Counselling agreement generator

A counselling agreement is not legally required, but it is expected. BACP’s Ethical Framework asks for clear contracting before work begins, and insurers effectively require a written agreement the moment a dispute involves money. The version this page builds is deliberately written at a reading age of about 12, because the person reading it may be anxious, in a waiting room, or both, and a contract nobody understood protects nobody.

Have it signed before or at the first session. The fee and the cancellation policy apply from the first appointment, so they need to be agreed before it happens. If you use Bloom, this is automatic: when you add a new client, your agreement goes out for e-signature as part of onboarding, and the signed copy is stored against the client.

The confidentiality section is the part you cannot edit here, on purpose. Most free templates online fudge the limits of confidentiality, either promising absolute secrecy that no UK therapist can offer, or listing vague exceptions that unsettle clients without informing them. The four exceptions in this agreement are the real ones: serious risk of harm, safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, court orders, and the narrow statutory disclosure duties around drug-trafficking and terrorism-related money. The supervision sentence stays in too, because discussing anonymised work in supervision is a professional requirement, not a breach.

The retention line says records are kept for up to 7 years because that is what professional indemnity insurers commonly require, not because a law names that figure. If your insurer or professional body asks for something different, change it, and then actually delete when the period passes. The GDPR self-assessment covers this and the rest of your data obligations.