COACHING TERMS & DISCLAIMER
Effective date: August 7, 2026
These Terms govern coaching services provided by Paula Caligiuri, PhD. Coaching is a collaborative professional service. It is not psychotherapy, medical care, crisis care, legal advice, financial advice, or a promise of a particular outcome.
1. Parties and acceptance
These Coaching Terms & Disclaimer ('Terms') are an agreement between Paula Caligiuri, PhD, Massachusetts, USA acting through Paula Caligiuri, PhD ('Coach,' 'we,' 'us,' or 'our'), and the person receiving coaching ('Client' or 'you').
By checking the agreement box, signing a coaching agreement, purchasing a session or package after being presented with these Terms, or participating in coaching after receiving them, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not book or participate in coaching. You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to enter a contract.
2. What coaching is
Coaching is a collaborative process intended to support reflection, learning, decision-making, goal development, and action. The Coach may ask questions, offer observations, share relevant knowledge, and invite the Client to consider perspectives or actions. The Client remains responsible for deciding what to discuss, what conclusions to draw, and what actions to take.
The coaching relationship, goals, roles, confidentiality, fees, and logistics may be refined in a separate written coaching agreement. If a signed agreement conflicts with these website Terms, the signed agreement controls for that engagement.
3. Coaching is not therapy or professional treatment
Coaching does not diagnose or treat a mental-health condition and does not create a psychologist-patient, psychotherapist-patient, physician-patient, attorney-client, financial-adviser, fiduciary, or other licensed treatment or advisory relationship. Paula Caligiuri's PhD, academic work in psychology, research, teaching, and professional experience inform her coaching, but they do not convert coaching into psychotherapy or clinical care.
Coaching is not a substitute for services from a licensed mental-health professional, physician, attorney, financial adviser, accountant, or other qualified professional. You should obtain appropriate independent advice before making decisions with significant medical, psychological, legal, financial, employment, immigration, or safety consequences.
If concerns arise that are outside the scope of coaching, the Coach may recommend another professional, pause coaching, or end the engagement. A referral is not an endorsement or guarantee of another provider.
4. Emergencies and crisis support
The Coach does not provide emergency or crisis services and may not see a message promptly. Do not use email, a contact form, text message, voicemail, or a coaching appointment request for an emergency. In the United States, call 911 for immediate danger or call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Outside the United States, contact local emergency services or an appropriate crisis resource.
5. Client responsibilities
You agree to participate honestly, communicate relevant needs and concerns, and take responsibility for your decisions, conduct, well-being, and results. You decide whether and how to act on anything discussed. You agree to seek appropriate professional or emergency help when needed and to tell the Coach when coaching is no longer useful, safe, or appropriate.
You are responsible for a private setting, a reliable internet or telephone connection, and a device that supports the agreed session format. You will not attend a session while driving or in circumstances that make meaningful participation unsafe.
6. Scheduling and session logistics
Sessions are scheduled through Calendly or another method agreed in writing. The session length and price shown at booking or in a signed agreement control. Appointment times are shown in the time zone displayed by the scheduling system. You are responsible for confirming the correct time zone.
If you arrive late, the session will ordinarily end at the scheduled time and the full fee remains due. If the Coach is late, the session will be extended when possible or the lost time will be rescheduled or credited.
7. Fees and payment
Fees are stated at booking, in a proposal, or in a signed agreement. Payment is due at the time stated there. You authorize the designated payment processor to charge the payment method you provide for amounts you have agreed to pay. The payment processor, rather than the Coach, receives and stores full card credentials.
You are responsible for applicable taxes unless the law requires us to collect them. If a payment fails, we may suspend future sessions until the balance is paid. We will not impose a fee or charge that was not disclosed before you agreed to it.
8. Cancellation, rescheduling, and missed sessions
You may cancel or reschedule through the scheduling system or by contacting contact@paulacaligiuri.com. At least 24 hours' notice is required. A session cancelled or rescheduled with less than 24 hours' notice, or missed without notice, may be charged at the full session rate or deducted from a package, except where prohibited by law.
The Coach may waive a late-cancellation charge for a genuine emergency or other exceptional circumstance, but a waiver in one instance does not change the policy. If the Coach cancels, you may choose a prompt rescheduled appointment or a refund or credit for the affected session.
9. Packages, expiration, and refunds
A coaching package is personal to the Client and may not be transferred without Paula Caligiuri’s prior written permission. Unless the checkout page or a signed agreement states otherwise, all sessions must be used within six months of the purchase date. Paula may approve a reasonable extension in cases of illness, emergency, or other exceptional circumstances.
Fees for completed sessions and sessions forfeited under the cancellation policy are nonrefundable. The Client may cancel the remainder of a prepaid package by providing written notice before the package expires. Any refund will equal the amount paid, less the regular single-session price for each completed or forfeited session. The remaining balance will be refunded to the original payment method within ten business days. No refund will be issued for the remaining sessions after the package expires. If Paula ends the coaching relationship or becomes unable to provide the remaining sessions, the Client will receive a prorated refund for all unused sessions. Nothing in these Terms limits any refund or cancellation right that cannot lawfully be waived.
The Coach does not automatically renew a package or charge a recurring fee unless the renewal terms, amount, frequency, cancellation method, and required consent are clearly presented and separately accepted before purchase.
10. Confidentiality
The Coach will keep the substance of coaching communications confidential and will not disclose it without the Client's permission except as stated in these Terms, a signed agreement, or applicable law. Coaching confidentiality is an important contractual and ethical commitment, but coaching communications may not be protected by a legal privilege. A court, regulator, or other lawful authority may be able to require disclosure.
The Coach may disclose information when reasonably necessary:
With the Client's written authorization or at the Client's direction.
To address an imminent or likely risk of serious harm to the Client or another person.
To report suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other conduct when reporting is required by law.
To comply with a valid subpoena, court order, legal process, or other legal obligation, after taking reasonable steps to protect confidentiality where appropriate and lawful.
To service providers that support scheduling, payment, email, videoconferencing, document storage, security, insurance, accounting, or legal services, limited to what is reasonably necessary for their role.
To pursue or defend a legal claim, collect an unpaid amount, respond to an ethics complaint, or protect legal rights, while limiting disclosure when reasonably possible.
In professional consultation or supervision, using deidentified information whenever reasonably possible.
The Coach cannot guarantee privacy when the Client participates from a shared space, uses an employer-managed device or account, forwards messages, or permits another person to be present. The Client should tell the Coach before anyone else joins a session.
11. Employer-sponsored or third-party-sponsored coaching
When an employer or another person pays for coaching, the Client remains the person being coached. Before coaching begins, the Coach, Client, and sponsor will agree in writing on roles, goals, payment, confidentiality, and what information, if any, may be shared. Unless the Client expressly agrees otherwise, sponsor reporting will be limited to administrative information such as participation, scheduling, and general progress toward agreed engagement goals. The substance of sessions will not be shared without the Client's written authorization or another lawful basis described above.
12. Privacy, records, and communications
Our Privacy Policy describes how personal information is handled and is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Coach may maintain limited administrative records, agreements, correspondence, goals, action items, and coaching notes. Records are retained and deleted according to the Privacy Policy, legal requirements, and any signed agreement.
Ordinary email, text messaging, scheduling systems, and videoconferencing involve security risks. By choosing those channels, you acknowledge that absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Do not send emergency messages or unnecessary highly sensitive information through ordinary email, text, or public forms. Tell the Coach if you need an alternative communication method.
13. Recordings, transcription, and artificial intelligence
Neither party may record or transcribe a session without the other party's prior consent. The Coach will not upload identifiable session audio, transcripts, or notes to a generative artificial-intelligence system for transcription, summarization, analysis, training, or content creation unless the Client first receives a clear written explanation of the tool, purpose, data handling, alternatives, and risks and gives separate consent. Consent may be withdrawn for future use.
14. Intellectual property and personal use
The Coach retains ownership of original worksheets, frameworks, exercises, written materials, recordings created with permission, and other intellectual property provided during coaching, unless a separate written agreement says otherwise. The Client receives a limited, personal, nonexclusive, nontransferable license to use those materials for the Client's own development. The Client may not publish, sell, distribute, teach from, or create commercial derivative works from them without written permission.
The Client retains ownership of the Client's own materials and personal content. The Client gives the Coach permission to use that content only as reasonably necessary to provide the agreed services and administer the relationship.
15. Testimonials, case examples, and publicity
The Coach will not identify the Client in a testimonial, case example, publication, presentation, marketing item, or public statement without the Client's separate written permission. Permission is voluntary and may be limited by the Client. Deidentified examples may be used only when details are changed or removed so a reasonable person would not recognize the Client.
16. No guarantee of results
Coaching outcomes depend on many factors outside the Coach's control, including the Client's choices, effort, circumstances, relationships, workplace, health, and opportunities. The Coach does not guarantee a job, promotion, relationship outcome, decision, income level, emotional state, or any other specific result. Statements about possible benefits describe goals, not promises.
17. Website content and third-party resources
Articles, videos, posts, downloads, quizzes, and other general website content are educational and are not individualized coaching or professional advice. Accessing the website does not create a coaching relationship. Links, referrals, books, apps, assessments, and other third-party resources are provided for convenience or discussion. The Coach does not control and does not guarantee their accuracy, privacy, security, suitability, or availability.
18. Technology and service interruptions
The Coach will use reasonable care in selecting and using technology but cannot guarantee that the website, scheduling system, payment processor, email, or videoconferencing platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure. If a material technical problem prevents a session, the parties will use a reasonable alternative, reschedule, or issue an appropriate credit or refund for the affected session.
19. Ending the coaching relationship
Either party may end the coaching relationship at any time by written notice, subject to payment obligations, cancellation terms, package terms, and any signed agreement. The Coach may pause or end coaching immediately for nonpayment, repeated missed sessions, abusive or threatening conduct, a conflict of interest, a boundary concern, a safety issue, a matter outside the Coach's competence or scope, or another circumstance that makes continued coaching inappropriate. When reasonably possible, the Coach will communicate the reason and discuss next steps or referrals.
Sections concerning payment, confidentiality, privacy, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, disputes, and any other provision that by its nature should continue will survive termination.
20. Disclaimer of warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by law, coaching and website content are provided on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis. Except for promises expressly stated in these Terms or a signed agreement, the Coach disclaims implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so an exclusion may not apply to you.
21. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Coach will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, opportunities, data, goodwill, or business interruption, arising from coaching, website use, or third-party services, even if the possibility was known.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the total aggregate liability of the Coach for claims arising from a particular coaching engagement will not exceed the fees the Client paid for the services giving rise to the claim during the six months before the event giving rise to liability. This section does not exclude liability for fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or another liability that applicable law does not permit the parties to exclude or limit.
22. Events outside reasonable control
Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by events outside that party's reasonable control, including severe illness, natural disaster, widespread outage, governmental action, labor disruption, war, terrorism, or failure of a critical service provider. Payment remains due for services already provided. The parties will make reasonable efforts to reschedule affected services.
23. Disputes and governing law
Before filing a legal claim, the parties will make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute through written notice and direct discussion for at least 30 days, unless urgent injunctive relief or a legal deadline requires earlier action.
These Terms and any dispute arising from them or the coaching relationship are governed by the laws of the State of Massachusetts without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Subject to any nonwaivable consumer right, the state and federal courts located in Suffolk, Massachusetts will have exclusive jurisdiction, and each party consents to personal jurisdiction there.
24. General terms
If a court finds a provision unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum lawful extent and the remaining provisions will continue. A failure to enforce a provision once is not a waiver. The Client may not assign the coaching agreement without the Coach's written consent. The Coach may assign it in connection with a lawful transfer of the practice, subject to the Privacy Policy and applicable law.
These Terms, the Privacy Policy, the booking details, and any signed coaching agreement are the entire agreement concerning the services they cover and replace earlier discussions on the same subject. A signed coaching agreement controls over inconsistent website Terms. Headings are for convenience and do not change meaning.
25. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms for future bookings. The version presented and accepted when you book or sign an agreement will govern that engagement unless both parties agree in writing to a change or the law requires one. We will not materially reduce an existing Client's rights by posting a new version without appropriate notice and agreement.
26. Contact
Questions about coaching or these Terms may be directed to:
Paula Caligiuri, PhD
1245 Adams Street
Boston, MA
contact@PaulaCaligiuri.com
Website: www.paulacaligiuri.com
Client acknowledgement
By accepting these Terms, the Client confirms that the Client has read and understood the nature and limits of coaching, the distinction between coaching and therapy or other licensed professional services, the confidentiality provisions and exceptions, the cancellation and payment rules, and the absence of guaranteed outcomes.