These Terms and Conditions, along with the accompanying Audio-Visual Recordings Policy, and Consent to Share Information form part of your Contract for Coaching.

Fees

An optional initial consultation via video call, telephone or in person, lasts approximately 15-20 minutes and is free of charge.  During this initial consultation I will outline the coaching process, what you might expect in terms of coaching, and you will provide me with some basic information regarding the issues you would like the coaching to cover.  We will then agree whether coaching would be beneficial, a number of sessions, and a review date.  Any changes to this agreement will be discussed with you first.

Coaching appointments are charged at £75/ hr for each session; unless you purchase one of the coaching packages.  Coaching packages include:

Coaching Express £250: 4x 1hr sessions booked together and written training plans, which can be taken separately or together.

Monthly subscription £60/ month, minimum 6 months.  1hr coaching per month and written training plans.

Group Coaching £320 (Climbing confidence) or £350 (Fear of falling): 8 x 1hr sessions and written training plans, email support and group chat.

Climb Smarter Crag Day £350 for up to 2 people, sessions last from 10am to 4pm, includes written training plans, email support and group chat.

Bespoke workshops are contracted separately.

Payment for Services

A deposit of £50 for the first coaching appointment is taken 2 weeks prior to the first appointment date. You will then be invoiced for the full amount following the session, or you will be invoiced for the total amount for the coaching packages.  Payment terms are 14 days from the receipt of the invoice.

If you should change your mind about coaching at any time up to 48hrs before attending, your deposit will be returned to you. Should you wish to discontinue coaching at any time, fees will be charged for any work already undertaken.

Cancellation Policy

• You have right to cancel coaching sessions at any time and this will not affect any future services you may wish to receive.
• If you must cancel or reschedule an appointment, 48-hour advanced notice is required, otherwise you will be held financially responsible for the full session fee.  The only exception to this is where you or a close contact have suspected covid-19, in which case you may rearrange any face to face sessions without penalty.
• If you cancel more than two appointments, we will need to address the contract, and whether now is a good time to conduct coaching.
• Phone/video appointments are treated the same as face-to-face sessions. If you are late getting on the phone, are unable to talk at our scheduled time, your battery has died, you are unable to access a confidential place to talk, or any other variable that prevents you attending our appointment please know that you will be charged for the session. Please make the necessary arrangements you need to be available and present for your appointment.
• I will endeavour to give you as much advance notice as possible of holidays or of any need to re-schedule a future appointment.
• In the unlikely event I am incapacitated and am unable to contact you, I have appointed an Executor who will contact you on my behalf. They are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as I am, and will only access your contact details in an emergency. They will not know any details of our ongoing work.

Online and Phone contact

• For phone/online video coaching sessions, I will call you at our scheduled time or send you a link for our secure online video session. I will expect that you are available at our scheduled time and are prepared, focused and engaged in the session.
• I will call you from a private location where I am the only person in the room. You also need to be in a private location where you can speak openly without being overheard or interrupted by others to protect your own confidentiality. If you choose to be a in a place where there are people or others can hear you, I cannot be responsible for protecting your confidentiality. Every effort MUST be made on your part to protect your own confidentiality. I suggest you wear a headset or earbuds to increase confidentiality and this will also increase sound quality of our sessions.
• Please know that I cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of conversations held via phone, as phone conversations can be intercepted either accidentally or intentionally.
• Please ensure you reduce all possibilities of interruptions for the duration of our scheduled appointment.
• To minimise the chances of technological glitches interrupting our session, I invest in modern computer equipment, close all other applications and browser windows, and use a wired Ethernet connection: all of these things are known to maximise the quality and stability of the call. I suggest you do the same. The most common reason for calls dropping out is reliance on wireless signal. While video calling on a mobile phone or tablet is convenient, it relies on wireless signal. Accessing a desktop computer with wired Ethernet is generally more reliable.

Recording of Sessions

• Please note that recording, screenshots, etc of any kind during an appointment without my consent is not permitted and are grounds for termination of coaching.
• However, sometimes agreeing to make a recording of the appointment to listen to later is helpful for coaching, e.g. if I ask you to complete some observational ‘homework’. This will be fully discussed in session and written consent by both parties recorded. Please see my separate Online Audio-Visual Recordings Policy and Consent Form.

Confidentiality

• I take your privacy seriously. All information disclosed within your appointments remains strictly confidential, unless you give me written permission to speak to another professional (see the Consent to Share Information Form). If I think    you, or someone close to you is at risk of harm, it is my statutory obligation and             professional duty of care to communicate my concerns to the relevant authorities. If I             have to break confidentiality to protect your safety, I would always try to speak to you      about this first.
• If I am called to Court for any reason, you should be aware that my coaching notes can be subpoenaed.

• I attend regular supervision where I may discuss your case with my supervisor. However, I will always maintain your anonymity.

Data security and privacy

• According to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which replaced the Data Protection Act 1998 on 25th May 2018, companies which process sensitive data must demonstrate how they protect the privacy of clients and that the data collected is necessary. I only collect and store information which is relevant to our work together, and which will enhance your care. I protect your privacy and security of your data by using only encrypted products for data storage and communication. Smart Climbing/ Dr Rebecca Williams Psychology is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
• Any paper notes are stored in a locked cabinet, within a locked office. Only I have access to the locked cabinet.

• I use a secure cloud-based platform (icloud) to store your personal information and case notes securely. This meets the same standards as those used in the NHS. As well as storing your contact details, I use this platform to store brief notes so I have an aide-memoire about what we have covered. I do not store patient identifiable information on computer hard disks.
• Video calls: I use Zoom https://www.zoom.us/ or Facetime to conduct any sessions online.
• If you wish to use regular text messages or telephone calls to pass on information, please note that they are not 100% securely confidential and therefore restrict their use making or changing appointments.
• I retain your personal information and coaching record for 8 years and thereafter they are destroyed confidentially. This is in line with UK best practice for adult health and social care records (IGA, 2016).  For children for whom you are the parent or legal guardian, I retain their personal information and health record until their 25^th birthday, and thereafter it is destroyed confidentially.

Complaints & legal jurisdiction

• I do my best to ensure that our work is evidence based, regularly evaluated, and meets your needs. However, coaching is never without risk of harm or no benefit, and you must inform me at once if you believe the coaching is not meeting your needs. I will then agree a plan with you to ameliorate the difficulties, either by changing the coaching plan, stopping coaching, or referring to another professional.
• All face to face coaching is subject to a risk assessment, which you will be asked to sign prior to your session. Please note, you will also be signing to declare that you are a competent and experienced climber, and that you understand that coaching is only for the mental side of climbing.  You will undertake responsibility for your own physical safety during any training and climbing sessions.
• Please note that the work is being undertaken is in accordance with UK laws and any disputes will be subject to it. If you are concerned about the care I have provided to you, I encourage you to speak to me immediately. If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, please contact the Health & Care Professions Council for registered health practitioners (which includes psychologists in the UK). http://www.hcpc- uk.co.uk/complaints/raiseaconcern/howto/