Online therapy consent clause generator
Bolt-on wording for your counselling agreement covering remote sessions, tech failures, recording and safety.
Your clause (151 words)
Online sessions
We meet by video, using Zoom. Please join from somewhere private where you can speak freely; headphones help, and it is worth thinking about who else is within earshot.
If the video drops twice, I will call you on the number I hold and we will finish the session by phone.
At the start of each session I will ask where you are, so that if you ever needed urgent help I would know where to send it. For online work I keep your address, an emergency contact and your GP's details on file, and I will check they are current from time to time.
Neither of us records sessions without the other's written agreement.
My practice is set up for clients living in the UK. If you are travelling or moving abroad, tell me before our next session so we can check whether we can work while you are away.
The line most templates miss
It is the location check. A practitioner cannot summon help to an address they do not hold, and in a genuine mid-session emergency, “somewhere in their flat, I think” is not an answer an ambulance service can use. That is why the clause asks where the client is at the start of each session and why the emergency information line exists alongside it. Insurers and safeguarding trainers care about this one more than everything else in the clause combined, and most free templates online do not mention it at all.
The cross-border line matters for a duller reason: professional indemnity insurance is typically written for clients resident in the UK, and a client who quietly relocates abroad mid-therapy can move the work outside your cover without either of you noticing. The clause does not claim what any policy covers, because policies differ; it creates the conversation, and your insurer answers the question.
Confidentiality online is a shared job. In your room, privacy is your responsibility; on a video call, half of it belongs to the client, which is why the clause asks them to join from somewhere private. Headphones are the practical fix worth suggesting: they halve the audible conversation instantly.
The whole clause stays under 250 words on purpose, and it slots under the session-format section of the counselling agreement, or carries across automatically with the button above.
Frequently asked questions
Bloom handles the video session itself: the link goes out with the booking confirmation and reminder, so the plan in your clause and the plumbing behind it come from the same place.