Coaching Agreement

Permission Coaching and Sarah Bentley (collectively known as "the Coach") will provide professional coaching services designed to facilitate the creation/development of personal, professional, or career goals and to develop and carry out a roadmap for achieving those goals.

Coaching is a partnership (defined as an alliance, not a legal business partnership) between the Coach and you, the Client. Coaching includes no guarantees or warranties, expressed or implied, about any results to be achieved.

Coaching is not therapy, counseling, or advice-giving, and is not a substitute for psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, legal, medical or other professional services. Coaching does not prevent, cure, or treat any mental disorder or medical disease and it is the Client’s responsibility to seek such independent professional guidance as needed.

Ethics and responsibility:

Coach will maintain the ethics and standards of professional behavior established by the International Coach Federation (ICF). The ICF Code of Ethics is available here: https://coachfederation.org/code-of-ethics. (To be clear, although I am certified via Martha Beck's Wayfinder program, I am not an ICF certified coach.)

Client is responsible for personal, physical, mental, and emotional well-being and is solely responsible for decisions, choices, actions, and results.

Client agrees to inform Coach of past or current mental health or substance abuse conditions, including concurrent treatment with other professionals. Coach is not and will not be liable or responsible for any actions or inaction, or for any direct or indirect result of any coaching services provided.

Confidentiality and exceptions to confidentiality:

Coach will keep all information and records confidential, and will not disclose any information pertaining to the Client without the Client’s written consent.

Coach will notify appropriate mental health professionals and/or authorities if Client represents a danger to self or others. Coach may be a mandated reporter of child and/or elder abuse.

Coach and Client acknowledge that communications via text and email are not encrypted nor secure, and therefore may not be confidential.

Our partnership:

Coaching is a powerful partnership (as defined above).

To get the most out of our time together, we agree to:

*meet at the appointed times

*be transparent, authentic, open, and honest

*show up with focus, free from outside distractions (e.g., phone notifications, extra browser tabs, etc.) and in spaces where we can speak freely

By entering into this partnership, you are committed to taking action toward the transformation you are pursuing. You are committed to honoring and trusting yourself and your innate wisdom above anything the Coach may say or suggest.

You are in the captain's seat; the Coach is here to help navigate and be an engaged co-pilot. You will bring a topic to each session, as well as a compass point for what you'd like to be different by the end of the session. We'll navigate there together.

Session policies:

Payment must be received in full prior to the session.

Client understands there are no refunds, and payments are only applicable to the agreed-upon coaching program.

Client is responsible for booking all sessions at the beginning of each package or billing cycle whenever possible. Please reach out directly if you cannot find times that work for you.

If either Coach or Client needs to reschedule, they will do so (via email or text) at least 24 hours prior to the start of session whenever possible. Failure to reschedule 24 hours in advance may lead to the forfeiture of that session, at the Coach's discretion.

Sessions will end at the agreed upon time, even if the client is late.

Sessions may be held in person (at agreed upon location), via video conference (Google Meet, Zoom, FaceTime), or via phone.

Acknowledgement below indicates full informed consent, acknowledgement of, and agreement with the information outlined above.