Terms & Conditions

Aligned Therapy

These Terms and Conditions govern the services of the alignedtherapy.co.nz internet site(s) and their associated services (the ‘Terms and Conditions’) which it provides in conjunction with other partners. 

 

1. Aligned Therapy

1.1 Aligned Therapy is a limited company incorporated in New Zealand, company number 8289756, which conducts face to face, online, and internet based counselling services. The registered office is in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. You may contact us via our website.

2. Services

2.1 These Terms and Conditions are legally binding between you and us. They govern your access to the alignedtherapy.co.nz (or such counselling) and the services we provide. Your access to Aligned Therapy services and Counselling Website(s) and social media(s)are subject to compliance with these Terms and Conditions.

3. Your Obligations

3.1 You agree, represent and confirm that the following are true and will be true each time that you use Aligned Therapy services and each time you enter Aligned Therapy Website(s) and other social media(s) sites:

3.2 You have (or any person designated by you) has, all requisite power, authority and approvals to enter into or perform your obligations (and/or the obligations of the person on whose behalf you are acting) under these Terms and Conditions;

3.3 In accepting these Terms and Conditions you are not relying upon, any statements, representations, promises, or undertakings by Aligned Therapy whatsoever that are not contained herein;

3.4 You will not use Aligned Therapy services or Aligned Therapy Website(s) or Aligned Therapy social media(s) for any purpose which is unlawful, abusive, libellous, obscene or threatening.

3.5 Whilst all information submitted by you to Aligned Therapy Website, including your credit card details, you accept the risk that data transmitted electronically via Aligned Therapy service(s) or Aligned Therapy Website(s) or Aligned Therapy social media(s) may be intercepted before reaching Aligned Therapy (or when transmitted by Aligned Therapy to you). Aligned Therapy takes no responsibility, but all care, for breaches. In order to avoid interception of email it is strongly suggested that you 1) never send/receive personal email from a work computer and 2) that you always double check the To: address box prior to clicking the send button. It is strongly recommended that you password protect all correspondence with Aligned Therapy. Aligned Therapy can assure that the computer and email used for supplying therapy is password protected. Encryption can be used if this is available on your system. You assume full the risk and responsibilities therefore and for the protection of any computer system you use from viruses and other potentially destructive programs.

3.6 You are responsible for ensuring that all information that is provided to Aligned Therapy in your enquiry for advice or therapy is complete and accurate; including details of any previous or ongoing medical conditions and mental health issues. Any advice, comment or information may be dependent upon that.

3.7 Aligned Therapy takes no liability for any advice, comment or information that it gives to you.

3.8 You are responsible for providing all information that you feel may be relevant to your therapist and to update the therapist should your circumstances significantly change.

3.9 You understand that you will be evaluated for the appropriateness of this type of advice or therapy and if Aligned Therapy believes you would be better served elsewhere, a recommendation will be made to you.

3.10 You are responsible for notifying your doctor that you are seeking therapy advice.

3.11 We recommend you get a full medical check with any sexual or physical abuse issues you may have been through.

3.12 You accept full responsibility for monitoring any Aligned Therapy Account(s) you may have. You agree to notify us immediately if you are aware of any credit card fraud, loss, theft, or unauthorised use of any of your password(s) or account numbers.

4. Aligned Therapy’s Responsibilities

4.1. Aligned Therapy will use best endeavours to ensure that all advice, comment, information and therapy/counselling will be provided with appropriate skill, care and sensitivity though cannot be held responsible for any action taken by you directly or indirectly on the basis of what it provides.

4.2. All Aligned Therapy advisors responding to you via Aligned Therapy Website(s) or Aligned Therapy social media(s) or Aligned Therapy email(s) are trained.

4.3. Though all reasonable care shall be taken by Aligned Therapy to ensure that the text of sessions is kept confidential, Aligned Therapy shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special or other damage resulting from third parties interception of online sessions.

4.4 Aligned Therapy reserves the right at its sole discretion to terminate the provision of therapy at any time if ongoing treatment is considered inappropriate for any reason.

4.5 Aligned Therapy, its agents, staff, contractors, and therapists/counsellors will use best endeavours to ensure that their computer systems are protected from viruses and other potentially destructive programs.

4.6 Aligned Therapy will store all advice and therapy correspondence on its computers.

5. Personal Data and Information

5.1 Aligned Therapy shall treat all information between you and Aligned Therapy therapists/counsellors as confidential except as provided for in its Privacy Policy that can be accessed on our website, and subject to the qualifications on security of data transmitted electronically as provide for in 3.5 above.

5.2 Clients are not to be discussed with anyone not employed by Aligned Therapy in any way that can identify them as an individual. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information is any information about an identifiable individual.

5.3 All Aligned Therapy staff may use or disclose information without your consent or authorization in the following circumstances:

1. Child Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that a child has been, or may be, abused, neglected, or sexually abused, he/she must make a report of such.

2. Adult Abuse: If a staff member has reason to believe that an elderly or disabled person is in a state of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, she/he must immediately report such.

3. Health Oversight: If a complaint is filed against your therapist with their respective licensing board, they have the authority to access confidential mental health information from Aligned Therapy.

4. Judicial or Administrative Proceedings: If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about your diagnosis and treatment and the records thereof, such information is privileged under state law and it will not be released by Aligned Therapy, without written authorization from you or your personal or legally appointed representative, or a court order. The privilege does not apply when you are being evaluated for a third party or where the evaluation is court ordered. You will be informed in advance if this is the case.

5. Serious Threat to Health or Safety: If an Aligned Therapy staff member or contractor determines that there is a probability of imminent physical injury by you to yourself or others, or there is a probability of immediate mental or emotional injury to you, they may disclose relevant confidential mental health information to clinical, medical or law enforcement personnel.

6. Abuse or Sexual Exploitation by Therapist: To report client abuse or sexual exploitation by a previous therapist to the appropriate licensing board.

6. Assignment

6.1 Aligned Therapy’s rights and obligations as under these Terms and Conditions may be assigned without your prior consent.

6.2 Your rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions are deemed to be personal to you and are not capable of being assigned to anyone.

7. Fees

7.1 You shall pay fees (and other relevant charges) for Aligned Therapy services and any other services directly to Aligned Therapy.

7.2 Fees are normally charged by credit card, Stripe or bank deposit before you can access the session; however, Aligned Therapy shall not be obliged to provide any therapy until the appropriate Fees have been received.

8. Complaints, Refunds and Cancellations

8.1 If you feel that the advice, comment, information and therapy received is not of a sufficient standard or for any other reason you believe has been defective or failed to reach you, you may claim a refund by writing to Aligned Therapy, or via our website, stating clearly reason(s) for the complaint. The Aligned Therapy’s liability in this regard shall be limited to the actual cost of the fees paid you to Aligned Therapy by the time of the complaint and at its sole discretion. This does not affect your rights under any applicable Consumer Protection Acts or rights. If you have a complaint against one of our therapists, please contact us as above and this will be taken very seriously.

8.2 Because of the nature of the payment system used on the Aligned Therapy Website(s), you accept that it is not possible for you to cancel any service you have embarked upon with Aligned Therapy; however this does not affect your right to claim a refund.

8.3 In the event that you are unable to attend an Aligned Therapy real-time service session (i.e. chat, zoom, online, telephone or face-to-face) you will only be entitled to a refund of the fee if written (including by text or e-mail) has been received by Aligned Therapy up to 72 hours before any such appointment.

8.4 Aligned Therapy reserves the right to terminate the provision of therapy or service at any time if ongoing treatment is considered inappropriate for any reason. If so, Aligned Therapy will give a refund for any session that is after the date on which Aligned Therapy feels the ongoing treatment is considered inappropriate.

8.5 Aligned Therapy will try to be flexible with changing the time of sessions. However, repeated cancellations may result in charges for sessions.

9. Liability and Indemnity

9.1 Neither Aligned Therapy, or its associated companies (either in existence now or that might exist in the future), partners, agents, licensors, or delegates, or our or their directors, officers, contractors, or employees (‘Relevant People’) will be liable for any losses, costs, liabilities or expenses (including, without limitation, loss of profit) (together ‘Losses’) incurred by you in connection with these Terms and Conditions (including, without limitation, any loss which may arise directly or indirectly from your inability to access either Aligned Therapy services or Aligned Therapy Website(s) or Aligned Therapy social media(s) for any reason or for the failure of a transmission of information to you including, but not limited to, those that receive email.

9.2 The content provided and or sourced by Aligned Therapy, and provided to you or others on this site, via e-mail, courses, or any other medium, including, but not limited to that which is quotes, data and other information, is sourced from third parties for your personal information only, and is not intended for any other purpose. Content provided and or sourced by Aligned Therapy is not appropriate for the purposes of making any decisions with regard to your sexual health or health or your relationship(s) or life decision(s). Any decisions taken by you whether or not based on any information, advice or comment made by Aligned Therapy is entirely yours. Online advice and therapy is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it an alternative to face-to-face therapy. The appropriateness and effectiveness of advice is based on open and honest communication between client and therapist. Working online in a text or cyber environment can mean misunderstandings are more likely. It is essential that both client and therapist commit to clear communication and a high level of clarification. The client can make no reliance on any advice, comment or information provided by Aligned Therapy therefore. Nor is it possible for Aligned Therapy to guarantee security and confidentiality of information when working via e-mail or online, though every effort will be made to do so (see Privacy Policy). Please see https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/the-dangers-of-online-therapy/ for the advantages and disadvantage of online therapy.

9.3 Whilst Aligned Therapy will endeavour to ensure the accuracy or timeliness of any information supplied, Aligned Therapy makes no guarantees in relation to these factors and you should manage your use of Aligned Therapy and the Aligned Therapy Website(s) and Aligned Therapy social media(s) accordingly.

9.4 Neither Aligned Therapy nor its third party service or content providers shall be liable for any errors, inaccuracies or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. ALIGNED THERAPY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF ANY OF THE CONTENT PROVIDED, OR AS TO THE FITNESS OF THE INFORMATION FOR ANY PURPOSE, REGARDLESS OF THE MEDIUM USED TO SUPPLY THIS CONTENT

9.5 Aligned Therapy does not guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions given by, or found in any third party content. Aligned Therapy may point to or refer to other Internet sites that it feels may be of interest to you; however Aligned Therapy does not endorse or take responsibility for the content on such other sites. Aligned Therapy may provide content from other internet sites, and other third-party information sources including, but not limited to, printed material. However Aligned Therapy does not endorse or take responsibility for the content sourced from third-party internet sites, third-party printed material or any information sourced from third parties of any kind.

9.6 You agree to indemnify Aligned Therapy, its associated companies, agents and delegates and its and their directors, officers, therapists, contractors, counsellors, and employees (each an ‘Indemnified Person’) against Losses incurred by us or in connection with these Terms and Conditions. This indemnity does not apply to any Relevant Person in so far as Losses result directly from the proven negligence, wilful default or fraud by such Indemnified Person.

9. 7 Aligned Therapy does not guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions given by its associated companies, agents, counsellors, and delegates and its and their directors, officers and employees (each an ‘Indemnified Person’)

9.8 In the event of any inconsistency between this Clause and any other Clause provisions of this Clause shall prevail.

10. Termination

10.1 Aligned Therapy may terminate any agreement to which these Terms and Conditions apply by giving written notice to the other (which may be by text message or e-mail); such termination shall take effect immediately or after such periods as specified in the notice.

10.2 Aligned Therapy may at any time close an account, cease to offer any or all Aligned Therapy services or stop you from gaining access to Aligned Therapy Website(s) (and thereby any Aligned Therapy counselling service offered there) or Aligned Therapy social media(s) for any reason at its sole discretion and without notice.

11. Notices

11.1 All notices or other communications (‘Communications’) may be given orally unless required to be given in writing. References to writing include electronic mail. Notice shall be deemed to be given where an electronic mail has been sent to a party at the electronic mail address or phone number that is entered under the registration form and updated from time to time.

12. Right to decline service

12.1 Aligned Therapy may from time to time decline to provide any or all of its services, either on a permanent basis, or in a single instance or instances in such cases as it sees fit solely at its own discretion and without warning or explanation. This will apply to, but will not be limited to, those requests that we believe to be inappropriate, outside the scope of our services, defamatory, illegal, offensive or in any way anti-social.

13. Amendment

13.1 Aligned Therapy may amend these Terms and Conditions, at any time by posting such amendments to Terms and Conditions on Aligned Therapy Website.

14. Intellectual Property Rights

14.1 You acknowledge that (other than information provided by you) the Intellectual Property Rights in and to Aligned Therapy and any rights to information, documentation, images and other material of whatsoever nature displayed on Aligned Therapy’s Website and/or emailed as part of an advice or therapy session are the property of Aligned Therapy and you shall assert no right, title or interest in or to any such materials.

14.2 Aligned Therapy is for personal and non commercial use. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, licence, create derivative works from, transfer or sell any information obtained from Aligned Therapy Website and/or information emailed as part of an advice, courses, or therapy session. You may only download to your personal computer for viewing purposes and print out a number of pages of this Website for your personal use. Republication or redistribution of Aligned Therapy content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Aligned Therapy.

14.3 Aligned Therapy and Aligned Therapy logo are trademarks, or trademarks for which registration has been applied for, of Aligned Therapy (a trading name of Aligned Therapy Ltd).

15. Governing Law

15.1 These Terms and Conditions are governed by New Zealand Law and you and Aligned Therapy (a trading name of Aligned Therapy Ltd) submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand Courts for all matters arising in connection with those Terms and Conditions. Aligned Therapy controls its business from within the country of New Zealand. It can, however, be accessed from other places around the world. Although these places may have different laws from those of New Zealand, by accessing (website) and using any of Aligned Therapy services you agree that the laws of New Zealand, without regard to rules relating to conflict of laws, will apply to all matters relating to your use of any and all Aligned Therapy Website(s) and services. You and Aligned Therapy also agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts, with respect to such matters. Users of Aligned Therapy services and sites, accessing from places outside of New Zealand acknowledge that they do so voluntarily and are responsible for complying with local laws.

Copyright © Aligned Therapy (a trading name of ALIGNED THERAPY LIMITED) 2022. All rights reserved.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

We always welcome comments about our service, whether positive or negative, so please do get in touch with us if there is anything that you would like to tell us.

All the therapists working for the Aligned Therapy service comply with a strict code of ethics. To view these ethics please see the Code of Ethics page.

  1. If you have any complaint about the professional conduct of your therapist, in the first instance, please contact Aligned therapy putting ‘complaint’ in the subject box. Please provide as much information as possible and state your name. Your complaint will immediately be passed to the owner of Aligned Therapy. You will then receive a formal written acknowledgment of your complaint. The Director will liaise directly with the therapist involved and investigate your complaint. Depending on the nature of your complaint, you may be contacted to discuss the matter. You will receive a written response within 4 weeks of Aligned Therapy receiving your complaint in writing. All complaints must be received within 6 months of them having arisen.
  2. If your concern is not resolved following this first stage, you can appeal in writing stating the reasons for your dissatisfaction. The Director of Aligned Therapy will assess how to proceed with your appeal and may want to contact you again to discuss your dissatisfaction. The Director of Aligned Therapy will inform you of the outcome of the appeal within 8 weeks of receiving your appeal in writing.
  3. If you continue to be dissatisfied then a further appeal in writing will be forwarded to Aligned Therapy’s designated external adjudicator who will not have been previously involved in the matter will have a fresh look at your outstanding concerns and the investigation to date. You will receive a copy of the outcome of this investigation. NB. appeals must be received in writing and within 4 weeks of receiving previous correspondence.