Client Informed Consent

Last updated September 13, 2026

Little Wave Coaching, LLC
Sophie Gourdon | Certified Somatic Trauma Recovery Coach and Certified Clinical EFT Practitioner

  • Please read this informed consent before purchasing or beginning services. It explains the nature and limits of coaching, methods that may be offered, possible risks, privacy and technology limitations, fees, and your choices and responsibilities. In this document, “Coach” means Sophie Gourdon, “Little Wave Coaching” means Little Wave Coaching, LLC, and “Services” includes paid live coaching sessions, recurring coaching plans, Safe & Sound Protocol listening plans, related educational materials or recordings, and communications connected with those services.

  • A complimentary discovery call is a preliminary conversation to explore fit and does not establish a coaching relationship or constitute coaching, assessment, treatment, or crisis support. A coaching relationship begins after you accept this informed consent and enroll in a paid service. Accepting this consent does not require you to use every method described below. Proposed methods will be discussed with you, and you may ask questions, decline any exercise, request a modification, pause, or stop at any time.

Nature and Scope of Coaching

  • Little Wave Coaching provides nonclinical coaching for education, personal development, self-awareness, nervous-system resourcing, and self-directed change. Coaching may support you in exploring goals, patterns, emotions, bodily sensations, beliefs, habits, relationships, and personal experiences.

  • Coaching is not medical care, mental-health care, psychotherapy, counseling, rehabilitation, substance-use treatment, or crisis intervention.

  • Sophie Gourdon is not a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, licensed mental-health counselor, clinical social worker, nurse, or other licensed health-care provider. She does not evaluate, diagnose, treat, prevent, prescribe for, or cure physical or mental-health conditions. She does not provide clinical assessments or treatment plans, advise clients to begin, stop, or change medication, or represent coaching as licensed medical, behavioral, or mental-health care.

  • Website content, testimonials, links, and educational resources provide general information. They may not be complete, current, or appropriate for your circumstances and do not replace advice, evaluation, or care from a qualified licensed professional.

Qualifications and Methods

Sophie Gourdon is a Certified Somatic Trauma Recovery Coach and Certified Clinical EFT Practitioner, with additional training or certification in consulting hypnosis, IFS-informed and somatic parts work, HeartMath methods, somatic tracking and pain reprocessing, and the Safe & Sound Protocol. These are coaching, educational, or modality-specific credentials—not state licenses to practice medicine, psychology, psychotherapy, or mental-health counseling.

Depending on your goals, preferences, and suitability, Services may include:

  • Clinical EFT or tapping and Matrix Reimprinting variations

  • IFS-informed or somatic parts work and inner-child imagery

  • HeartMath breathing practices and Heart-Rate-Variability (HRV) biofeedback

  • Breath, mindfulness, grounding, somatic awareness, somatic tracking, or pain-reprocessing education

  • Consulting hypnosis, guided imagery, or recorded practices

  • Provider-guided access to Unyte’s Safe & Sound Protocol

These methods are used only within a nonclinical coaching relationship. “Clinical EFT” is the name of a modality and does not mean that clinical treatment is being provided. IFS-informed coaching is not IFS psychotherapy. Heart-rate-variability information is not a diagnosis. Somatic tracking and pain-reprocessing education are not medical evaluation or treatment for pain or other symptoms.

Hypnosis and imagery are not used to verify the historical accuracy of memories. Experiences arising during hypnosis or imagery should not be treated as established facts. The Safe & Sound Protocol requires separate screening, individualized pacing instructions, and informed consent before listening begins.

Licensed Care and Suitability

  • You remain responsible for obtaining appropriate medical, mental-health, pharmacological, legal, financial, or other licensed professional care. You agree not to delay, replace, alter, or discontinue prescribed care or medication because of coaching without first consulting the licensed professional responsible for that care.

  • Before beginning Services—and whenever your health, symptoms, diagnosis, medication, treatment plan, or circumstances change in a way that could affect safe participation—you agree to consult an appropriate licensed provider regarding suitability. You agree to provide accurate information relevant to your participation.

  • The Coach may require professional clearance, decline a particular method, pause or end Services, or recommend referral when a concern falls outside the scope or competence of coaching.

Crisis and Urgent Needs

  • Little Wave Coaching does not provide crisis assessment, emergency response, suicide prevention, detoxification, withdrawal management, treatment for active addiction, or treatment of any kind. Coaching is not appropriate as the sole or primary support for current suicidal intent or planning, risk of self-harm or harm to another person, psychosis, severe instability, or another acute medical or psychiatric crisis.

  • The Coach is not on call and does not continuously monitor email, text messages, voicemail, or platform messages.

  • If you are in immediate danger or need urgent help in the United States, call 911, call or text 988, or go to the nearest emergency department. Outside the United States, contact your local emergency number or crisis service. Do not wait for a response from the Coach.

Possible Risks and Client Choice

  1. Coaching, listening, and self-guided practices can involve uncomfortable experiences. Memories, thoughts, emotions, images, bodily sensations, fatigue, headache, changes in arousal or sleep, temporary distress, or disappointment may arise during or after participation. Some experiences may continue after a session and may indicate that a practice should be slowed, modified, paused, or discontinued. Outcomes vary, and no result is promised or guaranteed.

  2. You may decline to discuss any subject or participate in any method. You may ask to slow down, take a break, use grounding, or end an exercise or session. You agree to tell the Coach promptly if you feel overwhelmed, unsafe, unwell, or uncertain about continuing.

  3. For safer remote participation, you agree to:

  • Join live sessions from a physically safe and reasonably private place

  • Avoid driving, operating machinery, or participating while impaired

  • Follow agreed instructions and pacing, including Safe & Sound Protocol listening limits

  • Seek licensed or emergency care when a concern exceeds the scope of coaching

Privacy and Confidentiality

  • The Coach intends to keep personally identifying information shared through coaching private and will not intentionally disclose it without your written authorization except when disclosure is required or permitted by applicable law or reasonably necessary for safety or business operations.

  • Possible exceptions include a serious and imminent safety concern; suspected abuse or neglect when a legal reporting duty applies; a valid subpoena, court order, or other legal requirement; limited disclosure to scheduling, payment, technology, accounting, or legal service providers; or an emergency in which contacting your emergency contact or emergency services appears reasonably necessary. When practical, only information reasonably needed for the purpose will be disclosed.

  • Because this is coaching rather than licensed psychotherapy, communications with the Coach may not be protected by psychotherapist-patient privilege or the confidentiality requirements governing licensed health care. Written authorization is required before the Coach coordinates with a licensed provider on your behalf.

Remote Services, Technology, and HIPAA

  • Live sessions are conducted remotely through Zoom. Other services may involve Acuity Scheduling, email, text messaging, payment processors, listening applications, or similar third-party tools. Electronic information can be delayed, misdirected, lost, intercepted, or accessed without authorization, and every third-party service has its own terms and privacy practices.

  • Little Wave Coaching is a nonclinical coaching practice and does not represent itself as a HIPAA-covered health-care provider. Coaching records and communications should not be assumed to receive the same HIPAA protections as records held by a HIPAA-covered licensed provider.

  • The Coach will use reasonable privacy and security precautions appropriate to the coaching practice, but no electronic platform or transmission method can be guaranteed completely secure. You agree to take reasonable steps to protect your privacy, including using a secure device and network, keeping access links and passwords private, and joining live sessions where others cannot overhear when possible.

  • You agree to provide an accurate emergency contact and, when requested for a remote session, your current physical location.

Fees, Scheduling, Cancellations, and Subscriptions

  • Current fees and the terms of each session, plan, subscription, or program are displayed before purchase or booking. Payment is due at the time of purchase or booking. Payments are final and nonrefundable.

  • Live sessions canceled or rescheduled with less than 24 hours’ notice are charged in full. Missed appointments are also charged in full.

  • Recurring plans renew automatically at the price and frequency displayed during purchase until canceled. Cancellation stops future renewals according to the applicable plan terms and does not create a refund of payments already made.

Results and Personal Responsibility

  • The Coach does not guarantee any emotional, physical, relational, professional, financial, or other result. Testimonials and descriptions of other clients’ experiences do not predict your results.

  • You remain responsible for your decisions, disclosures, actions, well-being, and use of the information or practices offered. The Coach is not responsible for decisions made in place of appropriate licensed advice or for the use of Services in a way that conflicts with agreed safety or pacing instructions.

  • By participating, you knowingly accept the inherent risks described in this consent that remain after reasonable care. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Little Wave Coaching and the Coach are not responsible for losses caused by inaccurate or incomplete information you provide; failure to follow agreed safety or pacing instructions; failure to seek appropriate licensed or emergency care; use of materials contrary to instructions; or interruptions and security incidents caused by third-party systems outside their reasonable control.

  • To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Little Wave Coaching and the Coach will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from Services.

Ending Services

  • You may stop coaching at any time, subject to fees already incurred and the cancellation or subscription terms above.

  • The Coach may pause or end Services when coaching is outside scope, no longer appropriate, unsafe, ineffective, affected by a conflict, or inconsistent with agreed boundaries or payment obligations. When appropriate and reasonably available, the Coach may recommend that you seek a licensed or specialized provider.

Acceptance and Consent

By checking the required acceptance box before purchasing or booking Services, you confirm that you:

  • Are at least 18 years old and legally able to provide consent

  • Have reviewed this Client Informed Consent and had the opportunity to ask questions

  • Understand the nonclinical nature and limitations of Services

  • Understand the possible risks, privacy limitations, crisis boundaries, fees, and cancellation or subscription terms

  • Understand your right to decline, modify, pause, or stop any method

  • Freely consent to receive coaching Services under these terms