The Service Agreement 
THE SERVICE AGREEMENT (Updated on 1st April 2025)
This Service Agreement between the Client (yourself) and your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor will be valid for the duration of your engagement with Prism Counselling and will apply to all the services availed of by you including, but not limited to, individual counselling/psychotherapy/life-coaching/mentoring, couple or marital counselling/therapy/life-coaching, family therapy and any personality/mental state assessments or tests you may undertake with Prism.
Definitions and descriptions of services offered viz Counselling, Psychotherapy, Life-Coaching and Mentoring can be found on the FAQs page of the Prism Counselling website https://prismcounselling.com/faqs/. It is recommended that the Client reviews this page to understand the similarities and differences between Counselling, Life-Coaching and Mentoring.
Please read the terms and conditions of this Agreement and confirm your acceptance:
1) Scope of Services: The types of issues Prism Counselling helps clients with are usually everyday personal or professional life issues such as stress, anxiety or burnout, inter-personal relationships, workplace challenges, personal growth, career growth, self-awareness, self-development, etc. The Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/Life Coach/ Mentor may choose to adopt an integrative approach incorporating different evidence-based tools and techniques of counselling, psychotherapy, life-coaching or mentoring with the single-minded purpose of helping and supporting you and for achieving any session goals or future goals that would have been mutually agreed and set. The Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor will explain and discuss their approach with you from time to time.
We currently do not provide medical or clinical counselling or psychiatric treatments. In case a client needs such specialised help, your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor will refer you to an appropriate professional.
2) Code of Ethics: Your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor agrees to adhere to and maintain the ethics and standards of behaviours established by the International Coaching Federation, the International Mentoring Centre and the ethics & standards followed by professional Counsellors and Psychotherapists. These Codes of Ethics are widely available on the internet should you wish to review them.
3) Confidentiality: The counselling/ psychotherapy/ life-coaching/ mentoring session will be conducted under strict confidentiality adhering to the global code of ethics and standards of the professions. Your identity or the details of the in-session discussions will not be disclosed to anyone unless certain exceptional circumstances prevail that require breach of confidentiality as explained in Clause 4 below. You may or may not be informed in advance in the rare event that there is a need to break confidentiality.
4) Breach of Confidentiality: Exceptional circumstances under which the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor will need to inform a doctor, a responsible person in your family, your organisation or any other appropriate entity are:
- If the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor believes you are at risk of seriously harming yourself, injuring someone else or at serious risk of being harmed by someone else
- If during the session, it becomes evident that you have committed or intend to commit a crime such as robbery, child abuse, sexual abuse, murder or terrorism
5) Maintaining Records: Detailed records of your sessions, as well as any homework assignments or self-reflection tasks that you may have submitted, will be stored confidentially by your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor and will be destroyed responsibly as per the profession’s Code of Ethics.
6) Disclosure: It is always advisable to be completely honest with your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor so that they may serve you to the best of their abilities and you can maximise your potential benefits from their services. In addition to full and honest sharing in each interaction, it is critical that you share the following information (if relevant) with your Counsellor /Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor:
- any past experience you may have of counselling, psychotherapy, life-coaching or mentoring
- any medications you may be taking currently or have done in the recent past:
- any mental health issue you may have – whether or not you have had treatment for it in the past
- any family history of mental health illness
- if you are being physically abused by someone or fear for your safety
- if you have suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harm
7) Modes of Communication: You can avail counselling/ psychotherapy/ life-coaching/ mentoring through various modes: (a) in-person sessions at a mutually agreed location and/ or (b) via an audio/video online platform such as Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet, etc. You can discuss and agree with your Counsellor /Psychotherapist / Life Coach/ Mentor your preferred mode of communication, which may change from one session to the next.
8) Duration of Session: Each session will be of 45-60 minutes duration. If the session is shorter than 30 minutes due to delay or any other issue at the Client’s end, the full session fee will be charged. However, if your counsellor/ psychotherapist/ life-coach/ mentor is responsible for the shorter duration (less than 30 minutes), you can request for a proportionate refund of fee.
9) Fee Structure: The fee for a 45-60m session is as per prevailing rates mentioned on the Prism Counselling website https://prismcounselling.com/counselling-fees/ or as mutually agreed with your counsellor/coach/mentor.
10) Payment: Payment is due in advance of an agreed session and can be made using one of the following methods:
- Cheque in favour of Prism Counselling
- Online bank transfer to Prism Counselling as per bank details below:
- Account Name Prism Counselling
- Account number 165205000108
- IFSC code ICIC0001652
- SWIFT code ICICINBBCTS (for foreign currency remittances)
- Bank name ICICI BANK LIMITED
- Bank branch GOLF COURSE ROAD BRANCH
11) Referral: If your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor believes that a psychiatrist, doctor or some other professional would be better placed to help you, he/she will suggest a referral and will support you through the transition to another professional, as needed. If the client desires to switch to only in-person sessions and the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor is unable to provide them, Client will be fully supported through the referral and transition process.
12) Planned/Unplanned Breaks: Your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor may be on leave from time to time and if so, will give adequate notice to you. Similarly, you will need to give advance notice to your Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor if you need to take a break from sessions for a few days owing to a holiday or some commitments or other reasons. If you cancel or miss a session without sufficient notice, the full session fee will have to be paid by you. If the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor misses a session without prior notice to you, you will not be charged for that session.
13) Continuity: Once you have signed up for professional services with Prism Counselling, you will have the same Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor for all your sessions so you can gain maximum benefit from their services.
14) Dissatisfaction with Services: If at some point Client is dissatisfied with their Counsellor / Psychotherapist / Life Coach / Mentor, they may discuss this with them providing reasons for dissatisfaction. If the Client desires to terminate their services, and would like a referral to another Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor, they will be fully supported through the closure, referral and transition process.
15) Termination: Either the Client or the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor may terminate this Agreement at any time with a 2-week written notice. Client agrees to compensate the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor for all services rendered through and including the effective date of termination of the professional relationship. Similarly, Client will be refunded any dues by the Counsellor/ Psychotherapist/ Life Coach/ Mentor effective the termination date.
16) Dispute Resolution: If a dispute arises out of this Agreement that cannot be resolved by mutual consent, the Client and Counsellor / Psychotherapist / Life Coach / Mentor, agree to attempt to mediate in good faith for up to 30 days after notice is given. If the dispute is not so resolved, legal action may be taken as explained in Clause 17 below.
17) Legislation: This agreement will be governed and construed in accordance with prevalent laws in India in NCR. In case of any conflicts between the 2 parties Client (yourself) and your Counsellor/Psychotherapist / Life Coach/Mentor, the legal frameworks in NCR, India will be used to manage or resolve such conflicts.
I agree to the terms and conditions of this Service Agreement.
Name: ___________________________________________
Signature: ______________________________
Date: _____________________
