TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY SERVICES (PRIVATE PAY)

Welcome to our platform. Please read these Terms and Conditions ("Agreement") carefully before purchasing or participating in any mental health therapy services. By making a payment, you agree to be bound by this Agreement. This Agreement is between you ("Client") and the Guiding Choices /agency platform ("Company").

1. Role of the Company and Use of Independent Contractors

The Company operates as an administrative platform and facilitator. The Company does not deliver mental health therapy services directly. Instead, the Company utilizes a network of independent contractors ("Therapists and/or Life Coaches") to fulfill professional clinical services. The Company’s primary role is to facilitate the connection between the Client and the Therapist and/or Life Coach and to manage the administrative, scheduling, and billing relationship. The Therapist and/or Life Coach assigned to you is an independent contractor, and may be a partner of the Company. The Company is not responsible for the clinical judgment or specific treatment methods used by the independent contractor. Therapist and/or Life Coach and cannot be held liable for their clinical advice or treatment decisions.

2. Emergency and Crisis Contact Protocol (Not a Crisis Line)

The Company platform and its administrative infrastructure do not provide emergency services, crisis intervention, or real-time psychiatric monitoring. The platform is not a crisis hotline or a substitute for emergency medical care. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, or facing a life-threatening crisis, you must immediately:

Call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
Call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 (or your local equivalent).
Utilize established crisis text lines or local community emergency services. You acknowledge that your Therapist and/or Life Coach cannot be reached through the platform outside of scheduled sessions for immediate crisis management.

3. Privacy, Confidentiality, and HIPAA Boundaries

3.1 The Therapist’s Duty (HIPAA): If you are receiving clinical therapy, your Therapist is a licensed mental health professional bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and state licensing laws. They maintain an independent professional duty to protect your Protected Health Information (PHI). Clinical notes, diagnoses, and specific session discussions remain strictly confidential between you and your Therapist.

3.2 The Life Coach’s Duty (Standard Confidentiality): Life coaching is not a medical or clinical service, and Life Coaches are not "covered entities" under HIPAA. Therefore, information shared with a Life Coach is not legally classified as PHI. However, your Life Coach is bound by strict professional ethics and Company policy to protect your personal data and keep all session communications strictly confidential.

3.3 The Company’s Role and Access: The Company operates strictly as a technology facilitator and, where applicable, a Business Associate to the Therapist. The Company collects and accesses only the administrative data necessary to process payments, facilitate scheduling, and manage your account (e.g., your name, email, and billing details). The Company does not review, access, or store clinical treatment records, diagnoses, or session notes.

3.4 Legal Exceptions to Confidentiality: Whether you are working with a Therapist or a Life Coach, absolute confidentiality is subject to specific legal exceptions. Your provider may be legally mandated to break confidentiality and notify authorities if there is suspected abuse of a child, elder, or dependent adult, or if you present an imminent risk of serious physical harm to yourself or others.

4. Private Pay Disclosure (No Insurance)

The services offered through this platform are strictly out-of-pocket (private pay). The Company does not accept or process health insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare. By agreeing to these terms, you acknowledge that you are entirely responsible for the cost of your sessions. The Company cannot guarantee that your insurance provider will reimburse you if you attempt to submit a superbill or claim independently. You are advised to check with your insurance provider regarding out-of-network mental health benefits prior to beginning treatment.

5. Scope of Service and No Guarantees of Results

The Company itself cannot guarantee specific therapeutic outcomes, symptom reduction, or psychological breakthroughs. Mental health treatment and/or life coaching services are a highly individualized process that depends heavily on active client participation and factors beyond the control of the Company.

6. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Company, its officers, directors, employees, and affiliates shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to the clinical services. This includes, but is not limited to, any specific actions, omissions, clinical advice, treatment plans, errors, or negligence provided by the independent contractor. You agree that your sole recourse for dissatisfaction with the matching or administrative services is outlined in Section 7 of this Agreement.

7. Recourse for Dissatisfaction with Matching or Administrative Services

7.1 Scope of Recourse: This section governs your exclusive remedies for dissatisfaction regarding the Company's platform, administrative support, and Therapist matching process. As stipulated in Section 6, this recourse does not apply to dissatisfaction with the clinical services, advice, or treatment plans provided by the independent contractor Therapist and/or Life Coach.

7.2 Re-Matching Services: If you are dissatisfied with the Therapist and/or Life Coach assigned to you, your primary recourse is to request a new Therapist and/or Life Coach match. The Company will provide a re-match at no additional administrative cost. You must submit this request directly through the Company’s platform prior to booking your next session.

7.3 Prorated Refunds and Credits: If, following your written request, the Company is unable to facilitate a suitable Therapist and/or Life Coach re-match prior to your next scheduled session, you may request a prorated refund or account credit for any unused, prepaid sessions. Refunds are strictly limited to the value of unused sessions; no refunds will be issued for completed clinical sessions.

7.4 Administrative and Billing Errors: In the event of an administrative failure—such as a billing overcharge, platform outage, or failure to process an authorized payment—the Company’s sole obligation is to correct the billing error or restore platform access within a reasonable timeframe.

7.5 Notice Requirement: To invoke the remedies outlined in this section, you must notify the Company in writing via email at: info@guidingchoices.com within seven (7) days of the dispute or matching issue arising. Failure to report the issue within this timeframe waives your right to these specific remedies.

8. Billing, Invoicing, and Payment Structure

All billing, invoicing, and payments must be processed directly through the Company's website or authorized payment processors. The Client is strictly prohibited from paying the Therapist and/or Life Coach directly for any services. By purchasing, you are paying for the specific number of sessions or treatment package outlined on the payment page. Any requests for extra clinical sessions, crisis check-ins, or expanded communication parameters must be negotiated and processed directly through the Company platform, not with the Therapist and/or Life Coach.

9. Transition of Care and Platform Circumvention

The Company supports your right to continuity of care and your right to choose your mental health provider. However, the Company invests significant resources in recruiting, vetting, and matching Clients with independent contractor Therapists.

If you and your Therapist mutually decide to transition your care off the Company platform to their private practice, you agree to notify the Company in writing. You acknowledge that your Therapist is subject to a separate independent contractor agreement with the Company, which may require them to pay a referral or transition fee to the Company to move your care off-platform.

Any services conducted outside of the Company platform are strictly between you and the Therapist. You agree that once you transition off-platform, the Company will no longer provide administrative support, scheduling assistance, dispute resolution, or billing services, and the Company is completely released from any liability regarding your future care.

10. Non-Circumvention and Anti-Poaching (Life Coaching Services Only)

10.1 Scope of Application: The restrictive covenants in this section apply exclusively to Clients receiving non-clinical Life Coaching services. This section does not apply to Clients receiving licensed mental health therapy.

10.2 Non-Circumvention: The Company invests substantial time, effort, and financial resources into recruiting, vetting, and matching Clients with qualified independent contractor Life Coaches. By utilizing our platform, you agree that during the term of your active engagement, and for a continuous period of twenty-four (24) months immediately following the completion of your final coaching session, you will not directly or indirectly hire, contract with, or engage your assigned Life Coach for any professional services outside of the Company platform.

10.3 Prohibition of Direct Payment: All scheduling and payments for Life Coaching must be routed exclusively through the Company platform. You are strictly prohibited from soliciting private rates or rendering direct payment to the Life Coach under any circumstances.

10.4 Material Breach: Attempting to bypass the Company platform to engage your assigned Life Coach privately constitutes a material breach of this Agreement. In the event of such a breach, the Company reserves the right to immediately terminate your access to the platform and pursue available legal and financial remedies for lost business revenue.

11. Scheduling, Cancellations, and No-Show Policy

11.1 The 48-Hour Cancellation Window: Your appointment time is reserved exclusively for you. If you need to cancel or reschedule a session, you must notify your Therapist and/or Life Coach through the platform at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the scheduled start time. If proper notice is provided, your session credit will be preserved, and you may reschedule without penalty.

11.2 Late Cancellations: If you cancel or request to reschedule with less than forty-eight (48) hours' notice, you will forfeit that prepaid session. Because this clinical or coaching time block was reserved specifically for you and cannot be easily filled on short notice, no refunds or credits will be issued for late cancellations, except in the case of a verified, unforeseeable medical emergency.

11.3 No-Shows: If you fail to attend a scheduled session and do not contact your Therapist and/or Life Coach in advance, it is considered a "no-show." No-shows result in the immediate forfeiture of that session. The session will not be refunded or rescheduled.

11.4 Therapist and/or Life Coach Absence: In the rare event that your Therapist and/or Life Coach must cancel or miss a scheduled session, you will not be penalized. The Therapist and/or Life Coach will work with you to reschedule the appointment promptly, or the missed session will be credited back to your balance of prepaid sessions.