Informed Consent to Therapy

Last updated: 1 June 2026

A note on the form. This is the canonical version of the consent form, available here so you can read it at your own pace before therapy begins. When you start therapy, Megan will share a copy via Cliniko's intake forms for you to sign electronically — or, on request, send you a PDF to sign and return. You do not need to sign anything here.

1. About this form

Informed consent is the foundation of ethical therapy. This document explains:

• What therapy with Megan involves;
• The benefits and risks you should know about before you begin;
• The limits of confidentiality;
• Your rights as a client;
• Modality-specific information for EMDR and Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy (PGDT).

It should be read alongside the Terms of Service, which covers fees, scheduling, and the practical contract between us, and the Privacy Policy, which explains how your personal data is handled.

2. The nature of therapy

Therapy is a collaborative process. Megan brings training, evidence-based methods, and her experience as a clinician and researcher; you bring your goals, your history, and your willingness to engage with the work. The therapeutic relationship is itself a key part of the process.

Megan's approach is integrative, solution-focused, non-judgemental, and direct. The main modalities she draws on are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy (PGDT). She will match the method to the person and the moment, rather than asking the person to fit a single approach. You will be told which method is being proposed and why, and have the opportunity to ask questions before agreeing.

Sessions are typically 50 minutes and take place online via Cliniko's secure telehealth video platform.

3. Potential benefits

Many people who engage with therapy report meaningful improvements in their lives. Benefits commonly include:

• A clearer understanding of what is troubling you and where it has come from.
• Reduction in symptoms such as anxiety, low mood, grief, or distressing memories.
• Better tools for managing difficult emotions, thoughts, and life situations.
• A stronger sense of what you value and a renewed capacity to act on it.

Outcomes vary between individuals. No specific outcome can be guaranteed.

4. Potential risks and discomfort

Therapy is often uncomfortable before it is helpful. You should be aware that:

• Talking about difficult experiences may bring up distressing emotions, memories, or body sensations during or between sessions.
• You may experience temporary increases in anxiety, fatigue, vivid dreams, or emotional sensitivity, especially during periods of trauma-focused work.
• Change can affect existing relationships — sometimes for the better, sometimes raising questions you had not anticipated.
• The pace of therapy may need to be adjusted depending on how you are coping. You will always be invited to slow down, pause, or take a session off if needed.

Megan will work with you to ensure appropriate stabilisation and coping resources are in place before any deeper trauma-processing work begins.

5. Confidentiality and its limits

What you share in therapy is confidential. Megan will not disclose information about you or about what is discussed in session without your explicit consent, except in the following circumstances where the law or her professional duty requires disclosure:

• Serious risk to your life or someone else's: where Megan judges there is an imminent risk of harm to you or to another identifiable person, she may share information with relevant authorities (your GP, emergency services, the police). Wherever possible she will discuss this with you first.
• Safeguarding of a child or vulnerable adult: under the Children Act 1989/2004, Care Act 2014, and Mental Capacity Act 2005, Megan may disclose to social services or the police without your consent where there is reasonable concern of abuse, neglect, or harm.
• Disclosures concerning acts of terrorism, drug-trafficking, or other serious crime: required by the Terrorism Act 2000 and Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• Court order: if compelled by a court order or formal subpoena.
• Crown Prosecution Service requests: if you are a victim or witness in criminal proceedings, therapy notes may be sought as a "reasonable line of inquiry" under current CPS guidance (May 2022). See §8 for more detail.
• Clinical supervision: Megan discusses her clinical work in supervision as required by her professional bodies, using anonymised details only. No identifying information is shared.

6. Records and data

Megan keeps brief written notes after each session, securely held in Cliniko (a UK GDPR-compliant practice-management system). These notes support continuity of care and are governed in detail by the Privacy Policy.

Records are retained for 8 years from the date of your last session, in line with NHS and BABCP guidance. For clients who were under 18 at the time of therapy, records are retained until age 25.

You have the right to request a copy of your records at any time. Megan retains ownership of the notes; you have the right to see them and discuss them with her.

7. Memory and EMDR / trauma work

It is important to understand the following before consenting to EMDR or other trauma-focused work:

• All human memory is fallible. Memories recalled, revisited, or processed in therapy may include elements that are unclear, incomplete, or inaccurate. The therapeutic focus is on emotional healing, not on establishing factual accuracy.
• EMDR does not erase memories. It aims to help them become less distressing and more manageable. Memories worked on in EMDR may continue to evolve in how they are recalled and described afterwards.
• Distressing material may arise between sessions — emotions, body sensations, dreams. This is a normal part of processing and usually settles; Megan will discuss with you in advance how to manage between-session distress.

8. Legal proceedings — important

If you are involved in any current or anticipated legal proceedings (criminal or civil) where your memory of events may be relevant as evidence — for example, you are a witness or complainant in a criminal case, a party to a personal-injury claim, or involved in family-court proceedings — you must inform Megan before therapy begins, and especially before any EMDR or trauma-focused work.

You should be aware that:

• EMDR and trauma processing may alter how memories are experienced, recalled, or described, which could have implications for legal proceedings.
• If you are a victim or witness in criminal proceedings, therapy notes may be required by the police or Crown Prosecution Service as a "reasonable line of inquiry," potentially without your consent. Any material from therapy would only be disclosed to the defence if it might reasonably undermine the prosecution case or assist the defence.
• Megan will discuss with you whether EMDR (or trauma-focused work generally) is appropriate at this time or whether it should be deferred until after legal proceedings conclude.
• Current Crown Prosecution Service guidance (May 2022) is that therapy should not generally be delayed because of criminal proceedings — your wellbeing is paramount. However, you should make an informed choice about the timing.

9. Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy (PGDT) — additional information

If you are starting the PGDT programme, you should additionally know:

• PGDT is a 16-session manualised treatment developed at Columbia University specifically for grief that has become stuck or disabling. It is more structured than open-ended grief therapy.
• The programme involves deliberately revisiting the story of the loss and engaging with both the painful and the meaningful, at a pace you can tolerate. This work can be emotionally demanding.
• PGDT pairs the structured protocol with the relational depth grief work requires. Megan trained in PGDT at Columbia in 2020 and is a co-author on the 2025 Cambridge University Press paper evaluating PGDT in NHS Talking Therapies.
• We will jointly assess whether PGDT is the right approach at the start, and review progress regularly throughout. If at any point a different approach seems more appropriate, we will discuss it.

10. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Ask questions at any time about anything in therapy.
• Pause or stop therapy at any point, without giving a reason. A closing session is strongly encouraged — particularly after trauma work — to consolidate the work and end safely.
• Request a different approach, or a different therapist, at any time.
• Decline any specific intervention (e.g. EMDR, between-session homework, an assessment instrument) and discuss alternatives.
• Withdraw consent for any aspect of the work, at any time.
• Access your records (see §6 and the Privacy Policy §8).

Withdrawing consent does not retrospectively un-do work already done; the limits on retention of clinical records (§6) still apply.

11. What you are confirming

When you sign the consent form Megan provides you at the start of therapy, you confirm that:

1. The nature, purpose, benefits, and risks of therapy with Megan have been explained to you.
2. You have had the opportunity to ask questions and have them answered satisfactorily.
3. You understand the limits of confidentiality (§5) and the implications for any legal proceedings (§8).
4. You understand that outcomes cannot be guaranteed.
5. You consent to Megan collecting, storing, and using your personal and health information as set out in the Privacy Policy — including the use of Cliniko as the practice's record-keeping and telehealth system, with its servers in the EU (Ireland) and parent company in Australia.
6. You consent to Megan, where she judges it necessary for safety, contacting your GP or relevant authorities.
7. You consent to the Clinical Continuity Plan (Terms §10): in the event of Megan becoming unable to run the practice, a trusted UK-registered colleague (the "Clinical Agent") may contact you to help with transitioning your care and arranging the secure transfer or destruction of your records.
8. You give your free and voluntary consent to begin therapy with Megan.

You may withdraw any of these consents at any time by emailing hello@megancolletta.com. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of any processing already carried out.

12. Questions before you begin

If anything in this consent form is unclear, please raise it in your free consultation or before signing. Megan would much rather answer a question now than discover later that something was not properly understood.

You can email questions any time to hello@megancolletta.com.