Terms & Conditions
Last updated: 1 September 2026
These Terms & Conditions apply to services provided by Authentic Work.
Authentic Work is the trading name of Pause For Thought Consulting Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 14617834, with registered office at 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ.
Email: info@authenticwork.co.uk
These terms explain what you can expect from Authentic Work, the scope of the service, and the practical arrangements for booking and attending sessions.
Please read them before booking. You will be asked to confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms & Conditions as part of the online booking process.
1. About Authentic Work
Authentic Work provides practical, neuroaffirming executive-function coaching for adults aged 18 and over.
The service is designed for neurodivergent adults, including autistic adults, adults with ADHD and AuDHD adults.
A formal diagnosis is not required. You are welcome whether you have a diagnosis, are awaiting assessment or identify as neurodivergent.
Authentic Work is led by an HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist. Psychological knowledge and professional experience inform the work alongside practical, individualised coaching support.
2. What executive-function coaching involves
Executive-function coaching focuses on practical situations where things are becoming difficult to manage.
This might include:
working out what to prioritise;
getting started with tasks;
breaking down overwhelming pieces of work;
organising files, paperwork or information;
managing emails and administrative tasks;
keeping track of appointments and deadlines;
managing time and competing demands;
switching between tasks;
developing workable systems or routines; and
following tasks through.
We usually begin with a specific situation that matters to you.
Together, we explore what seems to be making the situation difficult and develop practical strategies, systems, supports or adjustments to try. We can then review what was useful, what was not, and adapt the approach around how you work and process information.
There is no expectation that one system or strategy will suit everybody. Coaching involves trying, reviewing and adapting approaches rather than applying a predetermined solution.
3. Coaching rather than psychological therapy
Authentic Work provides executive-function coaching rather than psychological therapy.
Psychological understanding informs the approach, but the service does not provide:
psychological or neurodevelopmental diagnostic assessment;
psychotherapy;
treatment for mental-health conditions;
medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment; or
crisis or emergency mental-health care.
Executive-function coaching is not a substitute for medical, psychological, psychiatric or other professional healthcare where this is needed.
Being a coaching client of Authentic Work does not prevent you from receiving therapy, medical care or other professional support elsewhere.
If your main current need is assessment or treatment for significant or complex mental-health difficulties, another service may be more appropriate at that time.
4. Not a crisis or emergency service
Authentic Work is not a crisis or emergency service.
The website, booking system, questionnaires and email address are not continuously monitored and are not appropriate ways to seek urgent support.
If you are or someone else are at immediate risk of harm or need urgent medical or mental-health assistance, please seek appropriate urgent support.
In an immediate emergency in the UK, call 999 or attend your nearest emergency department. For other urgent mental-health needs, you can contact your GP or an appropriate NHS or urgent mental-health service.
5. Financial, legal and other specialist advice
Coaching may involve practical tasks connected with employment, self-employment, running a business or studying.
For example, we might work on organising invoices or paperwork, planning when to complete administrative tasks, keeping track of information or deciding how to approach competing responsibilities.
The focus is on the executive-functioning aspects of managing these tasks.
Authentic Work does not provide financial, investment, tax, accounting, legal, employment-law or other regulated specialist advice.
Where a decision requires specialist professional advice, you should seek this from an appropriately qualified professional.
You remain responsible for your own financial, legal, employment, educational, business and other decisions.
6. Making sure coaching is a good fit
Authentic Work is intended for adults whose main current goal is practical support with executive functioning.
Part of providing the service responsibly involves considering whether coaching is appropriate for what you currently need.
There may be occasions where Authentic Work considers that coaching is not the right service, or is no longer the right service. This might be because:
your main current need would be better addressed through psychological, psychiatric or medical assessment or treatment;
your needs fall substantially outside the scope of the coaching service;
safety concerns arise that cannot appropriately be supported within this service;
coaching cannot reasonably or safely be provided remotely; or
continuing the work would otherwise fall outside appropriate professional practice.
Where possible, this will be discussed with you openly and sensitively. If another form of support appears more appropriate, this can also be discussed with you.
If Authentic Work decides before a booked session that the service is not appropriate and cancels the appointment, any payment made for that undelivered session will be refunded.
7. Initial and follow-up sessions
New clients normally begin with an Initial Executive Functioning Consultation.
Follow-up Executive Functioning Coaching sessions can then be booked if you would like further support.
There is no requirement to purchase a package or commit to a particular number of sessions.
The current description, length and fee for each appointment type will be shown on the website or booking system before you book.
Fees may change from time to time. Any revised fee will apply to future bookings and will not change the agreed price of an appointment that has already been booked and confirmed.
8. How online booking works
Appointments are booked through Authentic Work's online booking system, currently provided by Acuity Scheduling.
You will choose an available appointment, provide the required booking information, complete the relevant booking confirmations and make payment.
Confirmation
Your appointment will normally be confirmed automatically once the online booking process and required payment have been successfully completed.
You will receive an electronic confirmation of your booking.
The contract for the booked service is normally formed when your booking is confirmed.
Pre-session questionnaire
After booking an Initial Executive Functioning Consultation, you will be asked to complete a pre-session questionnaire.
This helps Authentic Work understand what you would most like support with and gives you an opportunity to share information that may be helpful in preparing for your session.
It may also ask about communication or accessibility preferences and information relevant to whether coaching appears appropriate for your current needs.
Please complete the questionnaire within the timeframe requested before your appointment.
Review before your session
Information provided through the booking process or questionnaire may be reviewed before your appointment.
For most people, nothing further will be required and the session will go ahead as booked.
If something you have shared suggests that another form of support may be more appropriate, Authentic Work may contact you before the appointment to discuss this.
If Authentic Work decides that the booked service is not appropriate and cancels the session before it has been provided, your payment for that session will be refunded.
9. Fees and payment
The price of your appointment will be clearly displayed before you complete your booking.
Unless another arrangement has been agreed in advance, payment is made as part of the online booking process.
Authentic Work may change its fees in the future, but this will not retrospectively change the fee for an appointment that has already been booked and confirmed.
If you request additional professional work outside a standard coaching appointment, such as a substantial report or another piece of work, what is required and any additional fee will be discussed and agreed with you beforehand.
10. Your 14-day cooling-off rights
When you book a service online, UK consumer law may give you a 14-day statutory cancellation period after the contract is entered into.
This is sometimes referred to as a cooling-off period.
If you book an appointment that will take place within those 14 days, you do not need to wait until the cooling-off period has ended.
As part of the booking process, you will be asked separately to expressly request that Authentic Work begins providing the service during the 14-day cancellation period.
If you exercise your statutory right to cancel after the service has already begun at your express request, you may be required to pay an appropriate amount for the part of the service that has already been provided.
If the booked service has been fully provided during the cancellation period following your express request, and you have acknowledged that your cancellation right will end once the service has been fully performed, your statutory right to cancel that completed service may come to an end.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions affects any statutory consumer rights that apply to you.
Information about how to exercise a statutory cancellation right is provided at the end of these Terms.
UK regulations require an express request where a consumer wants a service to begin within the statutory cancellation period.
11. Cancelling or rearranging an appointment
Sometimes plans change. If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, please give at least 48 hours' notice.
Appointments cancelled or rearranged with less than 48 hours' notice, and appointments that are missed without notice, will normally be charged at the full session fee. This is because the appointment time has been reserved specifically for you and may not be possible to offer to somebody else at short notice.
Authentic Work may waive or reduce the charge where there are exceptional circumstances.
Any cancellation charge will be applied fairly and in accordance with applicable consumer law.
This cancellation policy does not affect any statutory consumer rights that apply to you.
UK consumer guidance permits cancellation terms but requires them to be fair and not excessive in relation to the loss caused by the cancellation.
12. If Authentic Work needs to cancel
Occasionally an appointment may need to be rearranged because of illness, an emergency, technical difficulties or another unexpected circumstance.
If Authentic Work needs to cancel your appointment, you will be offered either an alternative appointment or a refund of any payment made for the cancelled session.
13. Arriving late
If you join your appointment late, the session will normally still finish at the originally scheduled time because another appointment or professional commitment may follow.
The normal session fee will remain payable.
If Authentic Work is responsible for a significant delay, reasonable steps will be taken to provide the agreed professional time or arrange a suitable alternative.
14. Access to Work funding
If you intend to use Access to Work funding, please contact Authentic Work before booking through the standard online booking system.
If you already have an Access to Work award for relevant coaching or coping-strategy support, you may be asked to share the relevant parts of your award so that the support and funding arrangements can be checked.
This may include the type of support approved, approved rate, session arrangements, award period and payment arrangements.
You remain responsible for managing your Access to Work award and claim, checking that the support you purchase is covered by your award, and complying with the terms of that award.
Unless a different arrangement has been agreed, Authentic Work invoices you and you remain responsible for payment for the service.
Authentic Work can provide appropriate quotations, invoices or receipts for use with your claim.
Authentic Work cannot guarantee that Access to Work will approve or reimburse a particular service or cost and does not routinely manage Access to Work applications, funding decisions, appeals or claims on behalf of clients.
15. Remote sessions
Sessions are provided remotely, either by video call or telephone, depending on what has been agreed and what is appropriate for the session.
For video appointments, please use a suitable device and internet connection and, where possible, join from somewhere that gives you enough privacy and comfort to participate.
For telephone appointments, it is helpful to take the call somewhere reasonably private and safe to talk.
Please do not take part in a session while driving or in another situation where doing so would be unsafe.
Authentic Work's services are ordinarily provided to clients who are in the UK at the time of their session.
If you expect to be outside the UK at the time of an appointment, please let Authentic Work know beforehand. Professional, regulatory or insurance requirements can sometimes affect whether a session can be provided while you are in another country.
If technical or connection difficulties prevent a video session from going ahead as planned, it may be possible to continue by telephone or rearrange the appointment, depending on the circumstances.
16. Confidentiality
Your privacy is important, and information shared during coaching is treated as confidential in accordance with applicable data-protection law and relevant professional standards.
Authentic Work does not routinely share information about you with your employer, educational institution, Access to Work, family members or other third parties without your permission or another appropriate lawful basis.
There are some circumstances in which confidentiality cannot be absolute. Relevant information may need to be shared where:
you have asked or agreed for information to be shared;
disclosure is required or permitted by law;
there is a serious safeguarding concern;
there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of another person; or
there is another overriding legal, professional or public-interest reason for doing so.
Where it is safe and appropriate, Authentic Work would normally aim to discuss this with you first.
More information about how your information is handled is available in the Privacy Policy.
17. Personal information and records
Authentic Work keeps appropriate records of the services it provides.
Personal information is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy and applicable UK data-protection law.
Some of the information you choose to share may relate to neurodivergence, disability, health or wellbeing and may therefore receive additional protection under data-protection law.
When contacting Authentic Work through the general website form, a brief outline of your enquiry is usually all that is needed. If more detailed information would be helpful for coaching, you will have an opportunity to provide this through the appropriate booking or pre-session process.
18. Communication between sessions
Email and the website contact form are mainly used for booking, administrative matters and brief practical communication.
They are not continuously monitored and are not suitable for crisis or emergency support.
The fee for a coaching session does not normally include substantial additional coaching, report writing, liaison or other professional work outside the appointment.
If additional work would be useful, this can be discussed with you first, including any additional fee.
19. AI-assisted transcription, note-taking and summaries
Authentic Work may use digital or AI-assisted tools, such as Heidi Health or an equivalent provider, to support professional note-taking, transcription, record-keeping and the preparation of session summaries or action plans.
These tools may be used in different ways. For example, they may help to:
transcribe or support note-taking during a session;
process notes or a professional summary prepared after a session;
prepare a concise professional record; or
prepare a summary or action plan following a session.
Where an AI-assisted service processes personal information, this will be handled in accordance with Authentic Work's Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection requirements.
Any AI-generated note, transcript, summary or action plan will be reviewed by Authentic Work before it is relied upon as part of the professional record or shared with you.
If an AI-assisted tool is going to listen to, process or transcribe your conversation during a live session, you will be informed beforehand and you can choose not to have live transcription used. An alternative approach to note-taking can be used instead.
Sessions will not be audio- or video-recorded by Authentic Work without informing you and agreeing the arrangements beforehand.
If you would like to record a session or use your own transcription or AI note-taking tool, please discuss this with Authentic Work in advance. This allows confidentiality, privacy and any accessibility needs to be considered together.
20. Session summaries, action plans and coaching materials
Authentic Work may provide you with a written session summary, action plan, worksheet, template, guide or another resource to support the work between sessions.
These are intended to help you remember or put into practice what has been discussed. They are not medical reports, psychological assessments or formal diagnostic opinions unless a different piece of professional work has been expressly agreed.
Materials provided by Authentic Work are normally for your personal use and should not be reproduced, sold or commercially distributed without permission.
21. Working with associate practitioners
Authentic Work may provide some services through appropriately qualified associate practitioners.
If an associate practitioner will be working with you, you will be told who they are and their professional role will be made clear.
Any regulated professional remains professionally accountable for their own practice.
Where more than one Authentic Work practitioner is involved in providing your service, relevant information may be shared between them where this is necessary, appropriate and lawful for your coaching.
22. Ending or pausing coaching
There is no requirement to continue coaching for a particular length of time. You can choose whether you would like to book further sessions.
Authentic Work may also suggest pausing or ending coaching where:
you feel you have achieved what you wanted from the service;
another type of support may be more useful;
your needs have moved outside the scope of executive-function coaching;
maintaining appropriate professional boundaries has become difficult; or
continuing the work would otherwise not be safe or professionally appropriate.
Where possible, this will be discussed with you rather than happening unexpectedly.
Any fees already due for services provided or appointments cancelled in accordance with the cancellation policy remain payable.
23. The collaborative nature of coaching
Authentic Work will provide its services with reasonable care and skill.
Executive-function coaching is collaborative. We can explore what is happening, think about possible approaches and develop strategies, systems, supports or adjustments together.
You remain free to decide what feels appropriate to try in your own circumstances.
Because people, workplaces, tasks and circumstances differ, Authentic Work cannot guarantee that a particular strategy will work or promise a particular personal, educational, occupational, business, financial or other outcome.
24. Concerns and complaints
Authentic Work wants you to feel able to raise a concern if something about the service has not felt right.
Where possible, concerns will be approached openly and fairly, with the aim of understanding what has happened and identifying an appropriate way forward.
You can contact:
Further information is available in Authentic Work's Complaints Procedure, linked from the website.
Using the Authentic Work complaints process does not prevent you from exercising your legal rights or, where relevant, raising a concern with an appropriate professional regulator.
25. Changes to these Terms & Conditions
Authentic Work may update these Terms & Conditions from time to time as the service, technology, professional requirements or applicable law change.
The terms that normally apply to an appointment are those that were in place when you booked it.
A later change will not retrospectively alter the agreed fee or other material terms of an appointment that has already been confirmed unless this is required by law or agreed with you.
26. Your statutory rights
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
Consumer contract terms must be fair and transparent, and unfair terms cannot simply be made enforceable by including them in a contract.
27. Governing law
These Terms & Conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales.
If you live elsewhere in the UK, this does not remove any mandatory consumer protections that apply to you.