Privacy Policy

Higher Ground Psychotherapy PLLC, d/b/a Higher Ground Psychotherapy + Ketamine Studio
Effective date: [insert date of publication]
This Privacy Policy describes how Higher Ground Psychotherapy PLLC ("Higher Ground," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects information when you visit our website, contact our practice, or receive services from us, including in-person and telehealth psychotherapy and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) services. This policy applies to visitors and patients located in Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, the states in which our services are offered, and is intended to comply with applicable federal and state privacy laws in each of those jurisdictions.
Our separate Notice of Privacy Practices, provided to all patients at intake, governs the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This Privacy Policy addresses our broader data practices, including information collected through our website, and should be read together with that Notice.
1. Information We Collect
We may collect the following categories of information:
Contact and identifying information you provide, such as your name, email address, phone number, and mailing address, when you submit an inquiry form, request a consultation, or schedule an appointment.
Health information you provide as a patient, including information collected during intake, clinical assessments, treatment, and billing. This information is Protected Health Information under HIPAA and is handled according to our Notice of Privacy Practices.
Payment information, including billing details processed through our practice management system. We do not store full payment card numbers ourselves; payment processing is handled by our EHR platform and payment processors.
Website usage information, collected automatically when you browse our site, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, and referring website, typically through cookies and similar tracking technologies.
Communications you send us through our website contact forms, email, or text messaging.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect to respond to inquiries and schedule consultations, provide and coordinate clinical care, process payment for services, send appointment reminders and administrative communications, maintain required clinical and business records, improve our website and the services we offer, and comply with applicable legal, licensing, and regulatory obligations.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not use patient health information for marketing purposes without written authorization, consistent with our Notice of Privacy Practices.
3. Multi-State Legal Compliance
Higher Ground provides telehealth psychotherapy services to patients located in Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, through clinicians individually licensed in each respective state. Medical and prescribing services, including ketamine-assisted psychotherapy medical management, are provided only to patients located in Connecticut by our affiliated prescriber.
Because we serve patients across these states, we structure our privacy practices to comply with the requirements of each jurisdiction, including the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, and applicable Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire privacy and health information laws, in addition to federal HIPAA requirements. Where a state law grants residents specific privacy rights, such as the right to access, correct, or delete personal information, or to opt out of the sale or targeted advertising use of personal information, we honor those rights for residents of that state as described in Section 7 below. Because we do not sell personal information and do not engage in targeted advertising using patient health information, many of these opt-out rights will not apply to how we currently operate, but the request process described below remains available to you.
4. Third-Party Service Providers
We work with third-party vendors to operate our practice, including an electronic health record and practice management platform (SimplePractice), email communication tools (Mailchimp), a secure business texting and calling service (Quo), our website host (Wix), and our affiliated prescribing provider and pharmacy partners for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy services. Where these vendors have access to PHI, we maintain Business Associate Agreements with them as required under HIPAA. These vendors are authorized to use information only as necessary to provide services to Higher Ground and are not permitted to use it for their own independent purposes.
5. Cookies and Website Analytics
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to understand how visitors use our site and to improve its functionality. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of our website but will not affect your ability to contact us or schedule care by phone or email.
6. Data Security
We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality and security of the information we hold, consistent with HIPAA requirements for PHI. No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure, and while we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security, particularly for communications sent by email or text, as also noted in our Notice of Privacy Practices.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your state of residence, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, request deletion of your personal information, subject to our legal and clinical recordkeeping obligations, and opt out of the sale of personal information or its use for targeted advertising. As noted above, we do not currently sell personal information or use patient information for targeted advertising.
Rights specific to your health information, including access to and amendment of your clinical record, are addressed in our Notice of Privacy Practices, available at intake and upon request.
To make a privacy request, contact us using the information in Section 10 below. We will respond within the time frame required by applicable law.
8. Children's Privacy
Our website is intended for adults seeking information about our services. We provide care to adolescent patients only within the context of an established clinical relationship with a parent or guardian's involvement as required by law, as described in our intake materials. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through our website outside of that clinical context.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. The effective date at the top of this policy will indicate when it was last revised. Material changes will be posted on this page.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to make a privacy request, please contact us at:
Higher Ground Psychotherapy PLLC Woodbury: 51 Sherman Hill Road, Unit A202, Woodbury, CT 06798 Westport: 25 Imperial Avenue, Westport, CT 06880 nicole@highergroundct.com (203) 418-7653
For questions specifically about your Protected Health Information or to exercise HIPAA rights, please refer to our Notice of Privacy Practices, available at either office location and upon request.