Therapy Terms of Service

Last updated: 1 June 2026

1. About these terms

These Therapy Terms ("Terms") apply to the psychotherapy and assessment services ("the Services") provided by Megan D. Colletta, LCSW ("Megan", "the practice", "we", "us", "our") to you ("you", "the client"). The practice operates online only, across the United Kingdom, from a base in Devon.

Please read these Terms carefully. By booking a session — whether a free 20-minute consultation or a paid therapy session — you confirm that you have read, understood, and accept these Terms. If you have questions about anything in this document, please raise them before your first paid session.

Our Privacy Policy and Consent Form form part of the agreement between us and should be read alongside these Terms.

2. Professional information

Megan is:

• Registered with Social Work England (#SW116081) as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
• BABCP member (#170506) — the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies.
• A member of BAMBA (British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches).
• Holds an active Licensed Clinical Social Worker license in California, USA (#88637). Her private practice is currently focused on UK clients.

Megan adheres to the codes of conduct and ethics of Social Work England (socialworkengland.org.uk/standards) and BABCP (babcp.com/Standards). All practitioners registered with Social Work England must continue to demonstrate compliance with the published standards of conduct, performance, and ethics in order to maintain their registration.

Megan is also a Senior Clinical Research Therapist at the University of Exeter Mood Disorders Centre and may, separately from her private practice, be involved in research activities. Your private-practice work is entirely independent of any research and you are never part of any study without explicit, separate consent.

3. Initial consultation

Before starting a course of therapy, Megan offers a free 20-minute online consultation. The purpose is for both of us to find out whether working together would be a good fit. During the consultation, Megan will ask you briefly about what brings you to therapy, what (if anything) you have tried before, and what you hope therapy will help you do. By the end you should have a clearer sense of whether you wish to continue.

The consultation is not therapy and does not commit you to booking a course of sessions. If Megan considers that she is not the right person for your situation, she will say so and, where possible, suggest where else to look.

4. Sessions

4.1 Length

Standard therapy sessions are 50 minutes. The first paid session is a longer assessment session (typically 60 minutes), during which Megan will gather a fuller history and develop a shared treatment plan with you.

If you arrive late, Megan will wait for you for up to 20 minutes and contact you by email. If you join within that time you will be seen for the remainder of your appointment but the session will end at the originally scheduled time so as not to disrupt clients who follow.

4.2 Frequency

Therapy sessions are typically weekly or fortnightly. Frequency can be discussed and revised at any point. Some structured programmes — including the 16-session Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy (PGDT) protocol — work best at a fixed weekly cadence.

If you have not booked a follow-up appointment within two weeks of your last session, Megan may need to reallocate your standing slot to another client. Please let her know if you wish to take a planned break from therapy.

4.3 Format

Sessions take place online via Cliniko's secure telehealth video platform. Weekly in-person sessions are available in Topsham, at Dart Business Park, Topsham Road, Exeter EX3 0QH. There are no home visits.

The cancellation policy in section 6, including the 48 hours' notice, applies to in-person and online sessions alike.

A few practical points for online sessions:

• You will join via a unique secure link emailed in your booking confirmation. Keep the email; the link is reusable for recurring appointments.
• You are responsible for being in a private, quiet, and uninterrupted space for the duration of the session. If you are not in such a space and Megan does not feel comfortable proceeding, she may end the session early; in that case the full session fee will still apply.
• No other person should be present (in the room or listening in) without Megan's prior agreement.
• Sessions must not be recorded — by either party — without explicit prior consent. Recording without consent is a serious breach of these Terms and may end the therapeutic relationship.
• Cliniko's video platform is HIPAA- and UK GDPR-compliant. Notwithstanding this, no online platform is risk-free; by booking you accept that some residual risk exists when using video software (see the Privacy Policy for full detail).

5. Therapeutic approach and modalities

Megan's approach is integrative. The main modalities she draws on are:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) — Megan is a BABCP member (#170506).
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) — Megan completed teacher training at the University of Oxford in 2021.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).
• Prolonged Grief Disorder Therapy (PGDT) — a 16-session manualised protocol developed at Columbia University, where Megan trained in 2020.

Megan matches the approach to the person and the moment rather than asking the person to fit a single approach. The Consent Form explains the specific risks and considerations for EMDR and PGDT in more detail; you will be asked to confirm consent for those modalities before they are used.

6. Cancellation, non-attendance, and lateness

• More than 48 hours' notice: cancellations are free of charge.
• 24 to 48 hours' notice: 50% of the session fee applies.
• Less than 24 hours' notice, or non-attendance: the full session fee applies.

If you regularly cancel or fail to attend, and this is hindering progress in therapy, Megan will raise it with you and may discuss whether continuing is in your interests.

If Megan needs to cancel a session at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances (illness, family emergency), you will not be charged and an alternative time will be offered.

You have a 14-day cooling-off period from booking your first paid session during which you may cancel without penalty, provided the session is more than 14 days away. If your first session falls inside the cooling-off period, you waive this right by booking it.

7. Fees and payment

Service	Fee
Free 20-minute consultation	£0
Standard 50-minute therapy session	£140
Initial assessment session (typically 60 min)	£140
PGDT programme (16 × 50-min sessions)	£140 per session, billed individually
Letters, reports, or written work for ongoing clients	At the session fee, pro-rated by time
Inter-session contact under five minutes (text/email)	No charge
Inter-session contact over five minutes	At the session fee, pro-rated

Fees are reviewed periodically and may change with at least 30 days' notice.

Payment is by bank transfer (BACS). An invoice is sent after each session; payment is due before your next appointment. If payment becomes overdue, sessions may be paused until the balance is settled. Persistent non-payment may result in termination of therapy and recovery of unpaid sums (with interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate from the due date, plus reasonable recovery costs).

We do not currently accept credit card payment. We do not store card details.

8. Insurance and third-party funding

The practice is self-pay only at this time. We do not currently bill insurance providers directly. We can supply receipts that you may use to claim back from your insurer where your policy supports this — please check with your insurer in advance. You remain liable to the practice for all fees regardless of any insurer dispute.

9. Safeguarding and confidentiality

Confidentiality is the default. Information you share will not be disclosed without your consent, except where required by law or where there is a serious risk of harm. The specific limits are set out in the Privacy Policy §6 and the Consent Form.

Megan has a professional duty under the Care Act 2014, Children Act 1989/2004, and Mental Capacity Act 2005 to act on safeguarding concerns. Where she considers there is a risk of harm to you or others, she may share information with relevant agencies. Wherever possible she will discuss this with you first.

For continuity-of-care purposes, Megan asks every client for the contact details of their GP at the start of therapy. She will not contact your GP without your knowledge except in a safeguarding emergency.

10. Clinical continuity plan

Megan has a written clinical continuity plan in place to ensure that, in the event of her becoming unable to run the practice (serious illness, incapacity, death), a designated Clinical Agent — a trusted, regulated, UK-registered colleague — would be contacted. The Clinical Agent's role is to:

• Notify you that the practice has paused or closed.
• Help you find an alternative therapist.
• Arrange the secure transfer or destruction of your records.

The Clinical Agent will only have access to the minimum information necessary for this purpose (your name, contact details, and — where relevant — the type of therapy you were receiving). You consent to this arrangement when you sign the Consent Form, and you may withdraw the consent at any time by emailing hello@megancolletta.com. Note that withdrawal means the Clinical Agent will not be able to contact you in those circumstances; you would need to find a new therapist independently.

11. Ending therapy

Therapy can end in a number of ways:

• By mutual agreement, as a planned ending. This is the preferred way: we agree in advance on the final session(s) and use that time to consolidate the work.
• By you, at any time. Megan will not require you to give a reason, but a closing session is strongly encouraged — especially if EMDR or trauma processing has been part of the work — to contain and ground the material that has been opened.
• By Megan, in limited circumstances. These include: prolonged non-payment; conduct that breaches these Terms (e.g. threats, attendance under the influence of substances, recording without consent); a clinical judgement that the work is destabilising you or that you require a different level of care (e.g. an NHS team approach); or the practice closing.

Megan does not provide therapy to people experiencing acute mental-health crises that would warrant a team-based NHS response. If at any point in therapy that level of need becomes clearer, Megan will discuss it openly with you and help you find appropriate onward care.

12. Communication between sessions

For the smooth running of therapy and the privacy of your information:

• Email is the primary channel for scheduling and administrative messages. Most email providers do not guarantee secure transmission, so please avoid sharing clinical details by email unless agreed otherwise.
• Brief practical questions (e.g. confirming a time) are welcome between sessions and not charged.
• Lengthier discussion belongs in session. If something can't wait, Megan will offer a paid phone or video appointment.
• The practice does not provide a crisis service. If you need urgent help, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, your GP, NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.

Megan typically responds to non-urgent emails within two working days.

13. Therapeutic boundaries

To preserve the safety and integrity of the therapeutic relationship:

• Physical contact is not part of online therapy.
• Megan does not engage in social or business relationships with clients during or after therapy. This includes social-media connections — please do not send friend requests or contact through social platforms.
• Megan cannot accept gifts beyond nominal value (under £10).
• Megan cannot provide therapy to anyone with whom she has a significant personal, professional, or business relationship.

Threats or acts of violence — verbal or otherwise — are unacceptable and will result in immediate termination of treatment.

14. Letters, reports, and court work

Megan does not write court reports or expert-witness reports. For ongoing clients, brief letters (e.g. to a GP) can be supplied on request, time-permitting, charged at the session fee pro-rated by time.

If you are involved in current or anticipated legal proceedings where your memory of events may be relevant, please inform Megan before therapy begins — particularly if EMDR or trauma-processing approaches are anticipated. The Consent Form explains the implications of therapy for legal proceedings in more detail.

15. Liability

Megan provides her services with the reasonable care and skill expected of a Social Work England-registered practitioner and BABCP member. While she will work toward the outcomes you and she agree on, no specific therapeutic outcome can be guaranteed — therapy is always collaborative and personal, and individual responses vary.

Megan's liability to you is limited to losses that are a reasonably foreseeable consequence of her breach of these Terms or her negligence. She will not be liable for losses that could not reasonably have been expected, or for matters outside her reasonable control (including third-party platform outages).

Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under English law. Your statutory rights as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are not affected.

16. Complaints

Megan welcomes feedback. If you have a concern or complaint, please raise it with her directly in the first instance by emailing hello@megancolletta.com. She aims to respond within 14 days.

If you feel your concern is not adequately addressed, or if you believe there is an issue of fitness to practise, you may also raise it directly with:

• Social Work England — socialworkengland.org.uk/concerns
• BABCP — babcp.com/about/raising-a-concern
• Information Commissioner's Office (for data-protection matters) — ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

17. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales and are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. As a UK consumer, you will continue to benefit from any mandatory protections provided by the law of your country of residence. If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force.