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We Rise Counseling — Let's Grow Through What We Go Through

HIPAA notice

Notice of Privacy Practices

How Rise Life Enrichment and Counseling Services LLC DBA We Rise Counseling may use and disclose your protected health information, and the rights you have over it.

Effective dateOctober 29, 2026

This notice includes items marked [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER]. Those details are practice-specific and are being confirmed by We Rise Counseling before they take effect.

About this notice

Rise Life Enrichment and Counseling Services LLC DBA We Rise Counseling (“We Rise Counseling,” “we,” “us”) is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information (PHI) — information about you that relates to your health, the care you receive, or payment for that care, whether it reaches us in a counseling session, through scheduling, or in records about you. This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information.

Please review it carefully. If you have questions about anything in this notice, contact us using the information at the end of this page.

How we may use and disclose your protected health information

The categories below describe the ways we are permitted to use and disclose your PHI without your authorization. Not every use or disclosure in a category will occur; the examples are provided for general illustration, and the care you actually receive determines which apply.

Some states, including those where we provide services, have privacy laws that are stricter than HIPAA in certain areas. Where state law gives your information greater protection, we will follow the stricter requirement.

  • Treatment: providing, coordinating, or managing your care — for example, conducting your counseling sessions and consulting with another provider involved in your care.
  • Payment: activities needed to bill and collect payment for the services you receive, such as submitting claims to your insurance plan or verifying your benefits.
  • Health care operations: quality assessment, staff training, licensing, audits, and other business functions that support the care we provide.
  • As required by law: disclosures required by federal, state, or local law, including mandatory reporting obligations that apply to licensed mental health professionals.
  • Public health and safety: disclosures to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public, as permitted by law.
  • Court and administrative proceedings: disclosures in response to a court or administrative order, subpoena, or other lawful process, as permitted by law.

Uses and disclosures that require your written authorization

Most uses and disclosures of your PHI that are not for treatment, payment, or health care operations — and that are not otherwise permitted or required by law — will be made only with your written authorization.

Your written authorization is required before we may use or disclose psychotherapy notes, before we may use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes, and before any sale of your PHI. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, and we will honor your revocation going forward, except to the extent we have already relied on it.

Your privacy rights and how to exercise them

You have the following rights with respect to your protected health information. To exercise any of these rights, contact us in writing using the information at the end of this notice. We will respond within the timeframes that apply under HIPAA; where our specific request process is still being finalized, it is marked below.

If we must honor a request, we will act on it. If a request is one we are not required to honor, we will explain why and, where the law allows, describe the options available to you.

  • Right to access and copy: you may inspect and obtain a copy of your health and billing records, subject to limited exceptions. Requests must be made in writing.
  • Right to amend: you may ask us to amend your record if you believe information in it is incorrect or incomplete. Requests must be made in writing.
  • Right to an accounting of disclosures: you may request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI.
  • Right to request restrictions: you may ask us to limit the ways we use or disclose your PHI, including a restriction on disclosures to your health plan for services you have paid for in full out of pocket.
  • Right to confidential communications: you may ask us to contact you at an alternative address or by alternative means — for example, only by phone or email rather than mail.
  • Right to a paper copy of this notice: you may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.
  • Right to breach notification: you have the right to be notified if a breach of your unsecured protected health information occurs.

Our privacy duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information, to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us in writing that we may. If you give us permission, you may change your mind at any time and revoke that permission in writing.

  • Notify you, and where required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, following a breach of your unsecured protected health information.
  • Retain your clinical records under applicable law and professional standards. Our specific record-retention periods are [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER].
  • Apply the more protective standard where state privacy law provides greater protection than HIPAA.

Changes to this notice

We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the revised or changed notice effective for protected health information we already have as well as any information we receive in the future.

When this notice changes, we will post the revised version on this page with a new effective date at the top, and the current version is always available on request by email, by phone, or on this page. How and when we will provide the revised notice directly to clients whose care is already underway is [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER].

Raising a complaint without retaliation

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us by contacting us using the information at the end of this notice. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, by mail (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, D.C. 20201), by phone at 1-800-368-1019, or online at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints.

We will not retaliate against you, and we will not take any other action against you, for filing a complaint, participating in a complaint investigation, or exercising any right described in this notice. Our internal complaint-handling process, including who reviews privacy complaints, is [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER].

Grow Therapy and SimplePractice

We Rise Counseling uses two established practice platforms to support scheduling and clinical services. Scheduling for clients in New York, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, and Kentucky takes place through Grow Therapy, and scheduling for clients in West Virginia takes place through SimplePractice’s client portal (clientsecure.me). Each platform maintains its own privacy practices for the information it holds; those privacy notices are available from the platforms directly, and our links to them are [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER].

Grow Therapy and SimplePractice act as service providers for parts of our practice. Their privacy notices do not replace our own responsibilities under HIPAA: We Rise Counseling remains responsible for the privacy of the protected health information generated through your care, and we rely on appropriate agreements with these services to protect that information.

Not all of your interactions with us occur on these platforms. Questions about services, billing, and general matters may also reach us through our website and email, which is why we ask you to follow the guidance below about what to send through ordinary channels.

Privacy questions, and what not to send through the contact form

For questions about this notice, to exercise any of the rights described above, or to raise a privacy concern or complaint, contact:

  • Email: mstarr@werisecounseling.com
  • Phone: (631) 512-9762
  • Designated privacy contact: [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER]
  • Mailing address: [TO BE CONFIRMED BY PROVIDER]

Important: please do not send detailed health information, therapy content, or other sensitive personal health details through the general contact form on this website or by ordinary email. That channel is not intended for protected health information.

If you are a current or prospective client, the secure way to reach our practice is through the scheduling portals described above — Grow Therapy for New York, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, and Kentucky, and SimplePractice’s client portal for West Virginia — or by phone.