Rate My Therapist
Terms & Conditions
What you need to know about using this platform
Here's what you're agreeing to
These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") form an agreement between you and Rate My Therapist. By using this website you agree to them. So we've written a plain-English summary up top, with the full legal detail in each section below. Both versions carry equal legal weight.
Quick summary in plain English
The sections below contain the full legal terms. Legal correspondence may be addressed to legal@ratemy-therapist.com. We do not commit to a specific response or response time except where required by law.
01Eligibility & account registration
To use Rate My Therapist, you must be at least 18 years of age. By using this website, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement. We do not knowingly collect information from or direct services to individuals under 18.
If you create an account, you agree to:
- Provide accurate, current, and complete information at registration
- Maintain and promptly update your account information
- Keep your login credentials confidential and not share them with others
- Accept full responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account
- Notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account
We reserve the right to reject, suspend, or terminate any account at our sole discretion.
02Nature of platform
Rate My Therapist is an independent, user-generated review platform. We are not affiliated with any therapy practice, mental health organization, insurance carrier, or government licensing body. We do not provide therapy, counseling, crisis intervention, or any healthcare services.
Good to know
Nothing on this platform constitutes a referral, endorsement, or recommendation of any mental health professional. Reviews reflect individual experiences only. Please use them as one input among many when choosing a therapist.
We are not responsible for any outcome arising from your decision to engage with, retain, or decline to retain any mental health professional based on information found on this platform.
03User-generated content
3.1 Your license to us
By submitting any content (reviews, ratings, comments, photos, or other materials) to Rate My Therapist, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable license to use, display, reproduce, distribute, modify, and create derivative works from that content in any media for any lawful purpose in connection with operating and promoting the platform.
3.2 Your representations
By submitting content, you represent and warrant that:
- You are the original author of the content or have all necessary rights to submit it
- The content does not infringe any third party's intellectual property, privacy, or other rights
- The review reflects your genuine, first-hand experience with the reviewed professional
- You have not been compensated or incentivized by any party in connection with submitting the review
- All factual claims in your content are accurate to the best of your knowledge
- The content does not violate any applicable law
3.3 Content standards
All content you submit must comply with our Content Standards. We reserve the right (but are not obligated) to monitor, edit, or remove content that we believe violates these Terms or applicable law, without notice to you.
04Prohibited conduct
To keep the platform trustworthy and safe for everyone, the following are not permitted. Serious or repeated violations may result in account suspension:
05Intellectual property
All content on this website that is not user-generated (including the Rate My Therapist name, logo, design, graphics, text, software, and platform architecture) is the exclusive property of Rate My Therapist and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other applicable intellectual property laws.
You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any proprietary content without our prior written consent. Limited, personal, non-commercial use is permitted solely for using the platform as intended.
06Therapist & professional accounts
Mental health professionals who claim or create profiles on Rate My Therapist represent and warrant that:
- All information submitted is accurate, current, and not misleading
- You hold a valid, current license to practice in all jurisdictions where you claim to practice
- You will promptly update your profile if your licensure status, contact information, or practice details change
- You will not submit, solicit, or incentivize reviews in violation of these Terms
- Your participation complies with all applicable professional ethics codes and regulations
SmartClaim verification & the “Verified via NPI” badge
Profiles claimed via the SmartClaim flow are verified against the NPPES federal registry (operated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) and require Google account sign-in whose name matches the NPI record. Profiles that complete this process display a “Verified via NPI” badge.
Newly claimed profiles display a “Verified via NPI · Recently claimed” badge for 30 days, during which the profile can be challenged by any third party via the dispute mechanism described below.
The “Verified via NPI” badge means: (a) the supplied NPI exists in NPPES as an active mental-health provider, and (b) the Google account name used to claim the profile matches the name registered to that NPI. It does not constitute a guarantee that the person who claimed the profile is the named provider, nor does it confirm clinical competence, ethical standing, or current licensure.
Profile dispute mechanism
If you believe a profile on Rate My Therapist has been claimed by the wrong person, or misrepresents you, file a dispute at ratemy-therapist.com/dispute-profile or email legal@ratemy-therapist.com. The disputed profile will be marked under review while our team investigates. We may request proof of identity (such as a state license document or NPPES record screenshot) before taking action. Rate My Therapist makes no representation as to the timeline, outcome, or specific remedies that will result from any dispute submission, and reserves sole discretion to investigate, modify, lock, restore, or take no action with respect to any profile.
We reserve the right to remove, flag, or modify any professional profile at our sole discretion and without liability. Listing on this platform creates no contractual, fiduciary, or professional relationship between Rate My Therapist and the listed professional.
07User content, opinions, and federal safe harbor
Rate My Therapist is an interactive computer service that hosts content provided by third parties. Reviews, ratings, comments, tags, and other user submissions reflect the personal experiences and opinions of the individuals who post them. Rate My Therapist does not author, adopt, endorse, or verify user-submitted content prior to publication, and expressly disclaims responsibility for its accuracy, completeness, legality, or reliability.
Rate My Therapist invokes the protections of 47 U.S.C. § 230(c) (the Communications Decency Act), which provides that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Any moderation, removal, restoration, or refusal to act with respect to user content is taken in good faith and is independently protected under § 230(c)(2). Reviews that constitute statements of opinion, rhetorical hyperbole, or subjective evaluation of personal experience are also protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and applicable state anti-SLAPP statutes.
Notice-and-review procedure for non-copyright concerns. If you believe a specific piece of user-submitted content on Rate My Therapist is unlawful (defamatory, harassing, threatening, or otherwise prohibited by these Terms), send a written notice to legal@ratemy-therapist.com identifying (a) the specific URL or profile where the content appears, (b) the exact text or element you object to, (c) the legal basis for your objection, (d) your full name and contact information, and (e) a statement under penalty of perjury that the information in your notice is accurate. Submission of a notice does not guarantee removal, and Rate My Therapist may, in its sole discretion, decline to act, refer the matter to outside counsel, or take other action it deems appropriate. We do not commit to any specific response time.
Submitting a knowingly false or bad-faith notice may subject you to liability for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, under applicable law. Rate My Therapist reserves the right to forward notices to the affected user and to publish redacted notices for transparency purposes.
08DMCA & copyright policy
If you believe content on Rate My Therapist infringes your copyright, you may submit a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to our designated agent at: legal@ratemy-therapist.com
Your notice must include: (1) identification of the copyrighted work; (2) identification of the infringing material and its location on our site; (3) your contact information; (4) a good-faith statement that you are authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner; and (5) a statement of accuracy under penalty of perjury.
09Suspension & termination
We may, in our sole discretion and without notice or liability, suspend or permanently terminate your access to the platform for any reason, including but not limited to violation of these Terms, legal requirements, or conduct we deem harmful to the platform, its users, or any third party.
Upon termination, all licenses granted to you immediately cease. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution) shall survive.
10Disclaimers of warranties
The platform is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without any warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or course of performance.
Rate My Therapist makes no warranty that: (a) the platform will operate uninterrupted, secure, or error-free; (b) results obtained will be accurate or reliable; (c) any errors will be corrected; or (d) the platform is free from viruses or harmful components.
11Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Rate My Therapist and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors shall not be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, including loss of profits, goodwill, data, or other intangible losses, resulting from:
- Your access to or use of (or inability to access or use) the platform
- Any user content on the platform, including reviews about you or by you
- Unauthorized access to or alteration of your data
- Any services obtained through the platform from any third party
- Any other matter relating to the platform
Our total aggregate liability for any claims arising under these Terms shall not exceed one hundred US dollars ($100) or the amount you paid us in the preceding twelve months, whichever is greater.
12Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Rate My Therapist and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the platform; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party rights; or (d) any content you submit to the platform.
13Dispute resolution & arbitration
Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights.
Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the platform shall be resolved exclusively through binding individual arbitration, not in a class action or court proceeding, except that either party may seek injunctive or other equitable relief in a court of competent jurisdiction for alleged intellectual property infringement.
Class action waiver: You and Rate My Therapist agree that each may bring claims against the other only in your or its individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding.
Arbitration shall be conducted under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and shall take place in the state of our principal place of business unless otherwise agreed.
14Governing law
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and the state of our principal place of business, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. To the extent arbitration does not apply, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in that state.
15Miscellaneous
- Entire agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Disclaimer, constitute the entire agreement between you and Rate My Therapist regarding your use of the platform.
- Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
- Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision.
- Changes to Terms: We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. Continued use of the platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance. Material changes will be communicated through a prominent notice on the website.
- Contact: Questions regarding these Terms should be directed to legal@ratemy-therapist.com