policies & Procedures (terms & Conditions)
Welcome to my coaching and peer support practice! It’s an honor to be part of your healing journey. I want to take this time to outline my process, disclosures, expectations, and policies.
Process
I am Patrice Riley, your Coach. If we are working together on your personal healing journey, it’s important that you know that I don’t think anything is wrong with or broken about you. As someone healing from complex trauma myself, I believe you are having normal reactions to abnormal circumstances. Anything that you’re experiencing – whether it’s an emotion, a belief, a somatic system, or a behavior – is your mind’s and body’s way of trying to cope with what you’ve endured. I will never pathologize, judge, or shame you for anything you are doing, thinking, feeling, or believing about yourself and others.
I also believe that you have within you the knowledge you need about how to move forward from your trauma and build a sustainable life that fulfills and nourishes you. I realize that you might not believe that about yourself right now, but I will help you to access that information inside you. I will not tell you what to do, or how to proceed on your journey because I believe you will know how to move forward with the right support. Also, I recognize that what might have worked for me may not work for you. I don’t want to direct you in any way but rather to empower you to follow your true path.
My role in your journey is to be a source of knowledge, encouragement, validation, and especially support when you feel overwhelmed and/or lost. Our relationship is one of peers. I’m not an authority figure and will not treat you as someone who has less power than I have.
Fees
My fees are as follows:
· $120 for each of the first and second 60-minute appointments, as a one-on-one session
· $140 per session for a 60-minute, one-on-one session thereafter
· $250 for a five-week group course
· $0 for monthly Free Discussion Circles
If these fees are inaccessible to you but you are interested in working together, please contact me and we can discuss whether there is an amount that is manageable for both of us.
Disclosures
Coaching may result in changes in your current relationships as well as possibly healthy changes in the types of relationships you form in the future.
Zoom is not HIPPA compliant and, therefore, I cannot guarantee, with 100% certainty, that information shared through Zoom will be safe from a data breach. However, I do keep all client records secured in ways that anyone other than myself does not have access to them.
Anything that you say to me, my notes or any paperwork provided by you or your physician, mental health professional or legal representative (current or past) will be kept confidential. The only time I will break confidentiality is if I feel you are in danger of harming yourself or another person, if you report abuse to someone (see the next paragraph about my being a Mandatory Reporter), or if I receive a legal subpoena to release your records.
As a Certified Trauma Recovery Coach ™, I act as a Mandatory Reporter, as outlined by The International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching (the “Association”). This means that if I become aware that a minor, disabled person or elderly person is currently being abused, I am mandated to report the abuse to the appropriate governing agency.
Upon commencing our work together, I will add your email address to my mailing list so that you can receive periodical emails. You can opt out at any time by alerting me of your wish to be removed from the mailing list.
As a coach, I have limitations on the things we can work through in your healing journey. There are some situations I do not have the expertise to help you with. If you are in a place where there are risks to your safety – you are suicidal, significantly self-harming, experiencing an active addiction – the Association mandates that I help you find someone who is competent to deal with that issue. You do not have to stop seeing me, but we must bring in another professional who has the expertise with whatever safety issue is at hand to help you with those issues. This is called our Escalated Care Protocol. I can provide you with additional details if you have questions about this process.
Expectations
You can expect me:
· To be on time for appointments and during our sessions to be 100% focused on our time together
· To be knowledgeable about trauma and up to date on the latest research about trauma
· To be your peer and guide through our time together. I know trauma, but you know yourself. I will honor that you can guide your recovery. I will bring tools and strategies to our work so that you feel confident knowing you are “on the right path”
My expectations of you:
· Please come to sessions willing to engage with your healing journey
· Please dedicate your focus during our coaching time on our work for the entirety of the session
· Please let me know if you feel activated or triggered during a session
· Please let me know if there is something you need from me for our work together.
· Please be as open and honest with me as feels comfortable for you. This will allow our work to be as beneficial as possible. My intention is that our relationship be a safe place where you feel free from judgment
Policies and Procedures
Payment
Payment is due upon booking your appointment at www.patriceriley.com
Refunds
· If you are unable to attend a session, please let me know by twenty-four (24) hours before the appointment start time. If we are unable to reach an alternative time, I will process your refund within thirty (30) days
· If you choose to cancel an appointment by twenty-four (24) hours before the appointment start time and do not reschedule, I will process your full refund within thirty (30) days
· If you cancel within twenty-four (24) hours of a booked personal coaching appointment or do not show up to it, you will not be refunded your payment
· If you register for a multi-session workshop, seminar, or paid class and decide not to continue to attend after attending the initial session, you will not be entitled to a refund. If a refund is given, it will be at my sole discretion, and it will be pro-rated according to the number of sessions remaining minus any fees involved with the refund
Please adhere to the "Guidelines for Safe & Neuro-Affirming Spaces" that you’ll agree to when signing up. If these guidelines are not respected and you are asked to leave a session or program, you are not automatically entitled to a refund . If a refund is given, it will be at my sole discretion, and it will be pro-rated according to the number of sessions remaining minus any fees involved with the refund.
Crisis Response
I do not provide crisis resources outside of client sessions. If you find yourself in crisis and you live in the United States, you can access RAINN’s Crisis Line (1-800-656-4673) or their online chat feature. You may also reach out to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. The National Suicide Hotline is available at 1-800-273-8255. If you do not live in the United States, I can help you locate crisis resources in your country.
Communication Outside of Sessions
You may email me outside of session whenever you like and as often as you like. I regret that I may not be able to respond to every email you may send but that is my goal. I will make every effort to read emails before our next session.
Appointment Cancellation
Please cancel a Coaching session at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to that session’s start time. If you do not do so, or if you fail to show to our appointment with less than twenty-four (24) hours’ advance notice, my refund policies, as stated above, will apply. I have set aside this hour for you and if you do not cancel with at least twenty-four (24) hours’ notice, or at all, I am unable to fill that time with someone else. If you repeatedly fail to cancel our sessions with over twenty-four (24) hours’ notice, this may result in my terminating our coaching relationship, in which case any prepaid fees would be refunded within thirty (30) days.
Alcohol or Drugs
Please do not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs during our coaching sessions. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to have a session worth the devotion of either of our time or energy when you are under the influence. If you are struggling with any substance abuse issues, I welcome you to let me know so we can talk about it and work to get you any help you might need. If you repeatedly come to a session under the influence but don’t tell me or fail to acknowledge that you are impaired if I ask you whether you are, this may result in my ending our coaching relationship, in which case any prepaid fees would be refunded within thirty (30) days.
Bringing a Third Person into Sessions
Please don’t bring anyone into a coaching session (spouse, parent, friend) without first discussing it with me. We need to discuss your confidentiality and goals before a third party is brought into a coaching session.
Cell Phone Usage
Please turn off your cell phone or leave it in another room during coaching sessions, unless you are using your phone to participate in the session (using Facetime or Zoom).
Grievance Procedure
I am required to let you know that I am a Trauma Recovery Coach certified by The International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching. As a Trauma Recovery Coach I am bound to uphold the Association’s Code of Ethics.
If at any time you feel I have failed to abide by the Association’s Code of Ethics or wronged you in another way, you are welcome to contact our Professional Standards Committee at Grievance@iaotrc.com. You will be sent a grievance form to complete and submit. All reports and grievance actions are held confidential by the Professional Standards Committee.