Wholetherapy takes a careful, conservative approach to artificial intelligence (AI) in our practice. This policy explains what AI is and is not used for in your care, what your information is and is not exposed to, and what you can expect.
Our Position
The therapeutic relationship is between you and your human clinician. AI does not replace clinical judgment, attend your sessions, or make treatment decisions about your care. Where AI tools are used in the operation of our clinic, we evaluate them against three standards: does it protect client confidentiality, is it appropriate for healthcare use, and does it serve the client's interest.
Where AI Is Not Used
To be explicit about what does not happen with your information:
- Your sessions are not recorded or transcribed by AI
- Your clinical notes are not processed through public AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini
- Your personal health information is not used to train any AI model
- AI does not make clinical decisions, assessments, or diagnoses about you
- Your therapist does not consult AI as a substitute for clinical supervision or peer consultation
Where AI May Be Used (Operationally)
AI may be used in limited, non-clinical operational contexts where it does not involve your personal health information:
- Marketing and website content: AI tools may assist in drafting general website copy, blog posts, and social media content. No client information is involved.
- Administrative drafting: AI may help our administrative team draft general correspondence templates, scheduling templates, or process documentation. Client-specific communications are reviewed and personalized by a human.
- Internal training materials: AI may be used to help summarize publicly available clinical research or training documents for our team's continuing education.
Third-Party Vendors
Some of the tools we use to operate our clinic have their own AI features built in. Where this is the case, we evaluate the vendor's data handling and choose configurations that protect client confidentiality:
- Jane App (EMR): Our electronic health record is Canadian-hosted and PHIPA/PIPEDA-compliant. Any AI features within Jane operate under Jane's own privacy policy, which is available at jane.app/privacy.
- Email and scheduling tools: We use standard business communication tools (Gmail, Google Calendar). These may use AI features such as spam filtering or suggested replies. Sensitive clinical content is not transmitted through general email channels.
About session recording and transcription: If, at any point in the future, we consider adopting AI-assisted note-taking tools for clinical sessions, this would only happen with explicit, informed, written consent from you. You would not be opted in automatically, and you would always have the right to decline without affecting your care.
What This Means for You
You can expect that:
- The therapist sitting with you (in person or virtually) is the person responsible for your care
- The notes in your clinical file are written by your therapist, not generated by AI
- Your information is not being used to improve any AI system
- If anything about how AI is used in our practice changes in a way that touches your care, we will tell you and obtain your consent first
Questions
If you have questions about AI use, your data, or how any specific tool is used in our practice, please reach out:
Wholetherapy
info@wholetherapy.ca
902-461-1721
Updates to This Policy
AI is a fast-moving area. We will update this policy as our practice and the available tools evolve. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Significant changes that affect how your information is handled will be communicated to active clients directly.
Note: This AI Policy is a companion to our
Privacy Policy. Read both for a complete picture of how your information is handled at Wholetherapy.
