Terms & Conditions
I am a qualified and registered counsellor, but offer my service as coaching. This is because the combination of counselling and coaching is more powerful, but it is also to distinguish my service from mental health services such as clinical psychology or psychiatry. When you pay for coaching with me you agree to the terms and conditions set out below.
By your payment you are contracting with me - Matthew Bishop - to receive my service which is defined as "advice and support aimed at personal growth" - what you pay me for, and receive from me, is strictly limited to this.
Nothing that I say to you should be taken as legal or financial or medical or nutritional advice. Note that I do not assess or treat mental illness or associated risks (such as suicide), and so if you need such support, or if your mental health degenerates while using my service, it is your responsibility and not mine to take such concerns to your GP or to a clinical psychologist and to gain such support from them. What I offer you is strictly limited to advice and support aimed at personal growth.
Whatever I say to you, including any advice based on my experience, must be interpreted as nothing more than an opinion, meaning that you are solely responsible for your decisions and actions in response to our conversations. I cannot be held responsible for any of your choices and actions or their consequences.
You are paying me for the coaching sessions I provide to you, which are conversations involving "advice and support aimed at personal growth." Your payment is not for any outcome, and I provide no guarantee of any outcome. Please note that all outcomes from our coaching are solely your responsibility, as they are dependent on your efforts.
I reserve the right to cease providing services to you at any time and for any concern which I consider reasonable. In the event of such denial of further service I will provide you with a refund for any sessions you have not received or forfeited, calculated by dividing the cost of the coaching package by the number of sessions offered, minus $100.
You may reschedule any booked session with Matthew provided you give him at least 24 hours notice. Both cancellations of less than 24 hours notice, and any failure to attend any session, will mean that you forfeit that session.
The Coaching Ethos
What ethos should you bring to being a coaching client, so that you get the most out of it?
Well it's different to how some people approach, say, psychology, where they might come with a passive attitude and expect the professional to do all the work. In fact, this is why I shifted into coaching, because I want to work with people with the right ethos - precisely because I love working with people who are committed to great improvements, and for that reason typically achieve great things. In coaching the progress is up to the client: the more you put in, the more you get out. You're right for coaching if:
You want to take a hopeful and active approach to life.
You intend to work harder than me.
You are willing to be challenged with radical honesty: you seek truth and progress, over ego or comfort.
You are willing and able to connect with others not only intellectually but also at the level of the heart.
You genuinely want to let go of your fear and suffering, and create a happy and flourishing life.
And here's the big three:
You see the cause and solution of your problems as within you, not in others or the world.
You fully accept that I can only be a guide, and that you are 100% responsible for your outcomes.
You are willing to take radical ownership of your thoughts, choices, and how your life looks, and to see how far that ownership can take you in recreating everything.
Coaching is not for couch potatoes. Coaching is for people who want to live positive, active lives when it comes to their emotions, their achievements, their relationships, and so in.