How I look after your information.

Heart Connect Counselling is run by Michael Zoupa, a counsellor and psychotherapist based in Melbourne. I provide counselling on Zoom across Australia. Because counselling is a health service, I handle your information under the Australian Privacy Principles and Victoria's health privacy laws.

• Your name, email and phone number when you get in touch or book.
• What you tell me in the contact form, by email or when booking.
• Notes from our sessions and other health information you share in counselling.
• Payment details from your bank transfer, such as your name and the amount paid. I don't take card payments.
• Basic website usage data, such as pages visited, through Wix Analytics.

I use your information to reply to you, book and run sessions, provide counselling, keep the clinical records I'm required to keep, and handle payments. I don't use it for anything else without asking you, and I never sell it.

I use a small number of trusted services to run the practice: Calendly for bookings, Zoom for sessions, Wix for this website and its forms, and Google for email. Some of these may store data outside Australia.

I only share your information with anyone else, such as your GP, if you agree, or where the law requires it, for example if someone's safety is at serious risk. I don't record sessions.

Your information is kept in secure, password-protected systems that only I can access. Clinical records are kept for as long as the law requires, which in Victoria is generally 7 years after our last session for adults, and then securely destroyed.

You can ask to see the information I hold about you, or ask me to correct it, by emailing heartconnectcounselling@gmail.com. I'll respond within 30 days.

If you have a concern about your privacy, please talk to me first. If you're not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au) or the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner (hcc.vic.gov.au).