Liston Walters Psychotherapy Professional Corporation
o/a Toronto Art Therapy Space
Terms and Conditions & Informed Consent
1. Nature of Treatment and Approach
Evidence-Based Practice: All therapeutic approaches used by Liston Walters Psychotherapy Professional Corporation / Toronto Art Therapy Space (TATS) are evidence-based or clinically recognized and tailored to each client’s specific goals and abilities.
Integrated Modalities: In addition to art therapy, modalities such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Mindfulness may be integrated into your care.
Benefits and Risks: While therapy is generally safe and supportive, the therapeutic process may bring up difficult, vulnerable, or uncomfortable emotions. TATS will support you in a safe, effective way to prioritize your emotional well-being.
Outcome: There is no guarantee that therapy will resolve every struggle. You retain the absolute right to ask questions, refuse specific techniques, or withdraw from treatment at any time.
2. Confidentiality and Its Limits
Information shared during sessions remains strictly confidential. However, legal and ethical limits where confidentiality must be broken under Ontario law include:
Harm: If your therapist has reasonable grounds to suspect an imminent risk of serious bodily harm or death to the client or an identifiable third party.
Child Protection: The legal duty to promptly report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect to a Children’s Aid Society (CAS) for any child currently under the age of 16.
Children’s Aid Society Of Toronto
Legal Proceedings: If the therapist or clinical records are legally subpoenaed, or ordered by a court of law or warrant for an investigation.
Supervision & Consultation: Clinical themes may be discussed anonymously with a Registered Psychotherapist or Registered Canadian Art Therapist supervisor/consultant to ensure safe, high-quality practices. Personally identifying information (such as last names) is never shared.
Reporting Misconduct of Other Healthcare Professionals: Under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), if you disclose that another regulated healthcare professional (such as a doctor, dentist, massage therapist, or another psychotherapist) has sexually abused you, your therapist is legally mandated to report that professional to their respective College. To protect your privacy, the law dictates that your name will be kept completely anonymous in this report unless you provide explicit, written consent to be identified.
Regulatory Quality Assurance Audits: As registered members of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), our practitioners are subject to periodic, routine quality assurance reviews. A designated College assessor may review client charts to ensure record-keeping standards are met. Any files reviewed are treated with strict regulatory confidentiality.
3. Recording and Digital Policy
Prohibition of Recording: To protect the privacy of all parties and the integrity of the therapeutic space, recording of therapy sessions (audio or video) by the client, parents, or guardians is strictly prohibited without the therapist’s explicit written consent.
Therapist Documentation: Artwork is considered a fundamental component of the therapeutic process. Therapists may document, photograph, or review artwork for clinical progress tracking or professional supervision purposes.
4. Privacy and Record Keeping (PHIPA Compliance)
Security: Client personal health information, intake forms, and clinical notes are stored securely within a PHIPA-compliant, encrypted electronic health records system (Jane App).
Retention: In compliance with provincial standards, adult client files are securely kept for ten (10) years after the last clinical entry. For minors, files are securely kept for ten (10) years following their 18th birthday, after which they are permanently destroyed.
Assistive AI Documentation Notice: To help your therapist remain fully focused and present during your sessions, our clinic permits the use of secure, healthcare-specific Artificial Intelligence (AI) scribes to assist with drafting and refining clinical notes. These tools process session audio in real-time to format text and permanently delete raw audio recordings immediately after the clinical note is finalized. No AI tool will be used during your session without your explicit verbal or written informed consent.
Management of Artwork: It is highly recommended that clients take their physical artwork home at the end of each session. If an ongoing piece must stay on-site (e.g., to dry), it will be securely held. Upon the completion or termination of services, any physical artwork left at the clinic will be digitally photographed, securely uploaded to the client’s private Jane App file as a permanent part of their clinical record, and the physical piece will be securely destroyed.
Youth Privacy (Ages 6+): In Ontario, under the Health Care Consent Act, a young person’s right to privacy is based on their clinical capacity to understand the treatment, not a fixed age. While TATS strongly values a collaborative family approach and provides parents with high-level progress updates, a clinically capable youth is legally entitled to strict confidentiality. Specific details or artwork from their sessions will not be shared with parents or guardians without the youth’s explicit consent, unless an imminent safety risk is identified.
5. Financial and Cancellation Policies
Payments: Invoices are generated automatically after each session, and payments are securely processed automatically via the credit card on file in our clinical software, Jane App.
Cancellations: We require at least 24 hours’ notice for any session cancellations or modifications. Notifications can be made via text, phone call, or email.
Fees: Sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, or missed entirely without notice, will incur a late cancellation fee equal to 50% of the standard session fee, which will be billed automatically to the card on file.
Refunds: Refunds are not available for completed individual therapy sessions.
6. Right to Terminate and Transition Services
Mutual Right: Clients retain the absolute right to terminate therapy at any point. TATS reserves the right to discontinue services if it is clinically indicated that the current therapeutic approach is no longer beneficial or is not meeting your unique needs. In compliance with CRPO ethical standards, any clinic-initiated termination will include an orderly closure process and appropriate professional referrals to ensure your continuity of care is fully supported.
Feedback and Complaints Process
Internal Resolution: We value your feedback and are committed to providing a safe, ethical, and supportive environment. If you have any concerns about your care, treatment, or billing, we warmly encourage you to discuss them directly with your therapist or contact clinic management at info@torontoarttherapyspace.com so we can work to resolve the matter.
Regulatory Reporting: You retain the absolute right to bypass internal clinic channels and file a formal concern directly with our governing regulatory bodies at any point. Our practitioners are legally bound by provincial standards and ethical frameworks:
College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO): For formal complaints regarding professional conduct, ethics, or clinical practice. CRPO Public Complaints Process
Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA): For matters regarding art therapy ethical standards. CATA Ethics Board