privacy, HIPAA & website terms
Privacy, HIPAA & Website Terms
A plain-language explanation of what this website collects, how enquiries are handled, and what the site can—and cannot—do.
what I collect
Contact the practice directly.
The public contact links open your own phone, messaging, or email app. The website does not ask you to submit a contact or intake form.
Please use phone, text, and email only to request a conversation or arrange scheduling. Do not send clinical details through email or text.
The Emotional Thermometer does not collect a submission. Its number stays in temporary page memory and is not saved or sent anywhere.
how enquiries move
Direct contact opens an app you choose.
Using a phone, text, or email link takes you out of the website and opens the corresponding app on your device.
The website does not receive or store the message through a public enquiry form. The privacy and security practices of your phone, messaging, and email providers still apply.
Email and text are for scheduling and administration only, not therapy or clinical content. This site does not provide emergency response.
security and access
A direct-contact website, not an intake system.
The public site provides direct phone, text, and email links rather than collecting enquiry details through a web form.
The security practices of the phone, messaging, and email providers you choose still apply. This page does not promise that every provider is a HIPAA covered entity or that a signed Business Associate Agreement is in place.
It also does not guarantee a particular security outcome.
retention and deletion
Clinical records and website enquiries are different.
Pennsylvania law requires psychologists to keep professional-record entries for at least five years after the last service date. Other laws or institution rules may require longer. HIPAA's Privacy Rule does not set a time limit for medical records. See 49 Pa. Code § 41.57 and the HHS HIPAA retention explanation.
Because the public website does not collect enquiry submissions, it does not retain public contact-form records. The privacy and retention practices of the communication service you choose still apply.
For a privacy question, use the contact page; the site does not provide a self-service record-access or deletion tool.
sessions, recordings and AI
Recording and technology use.
Neither party records sessions unless both sign a “Limit of Confidentiality Form.” Ask about the form before you agree to recording.
The website does not provide an AI chatbot or AI-based intake. Dr. Berchick does not use AI in the practice.
website terms
Information is not a therapy relationship.
This website is informational. Its articles, FAQs, publications, and self-reflection resources are not therapy, diagnosis, treatment, medical advice, or an assessment.
Reading them, using the Emotional Thermometer, or contacting the practice does not create a therapy, psychologist–client, or assessment relationship.
The website and its contact links are not emergency services or immediate-response channels.
Please use immediate local emergency support rather than waiting for a website response.
Dr. Berchick provides online-first care and confirms location and fit before any screening or treatment begins.