AGREEMENT & UNDERSTANDING

Welcome to my coaching practice! I’m glad you’ve chosen to work with me as your Certified Eating Psychology Coach. I want you to have the best experience possible in this relationship. As such, I have included information about our work together and ask that you thoroughly read this document. Checking the box above, signifies that you have read, understand & agree to abide by the guidelines that are outlined.

The Nature of the Work: Eating Psychology Coaching is a mixture of respectful inquiry, conversation, listening, teaching points, experimentation, exploration and well-chosen action steps. It’s designed to help you reach your goals, to properly evaluate and re-adjust your goals when necessary, and help you have an empowered relationship with food and body.

The Role of the Coach: The role of the Eating Psychology Coach is to assist with the improvement of eating challenges such as weight, overeating, binge eating, body image, chronic dieting, and nutrition related health concerns such as digestion, fatigue, mood, cognition, immunity and more. Coaching services are not to be construed as a replacement for psychotherapy, legal counsel or medical advice. If either of us recognizes that you have an issue that would benefit from medical or psychotherapeutic intervention, I will do my best to refer you to the appropriate resources.

Responsibility: Ultimately, the coaching relationship is about you, the client, taking full responsibility for your actions and your life. You should enter into coaching with the understanding that you are responsible for creating your own decisions and results. You should also understand that your coach is not responsible for any outcomes resulting directly or indirectly from the coaching process.

Honesty: I will do my best to be honest and straightforward. If there is anything that is not satisfactory for you about our work together, please let me know immediately so that we can take steps to make corrections. I encourage you to be honest and forthright, knowing all information will be strictly confidential. If I ever say or do something that upsets you or doesn’t feel right, please bring it up. Honesty and trust are critical for successful work. I want this to be an open and safe place for you to come with confidence.

Cancellations and Rescheduling: I understand that there are times when you will need to cancel and/or reschedule your appointment. Any cancellation or re-scheduling must be done 24 hours prior to our appointment. If you cannot comply, your session will be “missed” and appropriately charged. In the case of an emergency and your appointment needs to be canceled after the 24 hour “window,” please call or text message me at (815) 216-1078.

Confidentiality: All of our conversations and sessions are kept strictly confidential. I promise to protect the privacy of our work together.

Preparation: To ensure the most productive use of our coaching time, please come prepared for our sessions. Take some time to consider the progress you’ve made and how you’d like to use the upcoming session. Examples of questions might include; What progress have I made since our last session? What challenges did I face? How did I handle them? What new insights have emerged? How would I like to focus this next session?

In Between Sessions: If you have a short question or request for feedback in between sessions, please feel free to e-mail me at eatingpsychologycoach@emily-lavoie.com. I will try to respond as quickly as possible.

Referrals: My practice fills, in large part, by referrals. If you are benefiting from our relationship, I’d appreciate it greatly if you suggest my services to appropriate friends, family and colleagues.

Insurance: Coaching is not the practice of medicine, psychotherapy or other traditional modalities. For this reason, coaching is usually not covered by health insurance.