1. What you're signing up for

What coaching is

Coaching is a developmental relationship that supports change. It creates space to explore what is happening, notice patterns, develop new possibilities, and experiment with different ways of being and acting. You bring your own experience, perspective, questions, and aspirations to the relationship. My role is to listen deeply, ask questions, offer observations and perspectives, develop practices, and support the developmental work. Coaching creates a dedicated space for reflection, experimentation, learning, and change.

Integral Coaching

I am an Integral Coach, and Root & Flow primarily draws on Integral Coaching. Integral Coaching is informed by an understanding of human development, embodied awareness, and the relationship between our ways of being, our actions, and the environments in which we live and work. It considers the larger pattern in which change is taking place rather than focusing only on a single goal or behaviour. Depending on what is useful for you, our work may include attention to:

• language and interpretation;
• emotions and emotional patterns;
• embodied experience;
• relationships and systems;
• values and commitments;
• habits and behaviours;
• developmental edges;
• capacity and pacing; and
• the conditions that support sustainable change.

Other coaching approaches and practices may also be drawn on where they are appropriate and useful to the work.

What the coaching experience looks like

While every coaching relationship is different, ongoing Root & Flow coaching follows a recognizable process.

We begin by looking at the whole picture

Our first session is an intake and orientation to the coaching relationship. I'll listen to what brings you to coaching, what you're noticing, what you've tried, and what you'd like to be different. We'll also walk around the different areas of your life and the context in which you're living and working. This gives me an opportunity to understand the larger landscape of your experience and begin to discern the developmental work that may be useful.

I'll develop the coaching plan

Following our intake conversation, I'll take time outside of our session to develop your coaching plan. The plan draws on what you've shared with me, what I've heard in our conversation, and my professional judgement and Integral Coaching practice. The coaching plan brings together the different elements of the developmental work I believe will be useful for you. It includes the way I understand your current narrative, the deeper narrative I want to invite you into, what is yours to do and what belongs to other people, and the essential positive quality that we will work with and develop. It also identifies the practices I believe will support this development. I'll then check in with you to make sure I've understood you and that the direction of the coaching feels relevant before we move forward.

I'll introduce the plan to you

At our next meeting, I'll bring the coaching plan and introduce it to you. We'll talk through what I've heard and how I'm understanding your current narrative. I'll introduce the deeper narrative I'm inviting you into and the direction I see for the work. We'll also talk through the practices I've identified as useful for supporting that development. This is a conversation. You're invited to respond to what I'm bringing forward—what resonates, what doesn't, what you're curious about, what feels important, and anything else that is coming up for you. Your response becomes part of the coaching conversation and helps us understand how to work with the plan.

The coaching invites you into a deeper narrative

A central part of the coaching is the movement from your current narrative toward a deeper narrative. This means exploring the stories, assumptions, interpretations, patterns, and ways of being that shape how you experience yourself and your life. The deeper narrative offers another way of understanding what is possible and provides a foundation for the developmental work that follows. The coaching is not only about achieving an outcome. It is also about developing the capacity and way of being that can support you in living into that possibility and to self-correct, to self-sustain.

The plan includes practices

The coaching plan includes practices designed specifically for the developmental work we're doing. These may include embodiment practices, reflection practices, creative practices, experiments, conversations, observations, or other ways of engaging with the work between sessions. There will be more of some things and less of others as the coaching develops. You may be asked to try something new, pay attention to something you would normally overlook, practise a different way of responding, or explore an aspect of yourself or your life from a new perspective. The practices are an important part of how the coaching works. They create opportunities to experience and practise change in the context of your actual life.

We'll work with what happens

Between sessions, you'll have opportunities to engage with the practices and notice what happens. When we meet again, we'll explore what you've experienced, what you've noticed, what has shifted, what has become clearer, and what remains difficult or unresolved. That learning informs the next stage of the work. The coaching plan can develop as we go. New practices may be introduced, existing practices may change, and the developmental work may deepen as we learn more about what is happening. A useful way of describing the rhythm is: practice → notice → reflect → adjust → integrate This rhythm gives the coaching continuity while allowing the work to respond to your experience.

A trauma-informed approach

Root & Flow takes a trauma-informed approach to coaching. I aim to create a relationship that supports choice, agency, dignity, safety, and respect. This includes paying attention to pace, capacity, context, and the ways that different practices may land for different people. You are welcome to tell me when something feels too much, when you need to slow down, or when you want to approach something differently. You can also tell me when a practice or question isn't useful to you. A trauma-informed approach does not mean that coaching is trauma therapy. Coaching does not diagnose, treat, or process trauma as a clinical intervention. If something arises that would be better supported by another professional, service, or resource, I may recommend additional or different support. You remain responsible for deciding what support is right for you.

What coaching is—and isn't

Coaching is distinct from psychotherapy, counselling, medical care, and other regulated health services. Coaching does not diagnose or treat mental health conditions, trauma, illness, or other medical conditions. Coaching is also not legal, financial, tax, investment, or other specialized professional advice. Coaching can exist alongside therapy, counselling, medical care, or other professional support where doing so is appropriate. If something arises in our work that is better supported by another professional, service, or resource, I may recommend additional or different support. You remain responsible for deciding what support is right for you. For additional information about the scope and boundaries of coaching, please see the Professional Disclaimer.

Your coaching arrangement

This agreement provides the framework for your coaching relationship. The particular coaching arrangement we agree to—including the type of coaching, number and approximate timing of sessions, and fee—will be confirmed when you engage. Root & Flow currently offers several coaching arrangements, including:

• Clarity Conversation — a focused, one-off coaching conversation;
• Coaching Starters — a short coaching container;
• Root & Flow Coaching — ongoing developmental coaching; and
• Student Coaching — focused one-off coaching for eligible students.

For an initial ongoing coaching engagement, we generally meet weekly. This creates continuity for the coaching plan to take shape, for practices to be explored between sessions, and for us to learn from what happens over time. For longer engagements, the coaching rhythm may evolve as the work develops.

2. How we'll work together

A structured and responsive process

Our coaching relationship has structure and direction. The coaching plan gives us a developmental direction and a way of working together, while the actual work remains responsive to what happens in your experience. As we learn more, the plan may develop. Practices may change, the deeper narrative may become clearer, and new areas of exploration may become relevant.

Your role

You bring your experience, perspective, participation, and willingness to engage with the work. You are responsible for your own choices, decisions, actions, and wellbeing. You are welcome to respond to the coaching plan, question an observation, tell me when something isn't useful, ask for clarification, or suggest that we approach something differently. Your participation and feedback help make the coaching useful.

My role

I will:

• listen carefully and work to understand your experience;
• pay attention to the wider context of your life and the developmental work of the coaching;
• use my professional judgement to develop an appropriate coaching plan;
• introduce practices and approaches that I believe will support the developmental work;
• create a respectful, supportive, and appropriately challenging coaching relationship;
• honour your agency and right to make your own choices;
• pay attention to pacing, capacity, context, and what seems appropriate for the work;
• maintain appropriate professional boundaries;
• protect the confidentiality of the coaching relationship within the limits described in this agreement;
• seek appropriate professional supervision, mentorship, or consultation when needed;
• recognize the limits of coaching and make referrals where another form of support may be more appropriate; and
• continue developing my own professional practice.

Feedback is part of the work

I will regularly invite your feedback about what is useful, what is not useful, what you are noticing, and what you need. You are welcome to question an approach, ask for something different, disagree with me, or let me know when something is not working. We can adjust the work as the coaching relationship develops.

3. Your coaching rhythm

Regular sessions

For an initial ongoing coaching engagement, we generally meet weekly. A consistent rhythm gives the coaching relationship continuity and creates space for practices to be explored, learning to accumulate, and the coaching plan to develop over time. For longer engagements or other coaching arrangements, the session rhythm will be agreed as part of the particular engagement.

Session length

A standard coaching session is generally 60 minutes. On occasion, we may agree to use a 75-minute session when additional space would be useful and your availability and my capacity allow it. A longer session may create more room for opening and grounding, embodied or contemplative practice, deeper reflection, integration, or closing the session with enough space to transition. Any extended session will be agreed upon in advance.

If you're running late

If you are running late, join the session when you are able. If you have not joined and I have not heard from you, I will generally remain available for approximately 10 minutes. After that point, I may close the session and we will determine the next appropriate step for maintaining the coaching rhythm.

If either of us needs to cancel or move a session

Life happens, and sometimes a coaching session needs to move. If either of us needs to cancel or reschedule a session, we'll communicate as soon as reasonably possible. For ongoing coaching, we will generally move the appointment to the same time the following week. If that time doesn't work, we'll find another suitable time together. The aim is to maintain the rhythm of the coaching relationship while making room for the realities of life. If something comes up that requires a different arrangement, we'll talk about it and decide together what makes the most sense. The detailed financial arrangements relating to cancellation, rescheduling, missed sessions, pauses, and refunds are set out in the Payment, Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy.

4. Communication between sessions

You may contact me between sessions by email, text, or another agreed communication method for brief questions, practical matters, or reflections related to our work. Communication between sessions is not intended to replace a coaching session. I may not always be able to respond immediately. Root & Flow is not an emergency or crisis service. If you are experiencing an immediate safety concern or emergency, please contact the appropriate emergency or crisis service.

5. Payment and practical arrangements

The payment arrangement for your engagement will be agreed before the beginning of coaching. The practical terms relating to fees, payment, cancellations, rescheduling, missed sessions, pauses, refunds, and ending an engagement are set out in the Payment, Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy. That policy forms part of the overall coaching arrangement.

6. Pausing or ending coaching

Either of us may decide to end the coaching relationship. If you need a pause, a pause of up to approximately one month can generally be accommodated while maintaining the overall coaching rhythm. A longer pause may be possible by mutual agreement, although we may need to revisit the timeline, payment arrangement, or structure of the engagement. If coaching ends before the agreed container is complete, any applicable refund or remaining payment will be addressed according to the Payment, Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy.

7. Confidentiality and privacy

Confidentiality

I treat information shared within the coaching relationship as confidential. I will not intentionally disclose information you share in coaching except where:

• you have given permission to share it;
• disclosure is required or permitted by law;
• disclosure is necessary because of a serious and immediate concern about someone's safety; or
• limited information needs to be discussed as part of appropriate professional supervision, mentorship, or consultation.

I will make reasonable efforts to avoid unnecessary identifying information when discussing coaching work for professional learning or consultation. Confidentiality has legal and professional limits, and this agreement is not intended to create confidentiality beyond what applicable law permits. The Privacy Policy provides additional information about how personal information is collected, stored, and handled by Root & Flow.

Professional supervision, mentorship, and community of practice

Professional supervision, mentorship, and participation in a community of practice are part of responsible coaching practice. There may be occasions when I discuss aspects of my coaching work with my supervisor, mentor, or community of practice in order to reflect on my practice, consider an ethical question, or better support a client. I will make reasonable efforts to protect your identity and avoid sharing information that is not necessary for the purpose. If specific recording or identifiable client material is proposed for professional assessment, training, publication, or another purpose beyond ordinary professional consultation, I will seek appropriate permission before doing so.

Notes and client records

I may keep reasonable records to support the coaching relationship and the administration of the practice. These may include:

• contact and administrative information;
• session dates;
• coaching goals or areas of focus;
• relevant reflections;
• coaching plans;
• correspondence;
• scheduling information; and
• payment or engagement records.

I take reasonable steps to protect these records and retain them only for as long as reasonably necessary or required by law. The Privacy Policy provides more information about Root & Flow's approach to personal information and record retention.

8. Recording, transcription, and technology

Coaching sessions are not routinely video recorded. When audio recording or transcription is useful for the coaching process, I will ask for your explicit permission before recording. You are completely free to decline. Saying no will not affect our coaching relationship. Where recording or transcription is used, a third-party technology provider may process the recording or transcript. I make reasonable efforts to choose technology providers that give me meaningful control over how client information is used, including whether client content is used for AI model training or improvement. Where appropriate controls are available, I will use them to support client privacy and confidentiality. I will also take reasonable steps to minimize unnecessary identifying information and protect recordings and transcripts from unauthorized access. Recordings and transcripts are not routinely provided to clients. Where useful, I may instead share brief highlights, observations, or reflections from a session. The Privacy Policy provides additional information about technology, personal information, and privacy practices.

9. No guaranteed outcomes

Coaching is a developmental process and outcomes cannot be guaranteed. The work may support changes in awareness, perspective, behaviour, relationships, capacity, decision-making, or other areas of your life and work, but individual experiences and outcomes will vary. I cannot promise a particular personal, professional, financial, health, relationship, or career outcome.

10. Clarity Conversation and Student Coaching

The Clarity Conversation and Student Coaching are standalone coaching arrangements designed for a focused coaching conversation. The Clarity Conversation primarily draws on Solutions-Focused Coaching and provides space to explore a particular question, challenge, decision, or possibility. Student Coaching provides a focused coaching conversation for eligible currently registered students. These one-off arrangements have their own focused format and are different from an ongoing developmental coaching engagement.

11. Group coaching and other programs

Unless explicitly identified as group coaching, the coaching described in this agreement is individual coaching between you and Suzanne. Root & Flow may also offer workshops, learning programs, communities, or other experiences that draw on coaching principles without constituting individual or group coaching. Where a program is explicitly offered as group coaching, additional terms or a group charter may apply. Participants in group coaching are expected to respect the privacy of other participants. However, Root & Flow cannot guarantee that another participant will maintain confidentiality.

12. Professional standards

My coaching practice is informed by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) Core Competencies and ICF Code of Ethics, including principles relating to client agency, confidentiality, informed consent, professional boundaries, responsible use of technology, and ongoing professional development. These standards inform how I approach the coaching relationship but do not replace this agreement or applicable law.

13. Age and capacity

Root & Flow coaching is intended for adults aged 18 and over. By entering into a coaching engagement, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and have the capacity to enter into this agreement.

14. Limitation of Liability

You understand and agree that coaching is a collaborative process intended to support reflection, exploration, and personal or professional development, and that outcomes cannot be guaranteed (see Section 9). To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: Root & Flow Coaching and Suzanne B. Jones will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from or related to your coaching engagement, including but not limited to loss of income, loss of opportunity, emotional distress, or any decision you make or action you take during or after coaching, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, or any other legal theory, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Where liability cannot be fully excluded under applicable law, the total aggregate liability of Root & Flow Coaching and Suzanne B. Jones for any claim arising from your coaching engagement will not exceed the total fees paid by you for the specific coaching engagement giving rise to the claim. Nothing in this agreement is intended to exclude or limit liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or death or personal injury caused by negligence, where such exclusion is not permitted. This limitation applies regardless of your location, including where you are receiving coaching services from outside Canada.

15. Governing law

This agreement is governed by the laws of Ontario and the applicable laws of Canada. Any legal matter relating to this agreement will be addressed in accordance with the applicable laws and courts of Ontario, subject to any mandatory rights or protections that may apply to you under the laws of your place of residence.

16. Acceptance of this agreement

By beginning coaching with Root & Flow, you acknowledge that you have had an opportunity to read and understand this agreement and agree to work within these terms. If you have questions about any part of the agreement, please raise them before coaching begins. The agreement may be updated from time to time as the practice develops. If a material change affects an existing coaching engagement, I will discuss the change with you.

Contact

Root & Flow Coaching Suzanne B. Jones hello@groundworkcentre.ca

Related Root & Flow documents

This Coaching Agreement should be read alongside:

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Payment, Cancellation & Rescheduling Policy
• Professional Disclaimer

These documents work together to provide a clear framework for the Root & Flow relationship.

Professional references

For additional information about professional coaching standards:

• International Coaching Federation (ICF) Core Competencies
• International Coaching Federation (ICF) Code of Ethics

The Groundwork ecosystem

Root & Flow Coaching is Suzanne's independent coaching practice and is part of the broader Groundwork ecosystem. The Groundwork ecosystem includes Groundwork Centre, Headwaters Advisory Services, Root & Flow Coaching, and The Quiet Knowledge. These practices and initiatives may operate independently and may have their own services, collaborators, and information practices. Being part of the same ecosystem does not mean that personal information is automatically shared between them.