PRIVACY POLICY (last updated September 24, 2026)

This policy sets out:

  1. the information we collect about you when you visit our website, use our products or services, or otherwise interact with us;

  2. how we use, share, store, and secure the information; and

  3. how you may access and control the information.

In this policy, “Balanced Life Psychotherapy” or “we” refers to Balanced Life Psychotherapy & Counselling Pte Ltd. with registered address of 3 Siglap Road, 02-28 Mandarin Gardens, Singapore 448907 and “Platform” means our website at www.blpctherapy.com and the online booking, client-record, messaging and payment tools we use to provide our services.

In this policy, “personal information” refers to any data, information, or combination of data and information that is provided by you to us, or through your use of our products or services, that relates to an identifiable individual.

  1. WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

A. We collect the following types of information about you:

a)     account and profile information that you provide when you register for an account or sign up for our products or services, for example name, email address or phone number (collectively, “Account Data”). Do note that NRIC/FIN numbers are collected ONLY when required by law or when it is necessary to accurately identify the individual to a high degree of fidelity; 

b)     information you provide through support channels, for example when you report a problem to us or interact with our support team, including any contact information, documentation, or screenshots (collectively, “Support Data”);

c)     content you provide through use of our products or services, for example family information (collectively, “User Content”);

d)     communication, marketing, and other preferences that you provide us set when you set up your account or profile, or when you participate in a survey or a questionnaire that we send you (collectively, “Preference Data”);

e)     details of any transactions, purchases, or orders that you've made with us (collectively, “Transaction Data”);

f)       payment information (collectively, “Financial Data”);

g)     information about your device or connection and information we collect through cookies and other data collection technologies (please read our Cookies Policy for details) (collectively, “Technical Data”); and

h)     Information about your use of or visit to our Platform (collectively, “Usage Data”).

B.     We collect the above information when you provide it to us or when you use or visit our Platform. We may also receive information about you from other sources, including our personnel, agents, advisors, consultants, and contractors in connection with our operations or services, for example our staff engaged in the fulfilment of your order, processing of your payment, and provision of support services;

C.     We collect necessary and sensitive health and clinical data, as it is necessary for the provision of our services.

D. If you give us details of an emergency contact or family member, please let them know and make sure they are comfortable with this. We will contact them only in an emergency or as you have agreed with us.

2.      HOW WE USE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

A.     We only use your personal information where the law allows us to. We use your personal information to provide clinical assessment, psychotherapy, and counselling services, and to maintain clinical records in accordance with professional ethical standards and legal requirements. Specifically also where:

a)     we need to perform the contract we have entered into (or are about to enter into) with you, including to operate our products or services, to provide customer support and personalised features, and to protect the safety and security of our Platform;

b)     it satisfies a legitimate interest which is not overridden by your fundamental rights or data protection interests, for example for research and development, and in order to protect our legal rights and interests. If we ever choose to use data for this purpose, we will perform an internal Legitimate Interest Assessment per PDPA laws and seek explicit consent from you.

c)     we will send you marketing messages only with your consent, and we check Singapore's Do Not Call Registry where required. Appointment reminders and other service messages are not marketing.

d)     we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

B.     If you have given us consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent any time by contacting us (please refer to paragraph 9. for contact information), but please note this will not affect any use of your information that has already taken place. In addition, if consent is withdrawn for the processing of essential clinical or contact data, we may no longer be able to provide psychotherapy or counselling services to you.

C.     We do not share your personal information with any company outside our group for marketing purpose, unless with your express specific consent to do so.

3.      HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

A.     We use carefully selected service providers to run our practice, including:

•    Cliniko (Red Guava Pty Ltd, Australia): our practice-management and clinical records system, including online booking, intake forms, appointment reminders by SMS and email, and invoicing;

•    WhatsApp Business (Meta): to arrange and confirm appointments;

•    Google Workspace (Google): for email and practice administration;

•    Stripe: to process card payments;

•    administrative contractors based in India, who help us schedule appointments and respond to enquiries under written confidentiality and data protection obligations. They do NOT have access to your clinical notes or intake forms.

These service providers may use your information only to provide their services to us.

  1. Third-party service providers have access to your personal information only for the purpose of performing their services and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We require these third-party service providers to maintain confidentiality and security of all personal information that they process on our behalf and to implement and maintain reasonable security measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your personal information.

  2. We take reasonable steps to confirm that all third-party service providers that we engage process personal information in the manner that provides at least the same level of protection as is provided under this policy. Where any third-party provider is unable to satisfy our requirements, we will require them to notify us immediately and we will take reasonable steps to prevent or stop non-compliant processing.

  3. We may use information that has been de-identified, so that it can no longer identify you, to understand how our services are used and to improve them. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for profiling.

  4. If you use any third-party software in connection with our products or services, for example any third-party software that our Platform integrates with, you might give the third-party software provider access to your account and information. Policies and procedures of third-party software providers are not controlled by us, and this policy does not cover how your information is collected or used by third-party software providers. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party software providers before you use the third-party software.

  5. Our Platform may contain links to third-party websites over which we have no control. If you follow a link to any of these websites or submit information to them, your information will be governed by their policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party websites before you submit information to them.

  6. if we are acquired by a third party as a result of a merger, acquisition, or business transfer, your personal information may be disclosed and/or transferred to a third party in connection with such transaction. We will notify you if such transaction takes place and inform you of any choices you may have regarding your information.

  7. If you contact us by WhatsApp, please use it only for scheduling and practical questions. Please do not send clinical or other sensitive details by WhatsApp; your therapist will discuss these with you in session. WhatsApp is operated by Meta and is also subject to WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy. If you do send us sensitive information, we will record what is needed in your secure client record and delete it from WhatsApp.

  8. What you share with your therapist is confidential. We will disclose it without your consent only where the law permits or requires us to, for example where there is a serious risk of harm to you or another person, where a child or vulnerable person may be at risk, or where a court or other authority lawfully requires it. Where it is safe and practical, we will discuss this with you first.

4.      HOW WE STORE AND SECURE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

A. Your client records are held in Cliniko, which stores data with Amazon Web Services in Australia. Cliniko uses sub-processors in other countries, including the United States, for functions such as sending SMS and email reminders. Our email and administrative files are held with Google, and payments are processed by Stripe; both may store data in several countries. Our appointment-scheduling contractors work from India and access your contact and appointment details through our systems.

B. We have adopted the following measures to protect the security and integrity of your personal information:

  • individual logins for every staff member and contractor, protected by two-factor authentication;

  • role-based access, so each person sees only the information they need for their role;

  • encryption of information in transit and, within our records system, at rest;

  • written confidentiality and data protection obligations for staff and contractors, with regular training; and

  • regular review of our access rights, systems and practices.

C.     We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected privacy breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

  1. While we implement safeguards designed to protect your information, please note that no transmission of information on the Internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee that your information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our systems or processed by us, is absolutely safe and secure.

  2. We only retain personal information for so long as it is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. We periodically review the basis and appropriateness of our data retention policy.

D.     We generally keep clinical records for 7 years after your last session, and for clients who were under 18 at the time of treatment the clock will start after they turn 18. Messages used to arrange appointments are deleted after 180 days. Enquiries that do not lead to an appointment are deleted within 2 months. When information is no longer needed, we delete or anonymise it securely.

5. HOW WE TRANSFER INFORMATION INTERNATIONALLY

When your information is transferred outside Singapore, we take the steps required by the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) to ensure it continues to receive a standard of protection comparable to that under the PDPA, for example through legally binding contractual obligations with our service providers and contractors.

6.      YOUR RIGHTS

  1. You have the right to:

a)     be informed of what we do with your personal information;

b)     request a copy of personal information we hold about you;

c)     require us to correct any inaccuracy or error in any personal information we hold about you. To note, it is also our obligation to make a reasonable effort to ensure that personal data collected by us is accurate and complete, especially if it is likely to be used to make a decision that affects the individual (like a clinical diagnosis).

d)     request erasure of your personal information (note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for record keeping purposes, to complete transactions, or to comply with our legal obligations);

e)     object to or restrict the processing by us of your personal information (including for marketing purposes);

f)       request to receive some of your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format, and request that we transfer such information to another party; and

g)     withdraw your consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal information (although this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent). 

B.     Our Platform enables you to update certain information about yourself, for example email address.

  1. You may opt out of receiving marketing materials from us. Please note, however, that even if you opt out from receiving marketing materials from us, you will continue to receive notifications or information from us that are necessary for the use of our products or services.

  2. As a security measure, we may need specific information from you to help us confirm your identity when processing your privacy requests or when you exercise your rights.

  3. Any request under paragraph 6.1 will normally be addressed free of charge. However, we may charge a reasonable administration fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive.

  4. Under the PDPA, you may ask for access to the personal data we hold about you, and for information about how it has been used or disclosed in the past year, and you may ask us to correct it. We will respond as soon as reasonably possible. If we cannot respond within 30 days, we will tell you in writing when we will be able to. The PDPA requires or allows us to withhold some information in limited cases, for example where giving access could reasonably be expected to cause immediate or grave harm to your safety or physical or mental health, or threaten the safety or health of someone else. Where that applies, we will explain why. We may charge a reasonable fee for access requests and will tell you the amount beforehand.

7.      CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this policy from time to time and will post the updated version on our website with a new "last updated" date. If we make a material change to how we handle clients' information, we will tell current clients directly, for example by email or at their next appointment.

8.      POLICY TOWARDS CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Balanced Life Psychotherapy & Counselling provides therapy and assessment services to children and young people under the age of 18. Where we do, we hold personal data about the child and about the parent or legal guardian who arranges their care.

How we receive this information: Information about a child reaches us through the parent or legal guardian who consents to their therapy — through our intake form, in sessions, and, with permission, from other professionals involved in the child's care. Our website is not designed for children to register with us independently, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child who contacts us without a parent or guardian involved. If a child contacts us directly, we will seek to involve their parent or legal guardian before proceeding.

Who gives consent: Therapy or assessment for a client under 18 begins only once a parent or legal guardian with authority to consent to the child's healthcare has agreed to it, as set out in our Terms of Service. For handling personal data specifically: where a child is under 13, that consent is given by their parent or legal guardian. Per Singapore guidelines, a young person aged 13 to 17 may consent to the handling of their own personal data where we are satisfied they understand what they are agreeing to.

What we share with parents and guardians: So that a young person can speak freely, we share with a parent or guardian a general account of themes, progress and any recommendations, rather than a session-by-session record of what the young person has said. Where we judge disclosure necessary to protect the child or another person from harm, or where the law requires it, we will tell the parent or guardian without delay. Where both parents complete our intake form, each parent's form is not routinely shared with the other.

How long we keep it: Records relating to a client who was under 18 at the time of treatment are kept for longer than our standard retention period, in line with our professional and legal obligations.

Requesting access: A parent or legal guardian may ask to see the personal data we hold about their child. We will respond in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act. In limited circumstances the Act permits us to withhold some information — including where releasing it could harm the child or another person, or would reveal personal data about someone else — and where that applies we will explain our reasons.

When a young person turns 18: Rights over their information, including the ability to request access to their records, pass to them.

If you have any question about how we handle your child's information, please contact our Data Protection Officer (details below).

9.      CONTACT US

Data Protection Officer: admin@blpctherapy.com or write to: Data Protection Officer, Balanced Life Psychotherapy & Counselling Pte Ltd, 3 Siglap Road, #02-28 Mandarin Gardens, Singapore 448907.

Please contact us first with any questions or concerns. If your concern is not resolved, you may contact Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission (www.pdpc.gov.sg), or the data protection authority where you live.

COOKIES POLICY

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device by a web server when you access our Platform. We use cookies to identify your access and monitor usage and web traffic on our Platform to customise and improve our products and services.

We use both persistent cookies and session cookies. A persistent cookie stays in your browser and will be read by us when you return to our site. Session cookies only last for as long as the session lasts (usually the current visit to a website or a browser session).

Cookies we use

  • Strictly necessary cookies keep the site working, for example remembering your place in a booking form. These are always on.

  • Analytics cookies tell us how many people visit and which pages they use, so we can improve the site. These run only if you accept them.

  • Advertising cookies are set by Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Google so that we can show our services to people who may be looking for therapy, and measure whether our ads work. These run only if you accept them.

You can also block cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may not work properly.