Coaching and Client Agreement

Services

The company provides life coaching services. Life coaching services are to be provided to the client by the coach and are conducted either via telephone, via Zoom video call, and, on special occasions, face-to-face, as agreed jointly, for an hour of the client’s time either once a week or once every other week. Coaching provided may address specific personal struggles, wellness issues, or general conditions in your life, including profession, as chosen by the client. Throughout the coaching relationship, the coach will engage in direct and personal conversations with the client. These conversations can include, but are not limited to, value clarification, brainstorming, identifying plans of action, examining modes of operation in life, asking clarifying questions, and making empowering requests or suggestions for action according to the topics and issues that are relevant to the client’s life. These sessions are recorded by the coach for review, safety, and accountability, and if the client wants the recordings, the client can request them for their own use. 

As the company schedules clients back-to-back on the hour and half hour marks, each session must account for up to 5 minutes transition time split between the beginning and end of the session where the client may not be actively engaging in coaching. This means, when referring to hour long sessions, the client is only guaranteed 55 minutes. 

Definitions and Disclaimers

A life coach is an advisor, mentor, cheerleader, and advocate who counsels, encourages, and coaches clients on matters having to do with all aspects of life in order to create progress towards life fulfillment by using coaching questions, empowerment strategies, life experience, and knowledge.

Life coaching is a collaboration between the client and the coach to create change in the client’s life that aids the client in becoming who they want to be and reaching the goals or vision the client sets for themselves. Life coaching is client driven and the client is the one who determines the course and topic of the sessions. Life Coaching is not medical advice or healthcare, nor is it a replacement to any kind of medical care. Life coaching is not therapy; psychological, occupational, or otherwise. 

The life coach, Natalie Stark, is a registered and certified occupational therapist in the state of Indiana, which means Natalie acquired a masters from an accredited occupational therapy school, took an exam for certification, and completed a review to be registered by the state. Natalie maintains her license by keeping up with certification training and completing a specified amount of continuing education to maintain registration.

Occupational therapy is a medical profession that provides wellness, rehab, education, and healthcare services, often involving evaluation and intervention using therapeutic use of occupation, modalities, assessment, medical and holistic models, activity analysis, environmental design, and skill training/techniques to enable people to perform everyday activities. Occupational therapy usually requires a referral from a medical practitioner and is provided under insurance. Occupational therapists generally do not talk about or use their personal life stories or experience as it is considered inappropriate in that context and interventions and evaluations are research and evidence based. 

The coach, Natalie Stark, is providing the client life coaching under and through the company, Queer Spectrum Life Coaching, LLC. Natalie Stark is operating under Queer Spectrum Life Coaching, LLC as a life coach. Natalie is NOT operating as an occupational therapist when working under the company and is not bound by the professional regulations, training, ethics, law, and code of conduct that go along with the occupational therapy profession when providing coaching services as per this contract. The client does not require a referral from a medical practitioner for these services and these services are not covered by health insurance.

The services provided are for educational and general purposes and are NOT intended to diagnose or treat any physical or mental illness. These services are not to be construed as any form of legal, financial, or medical advice. Please consult a licensed service provider in the applicable industry if you have questions in those areas. 

 

Client Responsibilities

The client accepts and agrees that the client is 100% responsible for their progress and results from coaching. The company makes no guarantees or warranties verbally or in writing. The client understands that because of the nature of coaching, clients’ results will vary, potentially significantly. The client acknowledges that there is no guarantee by the company that the client will meet their goals or expectations of coaching. 

What is expected of clients:

• Show up on time for the session, ready to engage in self-work.
• The client’s best effort will be given to implement suggested strategies and complete personal work agreed to at the time of the session, by the next scheduled session. If not completed the client will show up to the session and have a discussion with the coach, curiously examining why the work wasn’t completed. 
• The client may be asked to reflect on difficult topics, situations, and/or self limiting beliefs, which may result in intense emotions. The client accepts this type of conflict and agrees this is an important part of the process that leads to change. If something offends or triggers the client, the coach will be informed by the client so the coach can ensure it won’t happen again. The client will give the benefit of the doubt.
• It is understood that successful coaching requires a co-active collaborative approach between the client and coach. In the coaching relationship, the coach plays the role of a facilitator of change, but it is the client’s responsibility to enact or bring about that change. The client agrees they are solely responsible for change and to be proactive in the quest for change. The client is committed to making the changes they wish to see. 
• The client will be honest with the coach.
• The client will be open minded to ideas and actions around growth, change, and lifestyle choices.
• The agenda and topic of the sessions belong to the client. If the client believes that the topic or coaching in general is not working as desired, the client is responsible for communicating that to the coach as soon as possible so that the coaching strategy and topic can be restructured to address the client’s desired outcome.
• If the client believes additional accountability or discussion is needed, the client is responsible for communicating that to come up with accountability plans with the coach.
• The client agrees to preemptively communicate any boundaries and/or triggers to the coach and, if any new triggers or boundaries are discovered, to communicate them as soon as possible. The client is encouraged to interrupt the coach at any time in order to halt the conversation or to communicate needs and boundaries for any reason. The client will also respect and uphold the boundaries communicated by the coach and the company.

 

Cost 

Every subsequent session after the initial free 30 minute consultation is $79.00 USD. The free consultation is not considered a session. 

The client will prepay the company for the calendar month’s worth of sessions, every month, by the start of the first session scheduled that calendar month.  

For example, if the client is being seen every other week and the first session of the month is a Thursday on the 2nd, the company will be paid for sessions scheduled on the 2nd, 16th, and 30th, by the time the session starts on the 2nd, for a total of $237.00 USD. 

On the day of the client’s first session, either during or sometime later that day, the company will send an invoice for that first session and the following sessions scheduled for the remainder of that calendar month. That first invoice will be due by the beginning of the second session.

The client will receive their monthly invoice from PayPal via email provided. The client will receive the invoice at least 3 days before it is due, assuming the sessions were scheduled at least 4 days in advance. The client can pay with a checking account or credit card via PayPal, which they will be able to navigate to via the emailed invoice. PayPal is also directly linked in the ‘Client’ section of the company’s website, www.queerspectrumlifecoaching.com.

 

Late Payment

If the client has not paid for that month’s invoice by the start of the first session of the month, 2nd session overall if it is the first month being seen, the client can pay on PayPal then, at the beginning of that session, using session time. The client can choose to always pay at the start of the first session of the month if they desire to do so. By paying during the session, the time it takes to pay will be taken away from the session and the session will still end on time as scheduled. 

If the client is unable to pay the full invoice at the start of that session, then the session may conclude at the discretion of the company and will not be able to continue until after payment is received. In the instance it is concluded, it is at the discretion of the company if the session can be rescheduled or not. If the client is unable to pay by the start of the 2nd scheduled session of the calendar month, 3rd session overall if it is the first month being seen, then the contract is considered cancelled and the client will continue to owe the invoice in full. All remaining scheduled sessions will be canceled and the payments are officially considered overdue. If the client fails to communicate with the company about payment or refuses to pay an overdue invoice after notices of late payment via email and/or via phone call over the course of 2 weeks, legal action will take place and the client will be charged an additional ‘inconvenience fee’ of $100.00 USD. If the client has very suddenly developed financial difficulties and communicates this to the company, a legal written payment agreement can be made, and the fee can be waived. The client will be unable to enter a new coaching contract until all prior overdue payments are paid off in full. 

Scheduling

By the end of the client’s first ever session, the client and coach will schedule out the following 11 sessions, on the scheduler website/app, Acuity, which will email the client the Zoom room links used for those video sessions. Acuity is directly linked in the ‘Client’ section of the company’s website, www.queerspectrumlifecoaching.com.

If the client wants to have sessions via phone call without video, then the client will inform the company of this when scheduling the free consultation or when scheduling during the first session. In the cases of phone calls, the client will call into the Zoom meeting at the start of the session using the instructions provided by Zoom.

If the client wants to continue coaching after the completion of the initial 12 session package (see section ‘Termination’ for more details), the client will schedule at least a calendar month’s worth of sessions at a time and will continue prepaying for the calendar month’s worth of sessions by the first session of every month. While Acuity allows clients to pay for all sessions scheduled at checkout, the client will only pay for sessions scheduled per calendar month, a calendar month out at a time. The company will continue sending the client monthly invoices.The client will schedule their first session of the month at least 4 days in advance if they wish to receive their invoice 3 days before the first session of the calendar month.

If at any time the client wants to add an extra or additional session to the current calendar month and there is time available on the scheduler, the client can book and pay for that session at the time of booking on Acuity. Any additional sessions scheduled will not count towards the initial 12 sessions package outlined in this contract.

Rescheduling and Canceling

If the client needs to cancel or reschedule a session, the client is required to do so 48 hours or more in advance so that the session can be rescheduled within the billed month. As long as the client goes to Acuity 48 hours before a session, the client can reschedule that session for any time available, assuming time slots are available. For example, if the client’s work schedule changes in the middle of the 12 session package, the client can move the remaining sessions to a different time and/or different day of the week with no need to notify the coach. The client can reschedule by clicking the ‘reschedule’ link located in both the automated calendar invite and email invite. The company does not guarantee that there will be slots available at any time. It is recommended to reschedule as soon as possible because the further in advance the client reschedules, the more likely sessions will be available. 

If the client wishes to reschedule and change from once a week to every other week or visa-versa, the client will reach out to the coach so the company can move sessions around, communicate how that affects that month’s payment, and adjust the client’s invoices. 

If it is 48 hours or more before the session and the client is not able to reschedule at any of the times available that month, or if no more slots are available for the month in general, the client will not be refunded, but can reschedule in a future month. If a future month does not work, the client can have the cost deducted from the next month’s invoice. The third time the client asks for a deduction from needing to reschedule, the client will not receive that deduction. The client can still reschedule, but will no longer be able to deduct from an upcoming invoice for another 6 months. 

If the session needs to be rescheduled or cancelled less than 48 hours before, the client will need to reach out to the coach to do so. The client will not be refunded, but can reschedule. The third time the client reaches out to reschedule less than 48 hours before, the client will not be rescheduled or refunded. If this third time happens while the client is still receiving sessions from the package, an additional session will be scheduled and paid for to ensure the client will be seen for a total of 12 sessions. If there is an emergency, sickness, or force majeure less than 48 hours before a session and the client reaches out for the session to be rescheduled or cancelled, the appointment can be rescheduled and may be refunded at the discretion of the company, with the benefit of the doubt in mind. 

Tardiness and No-Call-No-Shows 

If the client is late to a session, that session will still be completed at the scheduled time and no refund will be given for the time missed. If the client is 20 minutes late or more and has not reached out to the coach about running late, the coach is dismissed, the remainder of the session is canceled, and it is considered a no-call-no-show. No-call-no-shows will not be refunded or rescheduled. If an emergency or force majeure makes the client late or unable to attend the session, and the client reaches out within the first 20 minutes of the session, this is not considered a no-call-no-show and it is at the discretion of the company, with benefit of the doubt in mind, whether the client can reschedule or be refunded. If the client reaches out after having an emergency, sickness, or force majeure that resulted in a no-call-no-show, it is at the discretion of the company, with benefit of the doubt in mind, whether the client can reschedule, but the client will likely not be refunded. After 3 no-call-no shows over the course of 3 months, the company reserves the right to cancel all further scheduled sessions without refund and cancel the contract. 

If the client has a no-call-no-show, the client is required to reach out to the company as soon as possible to let the company know what happened. If the client has a no-call-no-show and does not communicate with the company either before the start of following scheduled session, or within 2 weeks of the no-call-no-show if no other sessions were scheduled, the client will not receive a refund and will be charged an ‘inconvenience fee’ of $100.00 USD, which will be due a week after being issued. See above ‘Late Payment’ section for details on what will happen if the fee is not paid by the due date and is considered overdue. 

 

Refunds

There are no instances in which a client can be refunded for a coaching session that the client and coach attended as scheduled. 

If the company has to reschedule your session a week or more before the scheduled session, the client will be able to reschedule or deduct that session’s cost from the next calendar month invoice, but will not receive a refund for that session. In instances where the company needs to reschedule less than a week before the scheduled session, the client can reschedule, deduct that session’s payment off of the following month’s invoice, or request a refund for that session. The company will only need to reschedule less than 48 hours before in the case of emergencies, sickness, or force majeure (including internet failure). 

If the coach shows up late by 10 minutes or more for a scheduled session with notice, the client can reschedule, or choose to be compensated for the calculated amount of time missed for that session via refund or deduction off of the next month’s invoice. If the coach is 10 minutes late without notice the client can cancel the session without repercussions and be rescheduled, deducted from the next invoice, or refunded. If the coach has not shown up by 20 minutes after the start of the session with or without notice, the session is considered canceled by the coach and the client can choose to either reschedule, deduct from the next invoice, or be refunded for the session. 

If the coach has two instances of no-call-no-show, which is being 20 minutes late or more without contacting the client, anytime within 12 months, the client reserves the right to cancel the contract and receive a refund on all all prepaid sessions not yet completed, on top of the sessions that were no-call-no-showed. If there are three instances where the coach has been 20 minutes late or more, or five instances where the coach is between 10-20 minutes late, and the coach has contacted the client about it, within 6 months, the client reserves the right to cancel the contract and receive a refund on all prepaid sessions not completed on top of being refunded for the sessions that were considered cancelled. If the client notices the coach is more than 5 minutes late, it is encouraged for the client to reach out to the coach via text or phone call to see where the coach may be while giving the coach the benefit of the doubt. 

 

Termination

The client has the option to terminate this coaching agreement within 72 hours of first signing the contract, and will receive a refund on all sessions paid for that were not attended. 

If the client wishes to terminate this agreement before completion of 12 sessions, and it has been over 72 hours since the contract was signed, the client will give notice as soon as possible and will not be refunded for any sessions that have been prepaid for, whether they were attended or not. The client will also be charged a $50.00 USD ‘termination before completion’ fee, which will be due by the last day of the calendar month the client terminated the agreement. 

If the company believes it is best to conclude coaching with the client at the end of session 12 or anytime after session 12, this will be communicated to the client at least by the end of the second to last prepaid session. 

If the client wishes to return for coaching a year or more after the date of termination, the client will be required to sign another contract for another 12 session package. If the client wishes to return to the company for coaching before a year after termination, the client will email, call, or text the company, before scheduling to discuss the client’s needs and create an appropriate schedule.

If the client has continued sessions beyond the initial 12 sessions and wishes to conclude coaching, the client will communicate this with the coach as soon as possible with at least 48 hours notice prior to the last prepaid session. The client will complete all sessions that have been prepaid. If the client does not wish to complete the sessions that have been prepaid, the client will not receive a refund on those prepaid sessions that were not attended. If the client tells the company they want to conclude coaching less than 48 hours before the final scheduled session of the month the client will be required to schedule and pay for one more session or pay a $25.00 USD ‘late cancelation fee.’ If the client decides to pay the late cancelation fee it will be due 2 weeks from the last scheduled session. 

If the client violates terms of this coaching agreement, or any other agreements made, the company can terminate services. If any client demonstrates disrespect, difficulty to work with, danger, threats, bullying, use of slurs, abuse, or any form of harassment/advancement directed towards the company, the coach, or any other person or group, the company reserves the right to limit, suspend, or discontinue all further sessions with a client and terminate the contract. In those cases, the client will not be refunded for any prior payments or prepaid sessions. The company will not tolerate any form of hate towards any group. In extreme cases, the company may additionally charge a $100.00 USD ‘inconvenience’ fee. 

If the company believes that coaching with a client is not working out due to poor fit or gross miscommunication, after having a conversation in attempt to remedy the issue to the best of the company and coach’s ability, the company can terminate all further sessions with that client and, in those instances, the client will be given a refund on all sessions that have been prepaid for but not yet attended.

The client signature on this Coaching and Client Agreement indicate the client has read the document and has full understanding of the agreement between the client and Queer Spectrum Life Coaching, LLC. The client consents and agrees to the agreement as of the date below.