Therapy Agreement

Therapist: Marika Marsh

This document outlines how I offer therapy and what you can expect from working with me. It also explains your responsibilities as a client. Please read it carefully and ask about anything that isn’t clear.

By booking and attending sessions, you are agreeing to these terms.

1. Nature of the service

I offer psychological therapy to adults using evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT).

Therapy is a collaborative process. I will not tell you what to do, but I will work with you to understand what you are experiencing and support you in making changes that feel right for you.

Therapy is not an emergency or crisis service.

2. Confidentiality and its limits

What you share in sessions is treated as confidential. I will not normally share information about you with anyone else without your consent.

However, there are specific situations where I may need to break confidentiality:

If I believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm
If there is a safeguarding concern regarding a child or vulnerable adult
If I am required by a court of law to disclose information
If information about serious criminal activity emerges

Where possible, I will always try to discuss this with you before sharing any information.

I also discuss my work in clinical supervision to ensure you receive good quality care. I do not usually use your full name in supervision, and identifying details are minimised.

For more detail on how your information is stored and used, please see my Privacy Policy.

3. Session length, frequency and location

Sessions last 50-60 minutes.
We will usually meet online weekly, unless we agree otherwise.
Sessions will take place online using Microsoft Teams.

Consistency helps therapy be effective, but we can review timing and frequency as we go.

4. Fees and payment

My fee is £50 per session.
Fees are payable on the day of the session by bank transfer.
If fees are not paid when due, I may pause further sessions until payment is received.

If we agree a block of sessions in advance, I will confirm how and when these should be paid.

5. Cancellations, missed sessions and lateness

Your session time is reserved for you.

If you need to cancel or reschedule, please give at least 24 hours’ notice.
- With more than 24 hours’ notice, no fee is charged and I will try to offer an alternative time where possible.
Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice, or non-attendance without notice, are normally charged at the full session fee.
If I am late or need to cancel due to illness or an emergency, I will let you know as soon as I can and offer a new appointment. If you have already paid for that session, I will either transfer the payment to the new date or refund it.

If you are late to a session, we will usually still finish at the scheduled time and the full fee will apply.

6. Refunds

I aim to be straightforward and fair about refunds:

Sessions you have attended are non-refundable.
Late cancellations and missed sessions (inside the 24-hour window) are normally non-refundable, because I cannot offer that time to someone else at short notice.
If you have prepaid for a block of sessions and you decide to stop therapy:
- I will refund any unused sessions that are cancelled with more than 24 hours’ notice, minus any transaction charges where applicable.
If I need to stop offering therapy (for example due to illness or a change in circumstances), I will refund any prepaid, unused sessions in full.
In exceptional circumstances (for example serious illness or bereavement), I may use my discretion to waive fees or offer refunds even if the usual notice period has not been met.

No refunds are offered on the basis of specific outcomes not being achieved. Therapy is a process and I cannot guarantee a particular result.

7. Contact between sessions

You are welcome to contact me between sessions for administrative reasons only (for example, to arrange or change appointments).

Please use email for this.
I aim to respond within 1–2 working days, but I cannot always reply immediately.

I am not able to provide crisis support between sessions. If you are in crisis or feel unable to keep yourself safe:

Contact 999, attend your local A&E, or
Contact your local NHS crisis team, or
Call Samaritans on 116 123 (free, 24/7) in the UK.

8. Online and telephone sessions

If we agree to work online or by telephone:

Please ensure you are in a private, quiet space where you are unlikely to be overheard or interrupted.
Check you have a stable internet/phone connection and your device is charged.
If the connection fails, I will attempt to reconnect. If we cannot reconnect, I will contact you to rearrange or discuss options.
Please let me know where you are located at the start of online sessions, in case of emergency.

Online therapy has some limitations compared to in-person work; I will discuss these with you if relevant to your situation.

9. Record keeping and data protection

I keep brief notes after sessions to support our work together. These notes may include themes we discussed, key events, and plans for future sessions.

Notes and personal information are stored securely and separately from public-facing systems.
I keep information for no longer than necessary, in line with professional and legal requirements (see my Privacy Policy for details).

You have rights over your personal data (such as access and correction), subject to legal and ethical limits. Please see my Privacy Policy for more information.

10. Ending therapy

You can choose to end therapy at any time. Where possible, I recommend we have at least one planned ending session to review our work and think about your next steps.

There may also be times when I suggest we consider ending or pausing therapy—for example:

If we both feel you have achieved what you came for
If we agree that a different kind of support would be more helpful for you
If you have not attended sessions for a period of time

In rare cases, I may decide to end therapy if:

There is ongoing non-payment of fees
There are repeated late cancellations or missed sessions
There is behaviour that is threatening, abusive or makes it unsafe to continue

If I end therapy, I will explain my reasons and, where appropriate, signpost you to other sources of support.

11. Complaints or concerns

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our work together, please raise it with me if you feel able—I welcome feedback and will do my best to address your concerns.

If we cannot resolve the issue and you wish to take it further, I will provide information about any relevant professional or regulatory bodies you can contact.

12. Agreement

By booking and attending sessions with me, you confirm that:

You have read and understood this Therapy Agreement (or asked about anything you were unsure of), and
You agree to the terms set out above.