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Terms of Use

Welcome to helpguide.org (the “site”), owned and operated by Helpguide.org International (“HelpGuide”, “we”, “us”, “our”). The terms and conditions set forth herein (“Agreement”) constitute the full and complete Agreement between you (“you” or “your” or “user”) and HelpGuide. Your agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions (“terms”) and our Privacy Policy is expressly acknowledged by any use of the site. The terms contained herein supersede and replace any other Agreement or negotiation between you and HelpGuide whether oral, written or otherwise including any statements made by any representative of HelpGuide at any time.

1. Disclaimer

The contents of the site, including text, graphics, images, and other material are for informational purposes only. Nothing contained on the site is or should be considered or used as a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Never disregard medical advice from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider or delay seeking it because of something you have read on the Internet, including on the site. We urge you to seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. In case of emergency, please call your doctor or your country’s emergency services number (911 in the U.S.) immediately.

The information contained on or provided through the site is provided on an “as is” basis, without any warranty, express or implied. Any access to the site is voluntary and at your own risk. The information presented on or through the website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

2. Outside interests

HelpGuide is a service provided solely by HelpGuide. There are no investors with a financial interest in the information being provided on the site. We do not accept advertising, allowing us complete editorial autonomy. We are user supported and primarily rely on donations. In addition, we may earn a commission when you follow links to sponsored providers.

3. Links

The site contains links to websites owned by third parties. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and are not an endorsement of the contents or services of those other websites by HelpGuide nor have they been necessarily reviewed by HelpGuide. HelpGuide has no control over and is not responsible for the content of any linked websites and makes no representations regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such sites. If you decide to visit any third-party websites using links from the site, you do so at your own risk. Accordingly, HelpGuide expressly disclaims any responsibility for the content, materials, accuracy of information, and/or quality of the products or services provided by, available through, or advertised on these third-party websites. 

4. Directory Listings

Many HelpGuide articles include a directory of providers. The mission of these directories is to make mental health related services available to all. We reserve the right to make the final determination if a provider should be included, excluded or removed based on our sole and absolute discretion. 

If you are a provider, and want to be added to our database, please contact Us. If you have a copyright claim related to a directory listing, please contact us at [email protected] with “Directory Listing Copyright Claim” in the subject line and we will investigate the matter at our sole discretion without undertaking any obligation to do so or to act upon the email request. 

5. User Information and Content

We may ask you to voluntarily provide certain information, like name and email address when you try to access certain features of the site. You agree to provide true, accurate, current, and complete information about yourself. 

When you send, submit, post, download, display, perform, transmit, or otherwise distribute information or content to the site, you grant HelpGuide and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, and representatives a license to use, copy, distribute, transmit, display, reproduce, or edit your content. You warrant that you own the rights to any content you submit and/or are authorized to transmit, submit, display, and/or otherwise make available such content.

You agree not to submit or post any content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, threatening, advocates or encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violates any applicable local, state, national, or foreign law or regulation, or that advertises or otherwise solicits funds or is a solicitation.

6. Prohibited Uses

You may use the site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms. You agree not to use the site:

  • In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
  • For the purpose of exploiting, harming or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information or otherwise.
  • To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with the content standards set out in these terms.
  • To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail”, “chain letter” or “spam” or any other similar solicitation.
  • To impersonate or attempt to impersonate HelpGuide, a HelpGuide employee, another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using email addresses or screen names associated with any of the foregoing).
  • To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the site, or which, as determined by us, may harm HelpGuide or users of the site or expose them to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • Use the site in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the site, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the site.
  • Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the site for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the site.
  • Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the site or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written consent.
  • Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the site.
  • Introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any parts of the site, the server on which the site is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to the site.
  • Attack the site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
  • Undertake any action which is harmful or potentially harmful to the HelpGuide server structure.
  • Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the site.

7. Changes to The Site

HelpGuide reserves the right to make any changes, additions or discontinue all or part of the site without prior notice to you. We may remove, edit, or update the content on the site from time to time at our sole discretion, without undertaking any obligation to do so, but the site’s content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material on the site may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

8. Termination

HelpGuide reserves the right to refuse or cancel service, terminate subscriptions, in our sole discretion without undertaking any obligation to do so. Termination of your access to this site removes your authorization to use this site. In the event of termination, you will still be bound by your obligations under these terms, and any additional terms, including any warranties made by you. HelpGuide shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to this site or any portion thereof.

9. Intellectual Property Rights

The site and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof), are owned by HelpGuide, its licensors or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

The HelpGuide name, the HelpGuide logo and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are trademarks of the HelpGuide or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the HelpGuide. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on the site are the trademarks of their respective owners and are either used with permission and/or for identification purposes and are not intended to suggest any affiliation.

These terms permit you to use the site for your personal, non-commercial use only. You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, fully revocable license to access and use the site for personal, non-commercial use only. You may not copy or “scrape” the system for any data including but not limited to names, addresses or any other information of any other user. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on our Site, except as follows:

  • Your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials.
  • You may store files that are automatically cached by your web browser for display enhancement purposes.
  • You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages of the site for your own personal, non-commercial use and not for further reproduction, publication or distribution.
  • If we provide desktop, mobile or other applications for download, you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user license agreement for such applications.
  • If we provide social media features with certain content, you may take such actions as are enabled by such features.
  • You may create a hyperlink to the site, so long as the link does not portray HelpGuide, its employees, or its affiliates in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter.
  • HelpGuide may offer various parts of the service in RSS format so that users can embed individual feeds into a personal website or blog, or view postings through third party software news aggregators. HelpGuide permits you to display, excerpt from, and link to the RSS feeds on your personal website or personal web blog, provided that (a) your use of the RSS feed is for personal, non-commercial purposes only, (b) each title is correctly linked back to the original post on the service and redirects the user to the post when the user clicks on it, (c) you provide, adjacent to the RSS feed, proper attribution to “HelpGuide” as the source, (d) your use or display does not suggest that HelpGuide promotes or endorses any third party causes, ideas, websites, products or services, (e) you do not redistribute the RSS feed, and (f) your use does not overburden HelpGuide’s systems. HelpGuide reserves all rights in the content of the RSS feeds and may terminate any RSS feed at any time.

You must not:

  • Modify copies of any materials from the Site.
  • Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from the HelpGuide text.
  • Delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials from the site.
  • Use any data mining, robots, spiders, or similar data gathering and extraction tools for any purpose.

Unless expressly permitted by HelpGuide, you must not access or use for any commercial purposes any part of the site or any services or materials available through the site.

If you wish to make any use of material on the site other than that set out in this section, please contact us through our customer service form: https://www.helpguide.org/contact-us.

If you print, copy, modify, download or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the site in breach of the terms, your right to use the site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title or interest in or to the site or any content on the site is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by the HelpGuide. Any use of the site not expressly permitted by these terms is a breach of these terms and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.

10. Reliance on Information Posted

The site may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by HelpGuide, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of HelpGuide. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.

11. Visitors Outside the United States

Both HelpGuide and the site are based in and hosted in the United States. HelpGuide makes no representation that materials on the site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access the site from outside the United States, please understand that the site may contain references and/or links to products and services that are not available or are prohibited in your jurisdiction. Any user who is a resident of a foreign country agrees that (i) they have voluntary sought and established contact with the site, (ii) they will not use, transmit, disseminate or upload any material, content, that would violate any applicable local, state or national laws or regulations of the foreign member’s country of residence; (iii) under no circumstance shall HelpGuide be deemed liable under any laws other than the United States; (iv) his or her participation is governed by United States law and subject to the arbitration and venue provisions stated herein; and (v) consent to having their data processed in the United States.

12. Disclaimer of Warranties

You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the site will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the site for any reconstruction of any lost data. 

YOUR USE OF THE SITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER HELPGUIDE NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH HELPGUIDE MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE SITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER HELPGUIDE NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH HELPGUIDE REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE SITE, ITS CONTENT OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.

HELPGUIDE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

13. Limitations of Liability

WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.

IN NO EVENT WILL HELPGUIDE, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE SITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, WRONGFUL DEATH, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, WHETHER BASED ON TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, WARRANTY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER HELPGUIDE WAS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

All matters relating to the site and these terms and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction).

Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these terms or the site shall be instituted exclusively in the state and federal courts of Los Angeles County, California although we retain the right to bring any suit, action or proceeding against you for breach of these terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country. The parties to this Agreement hereby consent to jurisdiction in that court and agree to accept service by mail and hereby waive any defense of any kind related to jurisdiction or venue. 

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the site and HelpGuide, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, and representatives from any and all third party claims, losses, liability, damages, and/or costs (including reasonable attorney fees and costs) arising out of, directly or indirectly, Your violation of these terms, your use of the site, your violation of these terms, or your infringement of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. HelpGuide will notify you promptly of any such claim, loss, liability, or demand, and will provide you with reasonable assistance, at your expense, in defending any such claim, loss, liability, damage, or cost.

16. Arbitration

At HelpGuide’s sole discretion, it may require you to submit any disputes arising from the use of these terms or the site, including disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying California law.

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitration panel shall consist of one arbitrator chosen in accordance with the rules of the AAA. Any such arbitrator shall be knowledgeable in the subject area in which the dispute arises. All discovery shall be completed within sixty (60) days following the appointment of the arbitrator. Each party shall be entitled to representation by counsel, to appear and present written and oral evidence and argument and to cross-examine witnesses presented by the other party, provided that, where appropriate, the arbitrator may receive testimony via telephone, video or other electronic means of communication. The arbitration award shall be in writing and the arbitrator shall provide written reasons for the award. The award of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on the parties hereto and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction. The prevailing party in any action or proceeding to enforce its rights hereunder shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees and other reasonable costs, including fees of the arbitrator and the AAA, incurred in the action or proceedings. For purposes hereof, the prevailing party is defined as the party whose last settlement proposal prior to hearing in this matter is closest to the final decision. In no event shall the arbitrator award punitive or exemplary damages.

17. Limitation on Time to File Claims

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE WEBSITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES, OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

18. Force Majeure

In the event either party is unable to perform its obligations under the terms of this Agreement due to an event, occurrence, or contingency beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to: acts of God, earthquakes, strikes, pandemics, riots, war, or governmental requirements, such party shall not be liable for damages to the other for any damages resulting from such failure to perform or otherwise from such causes.

19. Non-Waiver 

You agree that if HelpGuide does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in the terms or is otherwise entitled to will not constitute a formal waiver of HelpGuide’s rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to HelpGuide.

20. Severability

If any provision of these terms is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the terms will continue in full force and effect.

21. Entire Agreement

The terms and our Privacy Policies constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and HelpGuide with respect to the site and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the site.

22. Amendment

HelpGuide may without advance notice amend this Agreement occasionally and will do so by posting the new Agreement on this page. Such amendment shall be become effective immediately for all pre-existing and future users.

23. No Agency

You agree and understand that notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, HelpGuide is not Your agent, partner or joint venturer in any respect.

24. Notice

Any notice under this Agreement shall be given by HelpGuide to you via email, if you have supplied one to us. 

Any other notice by you to HelpGuide shall be sent via United States Mail to the following Address:

HelpGuide International

515 S Flower St, Suite 1800

Los Angeles, CA 90071

25. Survival

Sections 1,3,5-25, inclusive, of this Agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement and shall remain in full force and effect after any such termination.

26. Violation of Terms

Please report any violations of the document by sending an email through our customer service form. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.

27. Feedback

We welcome your questions and comments. Please contact us through our customer service form.