LAST UPDATED: 12 OCTOBER 2026

Disclaimer

BRTLS is a personal-development and guidance platform built specifically for modern fathers.

It is designed to help fathers better understand themselves, their circumstances and their development — and to explore what may be worth trying in real life.

BRTLS is not healthcare.

This Disclaimer explains the boundaries of BRTLS, including its content, Fatherhood Discovery, personalised guidance, assessments and Fatherhood Journey.

Fatherhood Discovery

Fatherhood Journey

1. Personal development, not healthcare

BRTLS provides information, reflection and guidance for personal development.

BRTLS does not provide:

medical care;
mental healthcare;
psychotherapy;
psychological treatment;
occupational therapy;
diagnosis;
clinical assessment;
crisis support;
treatment of physical or mental health conditions.

Using BRTLS does not create a healthcare provider–patient, therapist–client or other clinical relationship.

This applies to all BRTLS services and content, including the Fatherhood Discovery, Fatherhood Journey, Development Reviews, personalised guidance and Learn Library.

2. The founder's professional background

BRTLS was founded by Eef Bartels, an occupational therapist with more than a decade of professional experience.

That professional background has influenced how BRTLS approaches everyday life, context, roles, responsibilities, capacity, adaptation and development.

However:

BRTLS itself is not occupational therapy.

When you use BRTLS, Eef Bartels is not acting as your occupational therapist or other individual healthcare provider.

His professional background should not be interpreted as establishing an individual therapeutic relationship, clinical assessment or professional healthcare opinion about you.

THE FATHERHOOD DISCOVERY

3. What the Fatherhood Discovery is

The Fatherhood Discovery is a structured reflective tool designed to help you develop a clearer picture of your current circumstances.

It may explore areas such as:

identity;
relationships;
children and family life;
work;
health and vitality;
home;
community;
priorities;
experiences of fatherhood;
current challenges or transitions.

Your results are based on the information you provide.

They are intended to support reflection and personal development.

4. What the Fatherhood Discovery is not

The Fatherhood Discovery is not:

a medical assessment;
a psychological assessment;
a diagnostic instrument;
a mental-health screening tool;
a clinical evaluation;
a validated personality test;
a measure of your quality as a father.

Unless BRTLS explicitly states otherwise in relation to a specific instrument, BRTLS-developed assessments should not be interpreted as psychometrically or clinically validated instruments.

A Discovery result should therefore not be used to diagnose yourself or another person, determine whether you have a health condition or replace an assessment by an appropriately qualified professional.

BRTLS-DEVELOPED MODELS

5. The BRTLS conceptual system

BRTLS uses several concepts developed specifically for the platform, including the:

Fatherhood Compass

Fatherhood Framework

Fatherhood Domains

Universal Transitions

BRTLS Principles

These models help organise reflection and personal development.

They are not presented as universally established scientific classifications, diagnostic systems or validated psychological instruments.

For example, a Compass orientation is a lens through which you may explore how you naturally orient. It is not a fixed personality classification.

The Framework provides areas through which development can be explored. It is not a clinical treatment model.

The Domains provide a way of looking at the different parts of everyday life. They are not a diagnostic taxonomy.

BRTLS explains the development and intended use of these concepts in its Research & Method page.

PERSONALISED GUIDANCE

6. Guidance is not instruction

BRTLS may use information you provide to offer personalised reflections, questions, possibilities or directions.

This guidance is intended to help you consider:

What might be worth trying?

It does not mean:

This is what you must do.

Only you have access to the full reality of your circumstances.

You remain responsible for considering whether a BRTLS suggestion is appropriate, relevant and safe in your situation.

7. Personalisation has limits

BRTLS can only work with the information available to it.

Information may be:

incomplete;
misunderstood;
interpreted differently from how you intended it;
no longer current;
missing important context.

Personalisation should therefore not be treated as proof that BRTLS fully understands your situation.

This is one reason BRTLS encourages ongoing reflection and, within the Fatherhood Journey, Development Reviews.

The Fatherhood Journey is available in fixed periods of 90, 180 or 365 days. The selected duration does not imply that BRTLS can predict how quickly or to what extent your circumstances may change.

Fatherhood Journey

AI-SUPPORTED FUNCTIONALITY

8. Use of automated and AI-supported systems

Parts of the BRTLS experience may use automated or AI-supported technology to help process information, organise responses or provide personalised content.

Such systems can be useful, but they are not infallible.

AI-supported output may:

misunderstand context;
overlook relevant information;
make an inappropriate connection;
produce incomplete information;
generate something that does not fit your circumstances.

You should therefore use personalised output as material for reflection rather than as an authoritative instruction.

For information about how personal data may be processed through BRTLS technology, see the Privacy Policy.

9. AI does not replace professional judgement

AI-supported BRTLS functionality is not a doctor, psychologist, psychotherapist, occupational therapist or other healthcare professional.

It cannot perform a clinical examination or professional assessment of your individual circumstances.

Do not rely solely on AI-generated or personalised BRTLS output to make decisions that require medical, psychological, legal, financial or other appropriately qualified professional advice.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

10. When professional support may be more appropriate

Fatherhood can involve difficult periods.

Some questions explored through BRTLS may overlap with stress, exhaustion, relationships, health, wellbeing or significant changes in life.

BRTLS may help you reflect on those experiences, but there are circumstances in which personal-development guidance is not enough.

If you are concerned about your physical health, mental health or wellbeing, or believe that you may need assessment, diagnosis or treatment, seek advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

BRTLS should complement appropriate professional support where relevant — not replace it.

11. Urgent situations

BRTLS is not an emergency or crisis service.

The BRTLS website, Fatherhood Discovery, Fatherhood Journey, email, contact forms and personalised guidance are not designed to provide immediate support in an emergency.

If you or someone else may be in immediate danger, or you require urgent medical or mental-health assistance, contact the appropriate emergency or crisis service in your location.

Do not wait for a response from BRTLS.

RELATIONSHIPS AND OTHER PEOPLE

12. Guidance involving other people

Many aspects of fatherhood involve other people, including partners, children, family members, colleagues and friends.

BRTLS only has access to the information you provide.

It does not independently know the perspective, circumstances or intentions of another person.

Guidance concerning relationships should therefore be understood as reflection based on your description of the situation, not as an assessment of another person.

BRTLS does not diagnose, classify or determine the motives, personality or mental state of people described in your responses.

13. Children

BRTLS is designed for fathers and their own development.

It is not a child-development, paediatric, diagnostic or therapeutic service.

Information about children within BRTLS is intended to help fathers understand their own circumstances and fatherhood experience.

If you have concerns about a child's health, development, behaviour or wellbeing that may require professional assessment or support, consult an appropriately qualified professional.

LEARN LIBRARY AND EDITORIAL CONTENT

14. Educational information

Articles and other materials in the BRTLS Learn Library are provided for general educational and personal-development purposes.

They may draw on:

scientific research;
established concepts;
professional knowledge;
BRTLS-developed models;
professional experience;
practical interpretation;
everyday fatherhood contexts.

BRTLS explains its approach to sources and claims in its Editorial Standards and Research & Method pages.

15. General information cannot account for every individual situation

An article written for fathers generally cannot take account of all relevant circumstances in your individual life.

The fact that an article describes an experience similar to yours does not mean that its explanation necessarily applies to you.

Examples are illustrative.

They should not be interpreted as individual assessment, diagnosis or professional advice.

16. Research changes

Knowledge develops over time.

New research may challenge, refine or add nuance to earlier findings.

BRTLS aims to review and update material where appropriate, but does not guarantee that every page reflects every piece of research available at a particular moment.

Where evidence is uncertain, mixed or limited, BRTLS aims to communicate that uncertainty rather than present it as established fact.

RESULTS

17. No guaranteed personal-development outcome

People differ.

Circumstances differ.

What helps one father may not help another.

BRTLS therefore does not guarantee that:

a particular suggestion will work;
a particular personal-development result will occur;
your circumstances will improve within a particular period;
completing the Discovery will produce a specific outcome;
a 90-, 180- or 365-day Fatherhood Journey will create a particular personal, relationship, family, work or health outcome.

BRTLS is designed to support a process of understanding, trying, experiencing, reviewing and adjusting.

The outcome of that process depends on many factors beyond BRTLS's control.

The absence of a guaranteed personal-development outcome does not remove BRTLS's obligation to provide the digital service and features described in the applicable purchase agreement.

18. You remain responsible for your decisions

BRTLS can provide information, structure, reflection and possibilities.

You remain responsible for decisions you make and actions you take in your own life, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Before acting on information from BRTLS, consider whether it is appropriate to:

your circumstances;
your responsibilities;
other people involved;
your health and safety;
applicable professional advice.

Where a decision carries significant consequences or requires specialist expertise, seek appropriately qualified professional advice.

Nothing in this section excludes responsibility that BRTLS cannot lawfully exclude.

EXTERNAL INFORMATION

19. External websites and resources

BRTLS may occasionally link to research, publications, organisations or third-party websites.

A link does not necessarily mean BRTLS endorses every statement, product, service or opinion provided by that third party.

External websites operate independently of BRTLS.

BRTLS does not control their availability, privacy practices or subsequent changes to their content.

Nothing in this section excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

LEGAL RIGHTS

20. This Disclaimer does not remove your consumer rights

Nothing in this Disclaimer is intended to exclude or restrict rights that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.

In particular, this Disclaimer does not remove mandatory rights you may have as a consumer under applicable Dutch or European Union law.

If BRTLS provides digital content or a digital service that does not conform to the applicable contract, statutory consumer remedies may apply.

The absence of guaranteed personal-development outcomes is separate from BRTLS's obligation to provide the purchased service in accordance with its contractual description and applicable law.

The voluntary 30-day money-back guarantee applicable to eligible Fatherhood Journey purchases is governed by the relevant purchase and refund terms.

This Disclaimer should therefore be read together with the:

Terms & Conditions

Fatherhood Journey Terms

Cancellation & Refund Policy

Privacy Policy

Cookie Policy