Policy/Legal

Massage Policies

These policies guide my practice and client/practitioner relationship.  Please familiarize yourself with this section.

  • Massage therapy services are in no way a substitute for examination, diagnosis or treatment by a physician.

    As a massage therapist I do not diagnose illness, disease or any other physical or mental disorder, nor do I perform spinal or skeletal adjustments or prescribe medicine or medical procedures of any kind.

    The purpose of this website and the associated blog is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or diagnosis.

  • I respectfully ask that you provide a minimum of 24-hour notice of any schedule changes or cancellation requests. Any cancellations or changes to your appointments must be made by phone, email, or through the website contact form.

    If you are a client, you know that the schedule can fill quickly and it can be difficult to get an appointment at your desired time. Unfortunately, when an appointment is canceled last-minute, it is often hard to fill that open slot. When you cancel or miss your appointment time without providing adequate notice, this results in a lost opportunity for another client to receive the care they need, as well as an inconvenience and lost income for my business.

    Your appointment time is reserved just for you, and I work hard to prepare for your appointments and provide high-quality care.

    When you make an appointment with me, you are actively agreeing to my policies and acknowledging that if you cancel or no-show within 24 hours, you will be charged 50% of the service fee for the first violation of this policy and 100% of the service fee for each additional violation.

    I also reserve the right to require a credit card number to be given to book future appointments so that appropriate fees may be charged if a late cancellation does occur.

    I understand that emergencies can arise, and illnesses do occur at inopportune times. If you have a fever, a known infection, or have experienced vomiting or diarrhea within 24 hours prior to your appointment time, I request that you cancel your session.

    Inclement weather may also result in the need for late cancellations. I will do my best to give advanced notice if I am closing or need to cancel due to bad weather and I ask you to do the same. Please do not risk your own safety trying to make your appointment.

    Late cancellation due to emergency, illness, or inclement weather will generally not result in any missed session charges, but this is determined on a case-by-case basis.

    No-call, no-shows will always be charged in accordance with our cancellation policy.

  • It is important that you arrive on time to your appointment to fill out any required paperwork and answer any intake questions regarding your health and massage session goals.

    I understand that issues can arise that may cause you to be late for your appointment. However, I ask that you call to inform me if this ever occurs so that I can do my best to accommodate you. Appointment times are reserved for each client, so oftentimes I cannot exceed that reserved time without disrupting the rest of the schedule.

    For this reason, arriving after your appointment time may result in loss of time from your massage. Full service fees will be charged even when sessions are shortened due to late arrival.

    In return I will always do my best to be on time, and if I am unable to do so, additional time will be added to your session to make up for the late arrival or the service charge will be adjusted accordingly.

  • Initial intake forms are required for every client.

    Clients must provide an accurate health history and agree to inform their therapist of any updates or changes to their health/medical condition.

    An intake form and process helps your therapist to understand your specific circumstances and design a personal treatment plan accordingly. This is crucial, as people’s health issues and ailments vary, and consequently, treatment must be considered on an individual basis.

    Intake forms typically contain the client’s contact information. This includes a contact number, email address, home address, additional phone numbers and date of birth.

    The Intake Form includes other information that serves to help your therapist to exclude from the intended therapy certain aspects that are contraindicated for a specific client. These aspects may include allergies, past accidents, injuries, and physical disabilities, surgeries, pregnancy, the medication the client is currently using, and other medical issues the therapist should be aware of.

    Licensed Massage Therapists use the initial interview and the Intake Form to formulate a treatment plan. As therapy progresses, information in the initial form is expanded with details based on a documentation technique known as SOAP (SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan).

    SOAP notes contain Subjective information supplied by the client, Objective information observed by the therapist, information Assessed during palpation or treatment and Plans that were subsequently formed by the therapist. These four parts of the therapist report, as well as the initial Intake Form, are used to track each client’s progress.

    Intake forms and all notes from treatment sessions are considered confidential medical records. HIPAA regulations require that all licensed therapists need to obtain a signed release form from their client before they are permitted to share this documentation.

    However, clients may request to receive a copy of any form they have signed, and any notes regarding their treatment, at any time.

  • Draping is the practice of covering the body with a sheet or drape while massaging various parts of the body. Draping allows the client to remain covered and warm while still receiving therapy.

    It is my policy that massage draping and treatment will be provided in a way that ensures the safety, comfort, and privacy of both the client and therapist. Draping practices will always be in compliance with recognized professional standards of massage therapy practice.

    In accordance with regulations on Massage Therapy, draping must take place during the massage, and the therapist shall comply with the client's request to remain partially or fully clothed under the drape.

    In my practice, clients will be appropriately draped with a sheet and/or towel at all times during their massage. Only areas of the body that are currently being treated will be exposed.

    The breast and genital areas will always remain draped and are never massaged.

    When clients remain clothed for seated, sports or Thai Massage, draping is not required (but can always be requested).

  • Before enjoying a massage or bodywork service, I ask that you please practice proper hygiene. It is the discretion of the therapist to avoid an area or completely refuse service if proper hygiene has not been practiced at the time of service.

  • The Privacy Rule, a Federal law, gives you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information. The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of individuals' protected health information, whether electronic, written, or oral.

    All patient information in my practice is considered confidential and sensitive. This includes patient demographic, registration, financial, and clinical information.

    Medical policies and procedures, and state and federal statutes protect the internal use and external disclosure of patient information.

    While you may request copies of any signed forms and notes regarding your treatment at any time, signed forms granting your permission are required to release this information to other people and medical providers.

  • At this time, both clients and therapists are permitted to mask or remain unmasked at their discretion. If you choose to wear a mask, and prefer that I wear a mask as well, I am more than happy to accommodate you. Please don’t hesitate to ask.

    As we navigate the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis together, this business is committed to closely following CDC updates and recommendations.

    Unfortunately, even with the most rigorous sanitation protocols, enhanced client screening, and social distancing precautions, there is still risk of COVID-19 transmission possible in massage therapy appointments, and any other activities involving people in inclosed spaces.

    If you have tested positive for COVID19, are exhibiting symptoms of COVID19, or are caring for someone who has COVID19, please reschedule your appointment until these conditions do not apply.

    As a massage therapist that works with many clients who have complex and chronic health conditions, I have created my mask policy with options so that everyone feels their health and safety is prioritized. I reserve the right to change this policy at any time.

  • Massage therapy is for relaxation and therapeutic purposes only. There is absolutely no sexual component to massage whatsoever.

    Any insinuation, joke, gesture, conversation, or request otherwise will result in immediate termination of your session and a refusal of any and all services in the future.

    You will be charged the full service fee regardless of the length of your session.

    Depending on the behavior exhibited a report with the local authorities may also be filed.

  • Only professional massage and bodywork services for relaxation or therapeutic purposes are offered at this massage practice. Massage services will be terminated immediately in the event of inappropriate conduct of any kind.

    This includes harassment, threatening speech or behavior, sexual advances or requests, or disrespectful actions or language.

    A session will not be conducted if the client is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

    If the massage is terminated for any of these reasons, full payment for the scheduled session is still required.

Legal

Disclaimer

Last Updated 05/31/2021

The information provided by Maine Seastone Studios (“we,” “us” or “our”) on www.maineseastonestudios.com (the “Website”) is for general informational purposes only. All information on the Website is provided in good faith, however we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability or completeness of any information on the Website. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHALL WE HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF THE WEBSITE OR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE WEBSITE. YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

  • The information, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are for informational purposes only. No material on the Website or the affiliated social media accounts are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this site.

  • Last updated May 29, 2021

    Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Maine Seastone Studios (“Company”, “we”, “us”, “our”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice, or our practices with regards to your personal information, please contact us at maineseastonestudios@gmail.com

    When you visit our website http://www.maineseastonestudios.com (the “Website”), and more generally, use any of our services (the “Services”, which include the Website), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately.

    This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our Website), as well as any related services, sales, marketing or events.

    Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.

    WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

    In Short: Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Website.

    We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate the Website. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Website and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Website, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

    Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies.

    The information we collect includes:

    Log and Usage Data. Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Website and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type and settings and information about your activity in the Website (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called ‘crash dumps’) and hardware settings).

    Device Data. We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet or other device you use to access the Website. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system and system configuration information.

    Location Data. We collect location data such as information about your device’s location, with can be either precise or imprecise. How much information we collect depends on the type and settings of the device you use to access the Website. For example, we may use GPS and other technologies to collect geolocation data that tells us your current location (based on your IP address). You can opt out of allowing us to collect this information either by refusing access to the information or by disabling your Location setting on your device. Note however, if you choose to opt out, you may not be able to use certain aspects of the Services.

    HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

    In Short: We process your information for purposes based on legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent.

    We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract with you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below.

    We use the information we collect or receive:

    To facilitate account creation and logon process. If you choose to link your account with us to a third-party account (such as your Google or Facebook account), we use the information you allowed us to collect from those third parties to facilitate account creation and logon process for the performance of the contract.

    To post testimonials. We post testimonials on our Website that may contain personal information. Prior to posting a testimonial, we will obtain your consent to use your name and the content of the testimonial. If you wish to update, or delete your testimonial, please contact us at maineseastonestudios@gmail.com and be sure to include your name, testimonial location, and contact information.

    Request feedback. We may use your information to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Website.

    To table user-to-user communications. We may use your information in order to enable user-to-user communications with each user’s consent.

    To manage user accounts. We may use your information for the purposes of managing our account and keeping it in working order.

    To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you product, service and new feature information and/or information about chances to our terms, conditions, and policies.

    To protect our Services. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention).

    To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or in connection with our contract.

    To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.

    Fulfill and manage your orders. We may use your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Website.

    Administer prize draws and competitions. We may use your information to administer prize draws and competitions when you elect to participate in our competitions.

    To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user. We may use your information to provide you with the requested service.

    To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.

    To send you marketing and promotional communications. We and/or our third-party marketing partners may use the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. For example, when expressing an interest in obtaining information about us or our Website, subscribing to marketing or otherwise contacting us, we will collect personal information from you. You can opt-out of our marketing emails at any time.

    Deliver targeted advertising to you. We may use your information to develop and display personalized content and advertising (and work with third parties who do so) tailored to your interests and/or location and to measure its effectiveness.

    For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing and your experience. We may use and store this information in aggregated and anonymized form so that it is not associated with individual end users and does not include personal information. We will not use identifiable personal information without your consent.

    WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

    In Short: We only share information with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services, to protect your rights, or to fulfill business obligations.

    We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis:

    Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.

    Legitimate Interests: We may process your data when it is reasonable necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests.

    Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract.

    Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or subpoena (including in response to public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements).

    Vital Interests. We may disclose your information where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.

    More specifically, we may need to process your data or share your personal information in the following situations:

    Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.

    Google Maps Platform APIs. We may share your information with certain Google Maps Platform APIs (e.g., Goggle Maps API, Place API). To find our more about Google’s Privacy Policy, please refer to this LINK.

    Affiliates. We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this privacy notice. Affiliates include our parent company and any subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us.

    DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

    In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.

    We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice.

    IS YOUR INFORMATION TRANSFERRED INTERNATIONALLY?

    In Short: We may transfer, store, and process your information in countries other than your own.

    Our servers are located in the United States. If you are accessing our Website from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored and processed by us in facilities and by those third parties with whom we may share your personal information in the United States and other countries.

    If you are a resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom (UK), then these countries may not necessarily have data protection laws or other similar laws as comprehensive as those in your country. We will however take all necessary measures to protect your personal information in accordance with this privacy notice and applicable law.

    WHAT IS OUR STANCE ON THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES?

    In Short: We are not responsible for the safety of any information that you share with third-party providers who advertise, but are not affiliated with, our Website.

    The Website may contain advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us and which may link to other websites, online services or mobile applications. We cannot guarantee the safety and privacy of data you provide to third parties. Any data collected by third parties is not covered by this privacy notice. We are not responsible for the content or privacy and security practices and policies of any third parties, including other websites, services or applications that may be linked to or from the Website. You should review the policies of such third parties and contact them directly to respond to your questions.

    HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

    In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.

    We will only keep your personal information for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information fro longer than 90 days.

    When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

    HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

    In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system or organization and technical security measures.

    We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cyber criminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website with in a secure environment.

    DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?

    In Short: We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.

    We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Website, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Website. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data fro our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at maineseastonestudios@gmail.com

    WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?

    In Short: You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.

    If you are a resident in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

    If you are a resident in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: http://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html.

    Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Website. To opt-out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Website visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.

    CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES

    Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future we will inform you about that practice in a revived version of this privacy notice.

    DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?

    In Short: Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.

    California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the “Shine The Light” law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below.

    If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with the Website, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Website. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Website, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g. backups, etc.).

    DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?

    In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.

    We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

    HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?

    If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at maineseastonestudios@gmail.com