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Therapy Agreement

How we will work together, what you can expect from Tavana, and what we ask of you. Please read it before your assessment.

This agreement explains how we will work together, what you can expect from Tavana, and what we ask of you. Please read it before your assessment. We will go through it together in your first session, and you are welcome to ask any questions before you agree to it.

Our Terms of Business (fees, payment, cancellations and refunds) and Privacy Policy form part of this agreement.

Your therapist is Mehran Khederhamzeh, a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist accredited by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), membership number 1032254. Your therapist follows the BABCP Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics, including BABCP's requirements to hold professional indemnity insurance and to have regular clinical supervision.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an active, structured and collaborative therapy. Together we will build an understanding of how your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions connect, and work on practical ways to make changes. Between sessions, you will usually be asked to try tasks or practise skills, because this is where much of the progress in CBT happens.

Benefits and limits. CBT is recommended by NICE for many common difficulties, and many people find it helpful. It does not work for everyone, progress varies from person to person, and talking about difficult experiences can sometimes feel harder before it feels easier. We will review your progress together regularly, using your goals and short questionnaires, and talk openly about whether therapy is helping.

CBT with Tavana is not a substitute for medical care. We do not prescribe or manage medication. If medical input would help, we will encourage you to speak to your GP.

  • Length: sessions last 50 minutes. Assessments also last 50 minutes, and the free consultation lasts 20 minutes.
  • Where: all sessions take place online through Cliniko's secure video service. Please join from a private space in the UK where you cannot be overheard, and not while driving or caring for others.
  • When: we will agree session times together and book them for you. Most people meet weekly or fortnightly. We review the timing of sessions together as therapy progresses.
  • How many: after your assessment, we will agree an initial number of sessions and a plan for reviewing it.

We will plan for the end of therapy from the start. Therapy usually ends when you have reached your goals, after the number of sessions we agree, or by mutual agreement. Towards the end, we will spend time on a plan to help you keep your progress going.

You can end therapy at any time. We would value the chance to have a final session together, but you are not obliged to.

If your therapist ever needs to end or pause therapy earlier than planned, for example because your needs would be better met by a different or more specialist service, we will explain this clearly, discuss it with you and help you find the right support. We will never simply stop contact without explanation.

  • You can contact us by email at info@tavana.co.uk, or by phone on +44 (0) 7708 407 996, about appointments and practical matters. We aim to reply within 2 working days. Email and phone are not monitored outside working hours and are not suitable for emergencies.
  • We may contact you by email, phone or text about appointments, payments and forms, using the details you give us. If we need to contact you about your wellbeing, we will usually phone you.
  • We do not offer therapy by email or text between sessions.

If your therapist is unexpectedly unable to attend a session, for example because of illness, we will contact you by phone or email as soon as possible and offer you a new time. You will not be charged.

BABCP requires therapists to have a clinical will, which names a qualified colleague as clinical executor. If your therapist became seriously ill or died, the clinical executor would access your contact details and records only as needed to let you know, help you find continuing care, and keep your records safe.

What you share in therapy is confidential. There are a small number of situations in which we may need to share information without your agreement:

  • If we believe you are at serious risk of harm, we may tell your GP so that they can support you between sessions;
  • If we believe someone else is at serious risk of harm, we may contact the relevant services, and the police in an emergency;
  • If there is a safeguarding concern about a child or a vulnerable adult;
  • If a court orders us to, or the law otherwise requires it.

Wherever it is safe and possible, we will talk to you before sharing information and explain why.

Supervision. BABCP requires your therapist to discuss their work regularly with a qualified CBT supervisor. This helps keep your care safe and effective. Your name and identifying details are never shared in supervision.

We will ask about your wellbeing, including any thoughts of harming yourself, at your assessment and during therapy. This is a routine part of safe care, and you can always talk about these thoughts with us.

If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, we will work with you on a written safety plan, which we will both keep a copy of. If we become concerned about your safety, we will discuss this with you, and we may contact your GP or other services as described above.

Tavana is not an emergency service. If you are in crisis or at risk of harm between sessions, please call 999, contact NHS 111 and choose the mental health option, or call Samaritans free on 116 123. Our Crisis Support page lists more support.

We ask for the name and address of your GP before therapy starts. With your agreement, we may write to your GP after your assessment and at the end of therapy, to summarise the work we are doing together. We will share these letters with you.

If you are seeing other health or mental health professionals, please tell us. We will agree with you how we keep in touch, so that our work fits well with theirs.

  • Notes: your therapist keeps notes of each appointment, including assessments, questionnaires, plans and any missed sessions. Notes are factual, and you have the right to ask to see them.
  • Questionnaires: we will ask you to complete short questionnaires before some sessions, to help us understand your difficulties and track progress together.
  • Where records are kept: securely in Cliniko, a UK-hosted, encrypted clinical records system. We do not keep paper records.
  • How long: clinical records are kept for 7 years after your last contact with us, then securely deleted. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
  • Recordings: sessions are not recorded. We ask that you do not record them either. If recording would ever help your therapy, for example for supervision, we would only do this with your explicit written consent, explaining how the recording would be used, stored and deleted.
  • Agreement to records: by signing this agreement, you consent to Tavana keeping records about your care as described here and in our Privacy Policy.

To protect your confidentiality and our working relationship, we do not connect with clients on personal social media, accept friend or follow requests from clients, or look clients up online. You are welcome to follow Tavana's public pages, but please do not share personal or clinical information through comments or messages there.

Please tell us if you are unhappy with any part of your care, and we will try to put things right. Our Complaints Procedure explains what happens next. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can raise your concern with BABCP, which accredits our therapist.

If something goes wrong in your care, we will be open and honest with you, apologise, and explain what we are doing to put it right.

You have the right to:

  • Ask questions about your care at any time;
  • Be involved in decisions about your therapy and goals;
  • See your records;
  • End therapy at any time;
  • Raise concerns or complaints without it affecting your care.

By signing the Tavana Client Intake and Consent form, you confirm that you have read and understood this agreement, our Terms of Business and our Privacy Policy, that you have had the chance to ask questions, and that you consent to receive CBT from Tavana on this basis. A copy of your signed form is emailed to you.

Signed on behalf of Tavana Health Group: Mehran Khederhamzeh, BABCP-accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.

Last updated: 3 October 2026. Next review: October 2027.