systems.
• Periodic review of access, logging, and vendor security.

No system is perfectly secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please do not send clinical detail by unencrypted email or through the website contact form.

10. Notice in the event of a data breach

If sensitive personal information about you is acquired by an unauthorized person, we will tell you. Our commitments are as follows.

• Notice to you. We will notify you without unreasonable delay and in any event no later than the 60th day after we determine that a breach occurred, as required by Chapter 521 of the Texas Business & Commerce Code. We may take additional time only where necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the integrity of our systems, or where law enforcement asks us to delay.
• What the notice will contain. A description of what happened, the categories of information involved, the date or date range if known, what we have done in response, what we are doing to prevent recurrence, and steps you can take to protect yourself.
• How we will contact you. By written notice to your last known mailing address, by electronic notice where permitted, or by telephone.
• Notice to the Texas Attorney General. If a breach affects 250 or more Texas residents, we will notify the Texas Attorney General as soon as practicable and no later than the 30th day after we determine the breach occurred, using the electronic reporting form the Attorney General maintains. Notifications reported this way appear on a public listing maintained by the Attorney General.
• Counseling records. Where a breach involves confidential counseling records, we will also notify affected clients directly and will report to the relevant licensing board where required.

11. How long we keep data

We retain the personal data described in this policy indefinitely. This includes website inquiries that did not lead to a counseling relationship, marketing and newsletter contacts, and donor records.

Counseling records are retained for at least the period required by the licensing rules applicable to each counselor, and for clients who were minors, for the required period after they reach adulthood.

Website analytics data is an exception. Google Analytics does not offer indefinite retention of visitor-level data; it is deleted according to the retention period set in the property, which for a standard account can be no longer than 14 months.

You can ask us to delete personal data we hold about you at any time using the details in Section 14, and we will do so unless we are required to keep it for charitable or tax reporting.

12. Where data is stored

Personal data collected through this website is stored on servers located in the United States. We do not transfer personal data outside the United States, and none of our service providers process it outside the United States on our behalf.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last Updated" date above. If we make a material change to how we use personal data, we will notify you before the change takes effect and, where appropriate, ask for your consent.

14. How to contact us

Questions, requests, and complaints about this policy can be directed to us below. You may also contact the Texas Attorney General at texasattorneygeneral.gov.