Effective Date: November 9, 2026

Notice of Privacy Practices

Face Your Giants Counseling LLC

Our Privacy Responsibilities

Face Your Giants Counseling LLC is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information (PHI), provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and notify you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

We must follow the privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect. We may change the terms of this notice, and changes may apply to the health information we maintain. The current notice will be available upon request and on our website.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

Get a Copy of Your Records

You may request to inspect or receive a paper or electronic copy of your health information maintained by our practice. You may also request a summary of your information where permitted by law.

Under Texas Health and Safety Code §611.008, we will respond to a written request to examine or copy recorded mental health care information as promptly as required under the circumstances and no later than the 15th day after receiving the request. We will make the information available or inform you if the information does not exist or cannot be found.

Access may be limited in certain circumstances permitted by law. For example, Texas law permits a professional to deny access to a portion of a mental health record when the professional determines that releasing that portion would be harmful to the patient's physical, mental, or emotional health. Any denial must follow applicable legal requirements, including providing the required written explanation.

Ask Us to Correct Your Records

You may ask us to correct health information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. We may deny your request in certain circumstances. If we deny your request, we will provide a written explanation as required by law.

Request Confidential Communications

You may ask us to contact you in a specific way or at a particular location. For example, you may request that we use a particular telephone number or email address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Ask Us to Limit What We Use or Share

You may ask us not to use or disclose certain health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are not required to agree to every request, except where the law requires us to honor a restriction.

If you pay for a service entirely out of pocket, you may request that we not disclose information about that service to a health plan for payment or health care operations purposes, unless disclosure is required by law.

Request an Accounting of Disclosures

You may request an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information made during the six years before your request. This accounting does not include every disclosure. For example, disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations, and disclosures you authorized, are generally excluded.

Get a Copy of This Notice

You may request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you previously agreed to receive it electronically.

Choose Someone to Act for You

If someone has legal authority to act as your personal representative, such as through a valid medical power of attorney or guardianship, that person may exercise your privacy rights when legally authorized. We will verify that person's authority before taking action.

File a Complaint

You may file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You may contact our practice or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Information

For Treatment and Care Coordination

We use your health information to provide counseling services, maintain your clinical record, and manage your care.

When coordinating care with an outside physician, psychiatrist, therapist, or other provider, we generally obtain your signed written authorization before releasing confidential mental health information. The authorization identifies the information to be disclosed, the recipient, and the purpose of the disclosure.

We may also disclose information without your authorization when a specific exception under applicable Texas or federal law permits or requires the disclosure. For example, Texas law permits certain disclosures to professionals and personnel under their direction who participate in the diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient, and certain disclosures involving a probability of imminent physical injury or immediate mental or emotional injury.

We do not treat HIPAA's general treatment-disclosure permission as overriding the additional confidentiality protections under Texas law.

For Payment

Our practice is private pay. We do not directly bill insurance companies or submit insurance claims on your behalf.

We use payment information as necessary to process payment for counseling services. Clients may request superbills or statements to submit to their insurance companies for possible out-of-network reimbursement. You decide whether to submit a superbill to your insurance company.

Texas law permits certain disclosures to individuals, corporations, or governmental agencies involved in paying or collecting fees for mental or emotional health services, subject to applicable law.

For Health Care Operations

We may use health information as permitted by law to operate our practice, maintain clinical records, manage appointments and payments, review the quality of services, and meet professional and legal obligations.

With Your Written Authorization

Except where otherwise permitted or required by law, we will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing your health information for purposes not described in this notice.

You may revoke an authorization in writing, dated and signed, subject to applicable law. Revocation does not affect disclosures already made in reliance on the authorization before we receive the revocation.

When Required or Permitted by Law

We may use or disclose your health information without your written authorization in certain circumstances permitted or required by law, including:

• When reporting suspected abuse or neglect as required by law.
• When necessary to address a serious and imminent threat to health or safety, consistent with applicable law.
• When disclosure to a governmental agency is required or authorized by law.
• When responding to a valid court order or other legal process in circumstances authorized by law.
• For certain public health, health oversight, or law enforcement purposes authorized by law.
• For certain workers' compensation or other government functions when legally permitted.
• For disclosures to qualified personnel for management audits, financial audits, program evaluations, or research when permitted by law.
• When otherwise specifically permitted or required by federal or Texas law.

Texas law places additional limits on disclosures of mental health communications and records. We will evaluate requests for information under the applicable legal requirements before making a disclosure.

Additional Texas Mental Health Confidentiality Protections

In addition to federal HIPAA protections, Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 611 provides confidentiality protections for communications between patients and mental health professionals and for records concerning a patient's identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment.

Under Texas law, these communications and records are confidential and may be disclosed only in circumstances authorized by law. These circumstances include certain disclosures with written consent, disclosures to professionals and personnel under their direction who participate in diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment, certain payment-related disclosures, and specific safety or legal exceptions.

We will follow applicable federal and Texas requirements when responding to requests for records and when considering disclosures of confidential mental health information.

Psychotherapy Notes and Clinical Records

Our practice maintains clinical documentation, including progress notes, assessments, and treatment plans, in our electronic health record system.

We do not currently maintain separately stored psychotherapy notes as that term is defined under HIPAA. Regular clinical progress notes and treatment documentation remain protected health information and are subject to applicable privacy and access requirements.

Substance Use Disorder Records

Our practice is a general counseling practice and does not hold itself out as a federally assisted substance use disorder treatment program. Counseling may occasionally address substance use as part of broader mental health treatment.

To the extent we receive or maintain substance use disorder patient records protected under federal 42 CFR Part 2, those records may be subject to additional confidentiality protections. We will not use or disclose records protected by Part 2 in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your written consent or a court order accompanied by a subpoena, as required by applicable law.

Electronic Health Records and Service Providers

We use TherapyNotes as our electronic health record platform for clinical documentation, client records, the client portal, payment processing, and telehealth services.

TherapyNotes and other service providers may perform functions on our behalf that involve protected health information. When a service provider creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information on our behalf, we use appropriate written business associate agreements and safeguards as required by HIPAA and applicable law.

We take reasonable steps to protect your information when using electronic systems. However, no electronic system or method of communication can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Telehealth and Electronic Communications

We may provide counseling through video or telephone sessions. Video telehealth sessions are conducted through TherapyNotes' telehealth platform.

We may communicate with clients by telephone, text message, email, and the TherapyNotes client portal for scheduling, appointment reminders, and other practice-related matters.

Electronic communications may carry privacy risks, including the possibility that messages could be misdirected, accessed by someone else, or viewed on a shared device. Our electronic communication practices and the risks associated with these methods are addressed in our intake paperwork.

Whenever possible, we encourage clients to use the secure client portal for sensitive clinical information. You may request alternative communication methods by contacting our practice.

Our Responsibilities

We are required by law to:

• Maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• Provide you with this notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices.
• Follow the privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect.
• Notify you as required by law if a breach compromises the privacy or security of your protected health information.
• Use or disclose your information only as described in this notice, as authorized by you, or as permitted or required by law.

Changes to This Notice

We may change the terms of this notice. Any revised notice will apply to the health information we maintain, as permitted by law. The current notice will be available on our website and upon request.

Contact Us About Privacy

If you have questions about this notice, wish to exercise your privacy rights, or want to file a complaint with our practice, please contact our privacy contact:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

You may also file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: 1-877-696-6775
File a HIPAA complaint online

This notice describes the privacy practices of Face Your Giants Counseling LLC and is subject to applicable federal and Texas law.