Coaching Services Agreement

This document is a contract between, you and your coach, Christie Ellis, of Phoenix Story Coaching, LLC. (“I”). 

The services being provided are coaching sessions designed jointly with you. The coaching commitment is as follows:

• Six months (24 weeks) of weekly individual sessions
• Individual sessions are 45-60 minutes in duration
• Coaching sessions are conducted by phone or through video conference, although local clients may wish to meet face-to-face (post pandemic).
• Brief calls, e-mails, and texts between sessions are appropriate, and we might send out resources that support your development
• You agree to give 24 hours-notice if you need to cancel or change the time of an appointment. Otherwise, after the second such incident, all future cancellations will be forfeit. I agree that every effort will be made to reschedule a session when it is cancelled in a timely manner.
• At times, assessment tools may be recommended to facilitate a client’s goals. Many are free, though some require testing fees.  Any such fee would be discussed in advance and such assessment is always optional.
• Pauses in coaching are not permitted, except in extenuating circumstances at the coach’s discretion, or by prearrangement (we understand holidays and vacations!).

Coaching vs. Counseling

While there are similarities between coaching and counseling, they are very different activities, and it is important that you understand the differences between them. Counseling is a health care service focused on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This is not true for coaching.

Both coaching and counseling utilize knowledge of human behavior, motivation and behavioral change, and interactive helping techniques. The major differences between coaching and counseling are in the goals, focus, and level of professional responsibility.

The focus of coaching with Phoenix Story Coaching, LLC is development and implementation of strategies to reach client-identified goals of enhanced performance.  It utilizes positive psychology – the science of human flourishing. Coaching may address specific personal projects, life balance, job performance and satisfaction, or general conditions in the client’s life, career, or business. Coaching utilizes personal strategic planning, values clarification, brainstorming, motivational techniques, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other helping techniques.

The focus of counseling is identification, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and nervous disorders. The goals of counseling include alleviating symptoms, understanding the underlying dynamics which create symptoms, and changing dysfunctional behaviors which are the result of these disorders.

The relationship between the coach and client is specifically designed to avoid the power differentials that occur in the counseling relationship. The coaching client sets the agenda and the success of the enterprise depends on the client’s willingness to take risks and try new approaches.

No information in my coaching services is intended or implied to be a substitute for professional mental health, medical, or legal advice or is meant to replace any of these professional relationships. I recommend that you consult a qualified professional prior to utilizing any of the information provided by me during any of my coaching services.

Confidentiality

If you report or appear, in my professional opinion, to be at imminent risk to harm yourself, or you make threats of imminent violence against someone else or property, I will report to the proper authorities to take protective actions, though I am not a mandatory reporter.

As your coach I am ethically bound to protect the confidentiality of our communications and will do so. I will only release information about our work to others with your written permission or in response to a court order. These situations are quite rare in coaching practices. If such a situation occurs in our relationship, I will make every effort to discuss it with you before taking any action.

Accepting this agreement is your acknowledgement that you understand this right to confidentiality, and also the reasons I may disclose confidential information.

By accepting this agreement, you consent that I may disclose your contact information and the dates and times of our work together only to the ICF (International Coaching Federation) as a part of my Client Coaching Log.  My Client Coaching Log is used to confirm the hours I have worked as a coach as a part of my compliance with the ICF Code of Ethics and Standards.