Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information processed through:

• healandcoach.com

and, where applicable, Heal & Coach®:

• enquiry forms
• booking processes
• private coaching services
• programmes
• email communications
• messaging
• assessments
• questionnaires
• payment administration
• newsletters
• online events
• digital resources
• client communications

It should be read together with our:

• Confidentiality & Data Handling Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Professional Disclaimer
• Refund & Cancellation Policy

and any applicable Coaching Agreement or Informed Consent.

Heal & Coach® is a private coaching and personal-development practice focused primarily on:

• Marriage
• Relationships
• Relationship Intelligence™
• Personal Growth
• Life Transitions
• Executive Relationship & Life Coaching

Heal & Coach® provides primarily online coaching services to clients in India and internationally.

For privacy enquiries:

• Email: Hi@healandcoach.com
• Website: healandcoach.com

• Collect With PurposeWe seek to collect information that is reasonably relevant to a legitimate and communicated purpose.
• Minimise What We HoldWe do not believe that information should be collected simply because technology makes collection possible.
• Use With TransparencyPersonal information should be used consistently with the purpose for which it was collected or another lawful and appropriate purpose.
• Protect With ResponsibilityWe seek to apply safeguards appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of information handled.
• Respect Client AgencyWhere consent is relied upon, individuals should understand what they are consenting to and should have an appropriate means to change or withdraw that consent, subject to applicable law and continuing obligations.

India's DPDP framework requires consent, where relied upon, to be free, specific, informed, unconditional and unambiguous, with clear affirmative action. It also provides for withdrawal of consent.

The information collected depends on how you interact with Heal & Coach®.

Please avoid sending highly sensitive personal information through ordinary enquiry forms or casual messaging unless it is reasonably necessary.

For example, an initial appointment request ordinarily does not require a detailed history of your marriage or relationship.

Where something can appropriately be discussed within a private scheduled coaching session, that may be preferable to placing extensive personal information into an enquiry form.

Share What Is Necessary. Not Everything at Once.

Personal information may be collected:

• directly from youwhen you submit an enquiry, book a service, complete a form, communicate with us or participate in coaching;
• through your interaction with our websiteincluding cookies and similar technologies where applicable;
• through service providerssuch as booking or payment systems;
• through another participantfor example, where a partner makes an enquiry for couple coaching;

or

• through a referring organisation or professionalwhere a legitimate referral has been made and appropriate information is provided.

Where information is received from another person, that does not automatically entitle that person to access your subsequent private coaching information.

Personal information may be processed for purposes such as:

• responding to enquiries
• assessing whether a service is appropriate
• arranging and administering appointments
• providing coaching services
• maintaining appropriate coaching continuity
• communicating about a programme
• processing or verifying transactions
• issuing invoices or receipts
• managing cancellations and refunds
• providing requested resources
• maintaining appropriate business records
• protecting website and information security
• preventing misuse or fraud
• complying with applicable legal obligations
• managing complaints or disputes
• improving our services using appropriately handled information
• sending marketing communications where appropriately permitted

We seek to avoid using personal information for purposes incompatible with the context in which it was provided.

The legal basis or permitted ground for processing may vary according to the information, purpose and applicable jurisdiction.

Depending upon the circumstances, processing may be based on:

• your consent
• steps requested by you in connection with obtaining a service
• performance or administration of an agreed service
• compliance with applicable legal obligations
• legitimate or permitted uses recognised under applicable law
• other lawful grounds available in the relevant jurisdiction

Where Heal & Coach® relies upon consent, withdrawal should be possible through an appropriate mechanism, subject to legal or operational consequences arising from withdrawal.

Under India's DPDP framework, processing must have a lawful purpose, and consent-based processing is limited to personal data necessary for the specified purpose.

Coaching Information Deserves Greater Restraint.

Information disclosed during coaching may be substantially more personal than information ordinarily collected through a website.

Heal & Coach® seeks to handle coaching information according to principles of:

• confidentiality
• purpose limitation
• data minimisation
• restricted access
• appropriate retention
• responsible security

For the professional confidentiality framework governing coaching conversations, please read our Confidentiality & Data Handling Policy.

Information shared during individual coaching is ordinarily used to provide and support the coaching engagement.

We do not intend to disclose the substance of private coaching conversations to:

• partners
• relatives
• friends
• employers
• referring organisations
• collaboration partners

merely because they request it.

Disclosure may nevertheless occur where authorised by you or where another appropriate legal or safety basis exists.

Couple coaching creates particular privacy considerations because information may be provided:

• jointly

or

• individually

by either participant.

Heal & Coach® should establish the applicable confidentiality approach for separate communications within couple work.

Participants should not assume that an individual conversation automatically creates an unlimited secrecy arrangement from the other participant.

The applicable coaching agreement should clarify the approach before significant separate disclosures occur.

Where another organisation or person funds coaching, payment alone does not automatically entitle the sponsor to the detailed substance of private coaching conversations.

Before sponsored coaching begins, the relevant arrangement should identify:

• who the coaching client is
• what administrative information may be shared
• whether any progress reporting has been agreed
• what information remains confidential

Where reporting occurs, Heal & Coach® seeks to limit it to the agreed purpose.

Heal & Coach® seeks to maintain confidentiality but does not represent confidentiality as absolute.

Information may be disclosed where there is an appropriate basis, including:

• your authorisation
• a lawful legal requirement
• court or regulatory requirements
• serious and imminent safety concerns
• applicable safeguarding obligations
• protection or exercise of legal rights where appropriate

Where reasonably possible and lawful, disclosure should be limited to information relevant to the purpose requiring it.

Heal & Coach® services are primarily intended for adults unless a particular service expressly provides otherwise.

We do not intend to knowingly collect personal information from children for ordinary adult coaching services.

If services involving a minor are specifically offered, additional consent, age-verification, parental or guardian requirements and privacy safeguards may apply.

India's DPDP framework contains specific requirements concerning processing children's personal data, including verifiable parental consent requirements.

Heal & Coach® may use independent payment providers to process transactions.

Depending upon the payment method, the provider may process information such as:

• card details
• bank information
• billing information
• authentication information
• transaction information

Heal & Coach® should not unnecessarily retain full payment-card credentials where payment processing is handled by an external provider.

The payment provider processes information according to its own applicable terms and privacy practices.

Heal & Coach® may use carefully selected service providers to support functions such as:

• website hosting
• email
• booking and scheduling
• video conferencing
• payment processing
• communications
• analytics
• website security
• cloud storage
• business administration
• professional technology services

These providers may process personal information only to the extent relevant to the services they provide and according to the applicable arrangements and legal requirements.

Where WhatsApp or another external communication platform is used, the platform provider may independently process information according to its own privacy practices.

Heal & Coach® may use messaging for:

• appointment coordination
• administrative communication
• agreed check-ins
• brief programme communication

unless a service provides otherwise.

Clients should avoid sending unnecessary highly sensitive information through messaging platforms.

Messaging is not an emergency-response channel.

Online coaching may be delivered through third-party video-conferencing technology.

Clients are encouraged to:

• use a trusted device
• join from a private location
• protect meeting links
• use secure internet access where reasonably possible
• use headphones where additional privacy is desirable

Third-party video platforms may process technical and account information according to their own policies.

Heal & Coach® does not intend to routinely record private coaching sessions.

If recording is proposed for a particular legitimate purpose, appropriate notice and consent should be obtained where required.

Clients should not record, livestream or distribute coaching sessions without prior agreement.

Heal & Coach® may maintain limited records reasonably necessary for:

• service continuity
• administration
• professional record-keeping
• legal or operational requirements

We seek to avoid turning every detail spoken during a coaching session into a permanent record.

Not Everything Shared Needs to Be Stored.

Human Trust Should Not Be Traded for Technological Convenience.

Heal & Coach® may use AI-assisted or digital tools for appropriate administrative, educational, analytical or coaching-support purposes.

We do not intend to place identifiable confidential coaching information into general-purpose AI systems merely because doing so is convenient.

Where a digital or AI system materially processes personal or confidential information, relevant considerations should include:

• purpose
• necessity
• data minimisation
• security
• provider terms
• retention
• human oversight
• applicable privacy requirements

Technology-assisted output does not replace professional judgement or client agency.

Where clients use Relationship Intelligence™ or Relationship Intelligence Arc™ (RIA™) questionnaires, tools, exercises or assessments, information generated through those activities should be handled according to the privacy principles applicable to the coaching service.

RIA™ is a proprietary non-clinical coaching methodology, not a clinical diagnostic instrument. The current framework itself distinguishes RIA™ from psychological testing, diagnosis and clinical treatment.

Information generated through these tools should therefore not be represented as clinical health data merely because it arises from a coaching exercise.

Heal & Coach® and Dr. Siidarth Bhattacharya may undertake research, conceptual development or scholarly work relating to Relationship Intelligence™ and associated subjects.

Participation in coaching does not automatically constitute participation in research.

Identifiable private coaching information should not automatically be converted into research data.

Where identifiable information is proposed for formal research, any necessary:

• consent
• ethics process
• research notice
• data-management arrangements

should be addressed separately.

Aggregated or appropriately anonymised insights may be used where lawful and appropriate, with reasonable measures intended to prevent identification.

Coaching Consent Is Not Marketing Consent.

Heal & Coach® will not intentionally publish an identifiable:

• testimonial
• photograph
• coaching story
• relationship experience
• case narrative

for promotional purposes merely because an individual received coaching.

Appropriate permission should be obtained before identifiable client material is published.

Declining to provide a testimonial should not affect access to coaching.

Where testimonials are published, they may be edited for readability, length or privacy without intentionally changing their substantive meaning.

Where permitted, Heal & Coach® may send communications concerning:

• Insights
• articles
• programmes
• events
• services
• educational resources
• relevant updates

Marketing consent should be distinct from the provision of coaching where required.

Where an unsubscribe mechanism is provided, you may use it to stop future marketing communications.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not necessarily prevent administrative communications required to deliver a service you have requested.

Heal & Coach® does not intend to sell the substance of private coaching conversations to advertisers or data brokers.

We do not intend to use confidential coaching conversations for behavioural advertising.

We do not treat a client's private relationship experience as a commercial advertising asset.

Your Story Is Personal. It Is Not Ad Inventory.

The website may use:

• strictly necessary technologies

and, where implemented and appropriately permitted:

• functional
• analytics
• performance
• marketing technologies

Non-essential cookies should be managed according to applicable consent requirements.

Please see our Cookie Policy for details.

Heal & Coach® may serve clients in India and internationally.

Some technology providers may store or process information in jurisdictions other than the client's country.

Where international transfers occur, Heal & Coach® seeks to consider applicable legal requirements and appropriate safeguards.

International availability of the website does not mean every jurisdiction applies identical privacy rules.

Keep What Is Needed. Not Everything Forever.

Heal & Coach® seeks to retain personal information only for as long as reasonably required for:

• the purpose for which it was collected
• the coaching or contractual relationship
• appropriate professional record-keeping
• accounting and taxation
• legal requirements
• complaint or dispute management
• fraud prevention or security

Different categories of information may therefore have different retention periods.

When information is no longer reasonably required, it should be securely deleted, anonymised or otherwise appropriately disposed of, subject to applicable requirements.

Heal & Coach® seeks to use reasonable organisational, administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the information handled.

Depending upon the systems actually implemented, safeguards may include:

• controlled access
• account authentication
• device security
• appropriate storage controls
• secure technology providers
• backup and recovery arrangements
• confidentiality practices
• periodic access review

No physical or digital system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Heal & Coach® therefore does not make an unrealistic promise of absolute or zero-risk security.

Where a personal-data incident occurs, Heal & Coach® should assess:

• the nature of the incident
• information affected
• individuals potentially affected
• likely consequences
• containment measures
• corrective action
• notification requirements

Where notification to affected individuals or an authority is legally required, Heal & Coach® should follow the applicable process.

The final DPDP Rules include provisions addressing reasonable security safeguards and personal-data-breach notification, with relevant provisions subject to the Rules' staged commencement.

Depending upon the law applicable to you and the processing involved, you may have rights concerning your personal information.

These may include rights relating to:

• access to information about processing
• correction or updating
• erasure
• withdrawal of consent
• grievance redressal
• nomination, where applicable

and other rights available under applicable law.

Not every right applies in every circumstance or jurisdiction.

India's DPDP Act provides rights concerning access to information about personal data, correction and erasure, grievance redressal and nomination.

Where Heal & Coach® relies on consent for a particular processing activity, you may request withdrawal of that consent.

Withdrawal does not ordinarily invalidate processing lawfully undertaken before withdrawal.

Certain information may still need to be processed or retained where another lawful basis, legal requirement or continuing obligation applies.

The DPDP Act requires withdrawal of consent to be possible with ease comparable to giving consent.

Where applicable, you may request correction of inaccurate personal information or erasure of personal information that is no longer required for the relevant purpose.

Requests may be subject to:

• identity verification
• applicable legal requirements
• legitimate retention obligations
• technical or operational limitations permitted by law

Heal & Coach® should not retain information merely because a deletion request is inconvenient.

Privacy-related requests may be sent to: Hi@healandcoach.com

Please include enough information for us to:

• identify you appropriately
• understand the request
• locate the relevant information

Heal & Coach® may request reasonable verification before acting on a request to reduce the risk of disclosing personal information to the wrong person.

Do not send unnecessary sensitive information merely to establish your identity.

If you believe your personal information has been handled improperly, we encourage you to contact Heal & Coach® first so the matter can be reviewed.

• Privacy & Data EnquiriesHi@healandcoach.com

India's DPDP framework includes grievance-redressal rights, and the final Rules provide implementation details on the rights framework.

The Heal & Coach® website may contain links to:

• research platforms
• publications
• social media
• booking systems
• payment providers
• professional organisations
• collaboration partners
• external resources

Heal & Coach® does not control the privacy practices of independent third-party websites.

Please review their respective privacy policies before providing personal information.

This Privacy Policy may be updated as:

• services evolve
• technology changes
• service providers change
• privacy practices develop
• legal requirements change

The current version will be published on this page with the applicable Last Updated date.

Where appropriate or legally required, material changes may also be communicated through additional means.

For complete information, please also review:

• Confidentiality & Data HandlingHow private coaching information and conversations are approached.
• Cookie PolicyHow website cookies and similar technologies may be used.
• Terms & ConditionsGeneral conditions governing use of Heal & Coach® services.
• Professional DisclaimerProfessional scope and limitations.
• Refund & Cancellation PolicyBooking, cancellation and refund conditions.

Privacy Is Not About Collecting Everything and Protecting It Later.

It Begins With Collecting Less.

Our approach is simple:

• COLLECT WITH PURPOSEOnly information reasonably relevant to the relationship or service.
• EXPLAIN WITH CLARITYPeople should understand why their information is being requested.
• ACCESS WITH REASONPersonal information should be available only where reasonably necessary.
• USE WITH RESTRAINTPrivate information should not quietly acquire unrelated purposes.
• PROTECT WITH RESPONSIBILITYAppropriate safeguards should reflect the sensitivity of the information.
• RETAIN WITH PURPOSEInformation should not remain indefinitely without reason.
• RESPECT THE PERSONBehind every data point is a person who trusted us with it.

When someone speaks to Heal & Coach® about a marriage, relationship, separation, personal decision or important life transition, they may be sharing something they have told very few people.

We do not take that trust lightly.

Privacy With Purpose. Confidentiality With Care.

Heal & Coach®

Heal Within. Relate Better. Live Forward.

• Private
• Confidential
• Structured
• Online
• India & International

Privacy enquiries: Hi@healandcoach.com