Legal
Privacy Policy
This policy explains what happens to information when you visit lvlupcounseling.com. It is deliberately short, because the site itself collects very little.
1. What this policy covers — and what it does not
This policy applies only to this website.
It does not cover your clinical record. If you are a client of LVLUP Counseling, the information discussed in sessions, your treatment record, and anything shared with an insurer is governed by a separate document — the Notice of Privacy Practices you receive at intake — along with HIPAA and the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act. Those protections are considerably stronger than anything a website privacy policy provides, and nothing here limits them.
If you would like a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices before becoming a client, write to kelly@lvlupcounseling.com and ask.
2. Information collected when you visit this site
This site has no contact form, no account sign-up, and no newsletter. There is nothing here for you to fill in, so we do not collect your name, your email address, or anything you would have to type.
Like effectively every website, the server that hosts this site keeps routine technical logs — IP address, browser type, the page requested, and the time of the request. These are generated and retained by our hosting provider, Hostinger, as part of operating and securing the service. They are not used to build a profile of you, and they are not combined with any clinical information.
3. Cookies and analytics
Not currently in use. As of the effective date above, this site sets no cookies of its own and uses no analytics or advertising trackers.
We expect to add basic website analytics so we can see which pages people find useful. When that happens, this section will be updated and the effective date above revised before the change goes live. Analytics of that kind record things like pages viewed, approximate region, and referring site. They will not be used for advertising, will never be connected to anyone's clinical record, and will not be used to identify individual visitors.
4. Scheduling, payment, and the client portal
Consultations, appointments, paperwork, and payment are handled through SimplePractice, a practice-management platform used by many therapy practices. Depending on how you arrive there, you may be sent to SimplePractice directly or interact with a scheduling area embedded on this site.
Either way, the information you enter there — your name, contact details, insurance information, payment details, appointment history — is collected and stored by SimplePractice, not by this website. It is governed by SimplePractice's own privacy policy and terms, and by the business associate agreement between SimplePractice and LVLUP Counseling. Please read their policy before entering personal information: SimplePractice Privacy Policy.
Where a scheduling area is embedded in a page on this site, that embedded content is served by SimplePractice and may set its own cookies in your browser.
5. Email
Email addresses on this site open your own mail application; nothing is submitted through the site itself. If you write to us, we receive whatever you choose to send and keep it for as long as needed to respond and to maintain a reasonable business record.
Please do not send clinical details, diagnoses, or other sensitive health information by ordinary email. Standard email is not a secure channel, and a message can be read in transit or delivered somewhere unintended. To ask about working together, a short note with your name and how to reach you is plenty — the rest is better discussed by phone or through the secure client portal.
6. Links to other websites
This site links out — for example to Google Maps for the office location, and to SimplePractice for scheduling. Once you follow a link you are on someone else's site, subject to their privacy policy rather than this one. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for how they handle your information.
7. Children
This website is intended for adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from them through it.
8. How long information is kept
Server logs are retained by the hosting provider on their own schedule. Email correspondence is kept as long as it is useful for responding to you and for ordinary business records. Information held in SimplePractice is retained under that platform's policies and under the record-retention rules that apply to a licensed clinical practice in Illinois.
9. Your choices
Because this site collects nothing directly from you, there is little to opt out of. You can block cookies in your browser, decline to follow outbound links, and choose not to email us. If you would like to know what information we hold about you, or would like it corrected or deleted, write to kelly@lvlupcounseling.com and we will respond within a reasonable time. Requests about clinical records are handled under the Notice of Privacy Practices rather than this policy.
10. Changes to this policy
This policy may be updated as the site changes. When it is, the effective date at the top will be revised. Material changes — such as introducing analytics — will be reflected here before they take effect.
11. Contact
Questions about this policy can go to kelly@lvlupcounseling.com, or by post to LVLUP Counseling, 111 W Chicago Ave, Suite G-01, Hinsdale, IL 60521.
See also: Terms of Service