A contract is essential
If you are a UK-based EFTMRA graduate be aware: our reputation allows Holistic Insurance Services Ltd to grant us a regular annual discount on their combined professional indemnity and public liability cover. It seems from their past experience that you as an EFTMRA EFT and/or Matrix Reimprinting practitioner will not become one of their unfortunate expenses. However, this distinct lack of cautionary tales from within the immediate community may lead some to cut corners on the paperwork, particularly at the outset of their practice when most of the work is as an arrangement ‘between friends’.
Starting as you mean to go on with a simple but clear and comprehensive contract does a lot to underline your professionalism and authority. It also treats your client with respect, making your service and all expectations transparent from the outset. Should the worst happen and your client find your service unacceptable, (see above, unlikely), then you will have everything needed to prove your integrity, all in one place. Finally, besides all these wonderful positive reasons, it also happens to be a condition of your EFTMRA Code of Conduct and Ethics.
If you have not yet scoured the EFTMRA Code of Ethics, you will discover when you do that section ‘A’ explicitly requires you to explain fully to clients in advance of any treatment, the fee levels,
- Precise terms of payment
- Any charges that might be imposed for non-attendance or cancelled appointments and elevant confidentiality issues
Later the code also includes details such as service offered and realistic limitations and outcomes. The code further stipulates that “This code of conduct and ethics applies equally to the relationship between a practitioner and paying clients and also between a practitioner and non-paying clients.” In other words, it says you should be doing this from the get-go, even if you don’t feel ready to charge.
It is not enough to arrive at an agreement or contract verbally or over a series of emails, or by pointing to conditions on your website. Nor is it safe, nor fair to your client or to you. It is certainly not professional. Another Insurance company has noted that “more and more ‘Particulars of Claim’ in civil actions against therapists outline the claimant’s understanding of the original contract – usually differing considerably from the therapist’s understanding” (Quote: Towergate).
A signed copy of all the necessary details, dated and returned prior to payment, is a contract. It is also the cleanest, most professional way to gift your client with all the boundaries, realities and possible events all in one place. It certainly establishes you as a business owner who is clear about their service and their value. As a single document, it also makes things much easier for you should your academy, association, insurers or a representative of the law require proof of what was agreed.
Point A4 of the EFTMRA Code does go further, stating that the contract details should also “be further clarified by the practitioner at the initial consultation when additional information about the client’s needs is obtained.” The additional information in this case would be part or all of the intake process (depending on whether you also collect any data as intake, from an initial consultation or discovery call prior to the contract.)
Whether you draw your Code of Practice or Ethics from a training Academy or a membership Association, either one will require that you agree specific terms and conditions that combine into a contract, before the work begins. You can also expect such awarding bodies to mirror much or all that is stipulated by your chosen insurers – exceptions possibly arising more often where your practice is based outside the UK. This is because the law of the land informs them all. More on the regulations of an unregulated profession, here.
Author: Cheryl White, EFT Test Manager