Privacy Policy
Effective Date: July 21, 2026
Looking Glass Counseling LLC values your privacy and is committed to handling personal information responsibly.
This Privacy Policy explains how information may be collected, used, stored, and shared when you visit the Looking Glass Counseling website, submit a contact form, send a general email, schedule an initial consultation through Calendly, or use links provided through the website.
This policy applies to public website activity and initial inquiries. It does not replace the separate Notice of Privacy Practices that governs Protected Health Information and clinical records for active counseling clients.
1. Contact Information
Looking Glass Counseling LLC
JoAnn Ristau, LPC
289 Highway 90 E, Unit H
Little River, SC 29566-9298
Email: jristaulpc@gmail.com
Phone: 843-274-5010
Website: lookingglass-counseling.com
Questions about this Privacy Policy may be directed to the contact information above.
2. Website Information Is Separate From Clinical Records
Visiting the website, submitting a contact form, sending an email, or scheduling an initial consultation does not automatically establish a therapist-client relationship.
A therapist-client relationship begins only after Looking Glass Counseling LLC determines that services are appropriate, the required intake and consent process has been completed, and counseling services have been formally accepted and initiated.
Once an individual becomes an active client, clinical information, treatment records, intake documents, secure messages, billing information, and other Protected Health Information are handled separately under applicable privacy laws and the Looking Glass Counseling LLC Notice of Privacy Practices.
3. Information You Voluntarily Provide
You may voluntarily provide limited personal information when using the website or contacting Looking Glass Counseling LLC.
Information may include:
Your full name
Your relationship to the child or prospective client
Your email address
General questions or messages
Information needed to schedule an initial consultation
Other general information you voluntarily provide
The public contact form does not request the child’s name, date of birth, diagnosis, medication information, treatment history, or detailed clinical information.
Please provide only the information reasonably necessary for your initial inquiry.
4. Contact Forms and Email Notifications
When you submit the website contact form, the information is:
Sent to Looking Glass Counseling LLC through an email notification
Stored through the website’s connected Google Drive form or spreadsheet
The form currently collects:
Full name
Relationship to the child
Email address
A general written message
This information may be used to:
Respond to your inquiry
Provide general information about services
Determine whether an initial consultation may be appropriate
Help arrange scheduling
Maintain reasonable administrative records
Protect the website against spam, misuse, or security concerns
The contact form and regular email are intended only for general inquiries. They should not be used to submit clinical records, diagnoses, medication information, trauma histories, crisis details, or other highly sensitive information.
5. Initial Consultations Through Calendly
Looking Glass Counseling LLC uses Calendly to schedule initial free consultations.
Calendly may collect information including:
The date and time selected
Your name
Your email address
Your time zone
General information you voluntarily enter into the optional preparation field
Technical or device information processed by Calendly
The optional preparation field asks visitors to provide only general information that may help prepare for the consultation.
Do not include diagnoses, medical records, medication information, crisis details, detailed trauma information, or other highly sensitive information in Calendly.
Calendly operates independently and processes information according to its own terms and privacy practices.
6. Active Clients and SimplePractice
Once a person becomes an active counseling client, Looking Glass Counseling LLC uses SimplePractice for practice-management and clinical functions that may include:
Intake forms
Client records
Secure messaging
Appointment scheduling
Billing
Payments
Insurance-related administration
Telehealth sessions when requested
Other counseling-practice functions
Active clients should use the SimplePractice client portal for routine clinical forms and secure communication rather than the public website form or regular email.
Clinical information maintained through SimplePractice is governed by the Looking Glass Counseling LLC Notice of Privacy Practices, applicable privacy laws, and SimplePractice’s own privacy and security practices.
The SimplePractice portal and secure messaging system should not be treated as emergency or crisis services.
7. Payments
The Looking Glass Counseling website does not currently collect or process payments directly through Squarespace.
Payments for active-client services are handled through SimplePractice or another method communicated directly to the client.
Payment providers may process information such as:
Client or responsible-party name
Billing information
Payment method
Amount paid
Transaction date
Payment status
Information needed to prevent fraud or complete the transaction
Looking Glass Counseling LLC does not ordinarily receive or store complete payment-card numbers submitted through a third-party payment processor.
8. Information Collected Automatically
When you visit the website, Squarespace and related technology providers may automatically collect limited technical and website-usage information.
This may include:
Internet Protocol address
Browser type
Device type
Operating system
Pages visited
Referring website
General geographic information derived from an IP address
Date and time of visits
Website interactions
Cookie or similar technology information
This information may be used to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and understand the general performance of the website.
9. Squarespace Analytics
The website uses Squarespace’s built-in website analytics.
This may provide general information about:
Website traffic
Number of visitors
Pages viewed
Traffic sources
Search terms
Device and browser types
General geographic areas
Looking Glass Counseling LLC does not currently use Google Analytics.
Website analytics are used to understand how the site is used and to improve its accessibility, content, and operation. Website analytics are not used to provide counseling or make clinical decisions.
10. Cookies
The website uses cookies and similar technologies that may help:
Operate and secure the website
Remember visitor preferences
Support website forms and features
Understand general website use and performance
Prevent fraud or misuse
Some cookies are necessary for the website to function. Other cookies may be considered analytics, performance, or non-essential cookies.
The website’s cookie banner gives visitors the option to:
Accept all cookies
Decline non-essential cookies
Manage cookie preferences
Visitors may also control or delete cookies through their browser settings. Restricting cookies may affect the operation of some website features.
11. Advertising and Tracking
Looking Glass Counseling LLC does not currently use:
Meta or Facebook Pixel
Google Ads tracking
Pinterest tags
TikTok Pixel
Other targeted-advertising pixels
Website visitors’ personal information is not currently used for cross-site behavioral advertising.
This policy will be updated if advertising or additional tracking tools are added in the future.
12. How Information Is Used
Information collected through the website, email, or Calendly may be used to:
Respond to questions
Provide information about counseling services
Schedule an initial consultation
Determine whether services may be appropriate
Refer an individual elsewhere when services do not appear appropriate or available
Communicate about an inquiry or appointment
Operate and improve the website
Maintain appropriate business and administrative records
Prevent fraud, spam, misuse, or unauthorized access
Protect legal rights and safety
Comply with legal, ethical, licensing, insurance, or professional obligations
Resolve disputes
Information collected through the public website will not be used as a substitute for a proper clinical intake or assessment.
13. How Information May Be Shared
Looking Glass Counseling LLC may share limited information with service providers needed to operate the website and provide requested services.
These providers may include:
Squarespace
Google, Google Drive, and Gmail
Calendly
SimplePractice
Payment-processing providers
Website, security, administrative, insurance, accounting, or legal-service providers
Information may also be disclosed:
When required by law, legal process, court order, or lawful governmental request
To protect the rights, safety, property, or security of Looking Glass Counseling LLC or others
To investigate suspected fraud, misuse, or security concerns
To professional advisers when reasonably necessary
In connection with a lawful business transfer or reorganization
Service providers operate under their own terms, privacy practices, security procedures, and legal obligations.
14. No Sale or Rental of Personal Information
Looking Glass Counseling LLC does not sell or rent website visitors’ personal information.
Information is shared only as reasonably necessary to:
Operate the website
Respond to inquiries
Schedule consultations
Provide counseling services
Manage billing and payments
Protect safety and legal rights
Meet legal or professional obligations
15. Sensitive and Clinical Information
The public website, contact form, regular email, and Calendly are not intended for the submission of:
Medical records
Mental-health diagnoses
Medication information
Detailed treatment histories
Detailed trauma histories
Crisis or emergency information
Social Security numbers
Insurance identification numbers
Complete financial-account information
Other highly sensitive or confidential information
Please do not submit this type of information through the public website, ordinary email, or Calendly.
Active clients should use the methods provided through SimplePractice for routine clinical forms and secure communication.
16. Data Retention
Looking Glass Counseling LLC keeps website and scheduling information only as long as reasonably necessary to:
Respond to inquiries
Arrange consultations or services
Maintain appropriate business records
Meet legal, ethical, licensing, tax, insurance, or professional obligations
Protect legal rights
Resolve disputes
Information that is no longer reasonably needed may be deleted, anonymized, or securely disposed of.
Some information may remain temporarily in service-provider backups, administrative records, or systems controlled by third-party providers.
Clinical records are subject to separate legal, professional, and record-retention requirements and are addressed through the Notice of Privacy Practices and client documentation.
17. Information Security
Looking Glass Counseling LLC uses reasonable administrative and technical safeguards intended to protect information submitted through the website and related services.
However, no website, email service, cloud-storage system, scheduling platform, payment provider, client portal, or electronic transmission method can guarantee complete security.
Visitors should avoid transmitting highly sensitive or confidential information through the public website, ordinary email, or Calendly.
Once someone becomes an active client, regular clinical communication should occur through SimplePractice secure messaging.
18. Adults Completing Website Forms
Looking Glass Counseling LLC provides counseling services to children, teens, and families. However, the public website contact form and Calendly consultation booking are intended to be completed by a parent, legal guardian, responsible adult, or adult prospective client.
Children and teens should not independently submit personal information through the website or schedule consultations without appropriate adult involvement.
If Looking Glass Counseling LLC learns that a child submitted personal information through the website without appropriate authorization, the information may be deleted when reasonably possible and legally permitted.
19. Privacy Choices and Requests
You may contact Looking Glass Counseling LLC to request:
Access to information you submitted through the website or Calendly
Correction of inaccurate website or scheduling information
Deletion of website or scheduling information when legally and reasonably permitted
Requests may be sent to:
Looking Glass Counseling LLC may need to verify your identity before responding.
Certain information may need to be retained for legal, ethical, professional, billing, insurance, security, or recordkeeping purposes.
Requests concerning active-client clinical records or Protected Health Information are governed by the separate Notice of Privacy Practices.
20. Emergencies and Crisis Communication
The website contact form, regular email, Calendly, and SimplePractice messaging are not monitored continuously and should not be used for emergency or crisis communication.
Looking Glass Counseling LLC cannot guarantee an immediate response to an electronic message.
Anyone experiencing an immediate safety concern, life-threatening emergency, or risk of harm should call 911, go to the nearest emergency department, or contact an appropriate emergency resource in their location.
21. Counseling Location
Counseling services, including telehealth services, are provided only when the client is physically located in South Carolina at the time of the counseling session, unless otherwise permitted and specifically arranged in accordance with applicable law and professional requirements.
Accessing the website from another location does not establish eligibility to receive counseling services.
22. Third-Party Websites and Links
The website may include ordinary links to outside websites, directories, scheduling services, client portals, professional resources, or other third-party services.
Looking Glass Counseling LLC does not control the privacy, security, content, accuracy, or availability of third-party websites.
Opening or using an outside service is subject to that provider’s own privacy policy and terms.
23. Changes to This Privacy Policy
Looking Glass Counseling LLC may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in:
Website features
Technology providers
Information-handling practices
Counseling-practice operations
Legal, ethical, licensing, or professional requirements
The revised policy will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.
24. Contact Information
Questions, concerns, or website privacy requests may be directed to:
Looking Glass Counseling LLC
JoAnn Ristau, LPC
289 Highway 90 E, Unit H
Little River, SC 29566-9298
Email: jristaulpc@gmail.com
Phone: 843-274-5010