Written to be
understood.

What we collect

The intake form. While you are answering it, every response is stored in your own browser's local storage and nowhere else. It reaches Lebona only at the moment you submit. If you close the tab beforehand, nothing has been sent, and clearing your browser data erases it entirely.

Contact details. Your name, phone number and email address, plus the channel you asked us to use (WhatsApp, Telegram, phone or email) and the time of day that suits you.

Your country and language. Used to select the correct pool of licensed psychologists, the correct helpline, and the correct payment channels.

Session content. Sessions are held off-platform on the channel you chose, so Lebona does not hold a transcript. Your therapist keeps brief clinical notes, as they are professionally required to.

Payment records. Amount, date, method, and the transaction ID or screenshot you send us so we can verify payment by hand. Statements and receipts name Lebona only, never a condition, a diagnosis or a service type.

Tools on this site. The journal, the mood check-in, the screenings and your progress through the intake form are saved in your browser. They are never transmitted to us, and we cannot read them.

What we do not collect. We do not use advertising trackers, we do not sell or share data with advertisers, and we do not build profiles for any purpose other than matching you with appropriate care.

Who can see it

Your questionnaire is read by one clinical coordinator and by the therapist you are matched with. Nobody else at Lebona has access, and access is logged.

Your session content is visible only to you and your therapist. Supervisors may discuss anonymised case material. This is a professional requirement that improves your care, but they do not have access to your file or your identity.

Your family, your employer, your school, your insurer and your community are told nothing, ever, unless you ask us in writing to involve them.

Human review of your intake data

We want to be explicit about this rather than bury it. When you submit the intake form, your answers are compiled into our internal care-coordination system and read by a human care coordinator. That is how matching works at Lebona, and it is deliberate: a person catches nuance, risk and context that a scoring algorithm does not.

In practice this means: one coordinator reads your full form; the therapist you are matched with reads it before your first session; access is role-based and logged; and nobody else at Lebona sees it. Coordinators complete data-protection and confidentiality training before they are given access, and that access is revoked the day they leave.

If you would prefer that some part of your history is not written down at all, simply leave it out of the form and raise it directly with your therapist instead.

How long we keep it

Clinical records are retained for five years after your last session, as Ethiopian professional standards require, then permanently deleted. If you never proceed past the questionnaire, we delete your submission after ninety days. Contact-form messages are deleted after twelve months.

You can ask us to delete your data sooner. We will do it, and confirm in writing, except where a specific legal obligation requires us to keep a particular record, in which case we will tell you exactly which record and why.

Off-platform sessions and your safety

Lebona matches you with verified, credentialed therapists, and then your sessions and messages take place on a channel outside our platform: a phone call, a video link, WhatsApp or Telegram. This keeps costs low and works on connections that a bespoke app would not.

It also has consequences you should understand. Communications that happen off-platform are not stored, monitored or recorded by Lebona. We therefore cannot produce a transcript of a session, and we cannot see a problem developing unless you tell us.

What we do guarantee: every therapist we match you with is verified against their national professional body and is bound by Lebona's code of conduct and safety guidelines in those conversations exactly as they would be in a clinic. If a therapist behaves in a way that breaches that code, pressure, boundary violations, requests for payment outside the agreed channel, contact outside agreed hours, report it to us and we will investigate, remove them from the roster where warranted, and report them to their board.

Two practical protections. First, Lebona will never ask for payment before you have been matched to a named therapist, and never asks for your mobile money PIN. Second, if anyone contacts you claiming to be from Lebona on a channel you did not register, treat it as fraudulent and check with us first.

The one exception to confidentiality

There is exactly one circumstance in which your therapist may break confidentiality: a serious and immediate risk to your life or to someone else's, including a child at risk of harm. This is the same duty every clinician in Ethiopia carries.

In practice this means your therapist may contact emergency services or a named person you have given us. Wherever it is safe to do so, they will tell you first and involve you in the decision. It does not mean that mentioning suicidal thoughts triggers an automatic response. It does not, and being able to say those things out loud is often the most useful thing that happens in therapy.

Because our matching is manual, it is worth repeating: your intake form is not monitored in real time. If you disclose risk in the form, a coordinator will prioritise your file, but that still means hours, not minutes. Use your helpline for anything that cannot wait.

Your rights

You can ask to see everything we hold about you, and we will provide it within thirty days at no cost. You can ask us to correct anything inaccurate. You can withdraw consent and have your data deleted. You can change therapist without giving a reason. You can stop at any time, and nothing about doing so goes on any record that follows you.

To exercise any of these, write to privacy@lebona.et.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access is role-based and logged. Staff and clinicians complete data-protection training before they are given access, and access is revoked the day someone leaves. We do not use third-party analytics that identify individuals. Our internal care-coordination tracker is access-controlled and restricted to the coordination team.

No system is perfect. If we ever suffer a breach affecting your data, we will tell you directly and promptly, describe what was exposed, and say what we are doing about it.

Terms of use

Lebona is not an emergency service. Matching is performed by human coordinators and takes 24–48 hours. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call your national helpline, Ethiopia 952 · Kenya 1190 · Rwanda 116, or go to the nearest health facility. Neither our coordinators nor our therapists monitor messages around the clock.

Screening tools are not diagnoses. The intake form and the self-assessment scores on this site are adapted from PHQ-4, GAD-7 and WHO-5 as structured reflection to guide a conversation with a clinician. They cannot diagnose you, and a low score does not mean your difficulty is not real.

Our therapists do not prescribe medication. Where medication may be appropriate, we refer you to a psychiatrist and continue alongside that treatment.

Suitability. Online therapy is not appropriate for acute psychosis, severe substance dependence or active suicidal crisis. If we assess that you need in-person care, we will tell you plainly and help you find it rather than keep you waiting.

Age. The individual service is for adults aged 18 and over. Young people aged 13–17 are supported with a parent or guardian involved at the outset.

Payment. Sessions are paid per session or in blocks, arranged directly with your coordinator after matching, through local channels (Telebirr and bank transfer, M-Pesa, MTN or Airtel Money). Payment is verified manually against the receipt you send us. Cancel more than 24 hours ahead for a full refund or reschedule. Subsidised places are available on request and are not means-tested. See the fees and payment page.

Where we operate. Lebona currently matches clients in Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. If you live elsewhere we will tell you honestly what is possible rather than match you to a therapist not licensed to work with you.