Professional Disclaimer

A note about what coaching is

Root & Flow Coaching offers one-to-one coaching, group coaching, and community offerings to support reflection, learning, development, connection, and meaningful change.

My approach is grounded primarily in Integral Coaching, with elements of Solutions-Focused Coaching and embodied and developmental practices woven in where they are useful to the work.

Coaching is a collaborative process. It creates space to slow down, pay attention to what is happening, explore patterns and possibilities, and develop new ways of seeing and responding.

The work may touch many parts of life—including work, relationships, identity, leadership, transitions, purpose, and the way you relate to yourself and others.

Coaching can be deep and personal. It can also bring up emotions, memories, questions, or experiences that are better supported through another form of care.

That distinction matters.

1. What Root & Flow coaching can support

Coaching may be useful when you are:

navigating a transition or period of change;
exploring what you want next;
feeling stuck in an established pattern;
developing your leadership or professional practice;
wanting to understand yourself and your way of being more deeply;
working with questions of purpose, meaning, or direction;
experimenting with new ways of responding to familiar situations; or
developing practices that support greater capacity, awareness, or choice.

The specific focus and format of the work is shaped by your circumstances and by the offering or coaching arrangement we agree to. Root & Flow may offer one-to-one coaching, group coaching, community-based learning and connection, and other experiences that support personal and professional development.

For more about how this process works, see the Coaching Agreement.

2. Coaching, therapy and counselling

Coaching and therapy or counselling can sometimes overlap in the kinds of subjects people bring into the room, but they are different professional relationships with different purposes and scopes.

Root & Flow coaching is focused on development, learning, possibility, and the ways you want to engage with your life and work.

Coaching is not psychotherapy or counselling, and it is not intended to diagnose or treat mental health conditions, trauma-related conditions, or other clinical concerns.

If you are looking for therapy or counselling, or if therapeutic support would be more appropriate for what you are experiencing, I may recommend that you seek support from a qualified therapist, counsellor, or other appropriate professional.

You remain the person who decides what kind of support is right for you.

3. Medical, mental health and other professional care

Coaching does not replace medical, psychiatric, psychological, legal, financial, accounting, or other specialized professional advice or care.

I do not diagnose medical or mental health conditions, prescribe medication, provide medical treatment, or provide legal or financial advice through Root & Flow Coaching.

If you have a concern that requires specialized professional care, please seek support from an appropriately qualified professional.

If something arises during coaching that appears better supported by another professional, I may suggest additional or different support. This is part of caring for the integrity of the coaching relationship and the work we are doing together.

If you are experiencing an immediate health or safety emergency, contact the appropriate emergency or crisis service in your location rather than relying on coaching or this website.

4. Professional and business decisions

Coaching can support you in thinking through professional, organizational, and business questions.

It does not replace specialized professional advice.

Where a decision involves legal, financial, tax, medical, clinical, regulatory, or other technical expertise, you are responsible for seeking advice from the appropriate qualified professional.

Coaching can help you explore a decision. It does not determine the decision for you.

5. Your agency and responsibility

You remain responsible for your choices, decisions, actions, and use of information that arises through coaching.

My role is to offer a coaching relationship, perspective, questions, observations, practices, and developmental support. You decide what you take up, what you experiment with, and what actions you take.

In group coaching, you are also responsible for your participation in the group and for respecting the privacy and boundaries of other participants.

Coaching is not a promise that a particular result will occur.

The value of coaching depends on many things, including your circumstances, engagement, willingness to experiment, and the conditions around you. Outcomes therefore cannot be guaranteed.

6. When another kind of support may be more appropriate

There may be times when coaching is not the right form of support, or when another form of support would be useful alongside coaching.

This might include situations where you need:

medical assessment or treatment;
mental health assessment or treatment;
psychotherapy or counselling;
crisis or emergency support;
legal advice;
financial or tax advice; or
another form of specialized professional care.

If this becomes apparent during our work together, we can talk about it.

I may recommend that you seek another kind of support, pause coaching, or work with another professional alongside coaching.

The decision about what support to pursue remains yours.

7. Information on this website

The Root & Flow website provides general information about coaching, the Root & Flow approach, and available services.

Website content is intended to support understanding and exploration. It is not individualized professional advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional care or advice appropriate to your circumstances.

Information on the website may change over time, and I make reasonable efforts to keep it useful and accurate.

For information about how the website collects and handles personal information, please see the Privacy Policy.

For information about using the website, please see the Terms of Use.

8. No guaranteed outcomes

Coaching is a developmental relationship rather than a guaranteed result or prescribed solution.

I bring professional training, experience, attention, and care to the coaching relationship. You bring your own experience, agency, choices, and participation.

We work together with the questions, circumstances, and possibilities that are relevant to you.

Because people, circumstances, relationships, and organizations are complex, I cannot guarantee a particular personal, professional, financial, health, or business outcome from coaching.

9. Questions about whether coaching is right for you

You do not need to know in advance whether coaching is the right form of support.

If you are wondering whether Root & Flow coaching might be a good fit for what you are navigating, you are welcome to reach out and ask.

We can clarify what you are looking for, what coaching can offer, and whether another form of support may be more appropriate.

Contact

If you have questions about this disclaimer or about the scope of Root & Flow coaching, please contact:

Suzanne B. Jones

hello@groundworkcentre.ca

Professional references

Root & Flow's professional practice is informed by established coaching standards and ethical principles, including:

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

The Groundwork ecosystem

Root & Flow Coaching is Suzanne B. Jones's independent one-to-one coaching practice and part of a broader ecosystem of work that includes Headwaters Advisory Services, Groundwork Centre, Root & Flow Coaching, and The Quiet Knowledge.

These practices may operate independently and have different scopes, services, and terms. Being part of the same broader ecosystem does not mean that personal information is automatically shared between them.