Couples therapy contract template (UK)
A contract written for one client leaves big gaps when two people are in the room. Who owns a secret? What if one of you stops? Who can ask for the notes? Here is what to settle at the start, and a template both partners can sign.
By the NoteSono team · Last reviewed · 6 sources checked
The short answer
A couples therapy contract covers the same ground as an individual contract, plus the things that only arise with two clients: who the client is, whether you see partners alone, your secrets policy, what happens if one partner stops, how you respond to domestic abuse, who pays, and how each partner can access records that are about both of them.
BACP's guidance on making the contract says that when working with couples you need to consider how confidentiality is agreed. A free template with the options set out is below.
What is different about contracting with a couple
Your individual therapy contract still covers the basics: fees, cancellations, confidentiality and its limits, records, complaints. BACP's Ethical Framework expects clients to have the information they need in advance, and to be told about any reasonably foreseeable limits to confidentiality before the work starts. With two clients, there are more of those limits to explain.
| Issue | Why it needs its own clause |
|---|---|
| Who the client is | You owe a duty to both partners. Saying you work with both, and with the relationship, heads off the feeling that you have taken a side. |
| Individual sessions | Seeing one partner alone creates information the other does not have. Decide in advance whether you offer it, and offer the same to both. |
| Secrets | Without a stated policy, a disclosure in a phone call can leave you holding a secret that undermines the joint work. |
| Contact between sessions | BACP has reported a complaint where a therapist forwarded an email about a joint session to one party without consent. Say how you handle messages from one partner. |
| One partner stopping | Continuing with the remaining partner can look like taking sides. Agree the terms in advance. |
| Domestic abuse | Joint sessions can be unsafe where one partner is abusing the other. You need a way to find out, and a plan. |
| Fees | Who is liable, especially if the relationship ends partway through. |
| Records | Joint notes contain personal data about both partners, so a request from one involves the other. |
Choosing a secrets policy
There is no single right answer. What matters is that you choose one, explain it before anyone tells you anything, and apply it the same way to both partners.
No-secrets policy
Anything one partner tells you alone may be brought into joint sessions. It is simple and keeps the work transparent, but a partner may hold back things you need to know, including about safety.
Limited-secrets policy
What one partner tells you alone stays private, unless keeping it would make the couples work dishonest or unsafe. It gives you more information, but you need to be clear what "dishonest or unsafe" means for you, for example an ongoing affair.
Safety always overrides the policy
Domestic abuse and safety
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as abusive behaviour between two people aged 16 or over who are personally connected, which includes partners. Abusive behaviour includes physical or sexual abuse, violent or threatening behaviour, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, and psychological, emotional or other abuse. It can be a single incident or a pattern.
Respect, which runs the Respect Phoneline for people using abuse and for professionals, says it explains to callers why couples counselling is not a safe intervention where there is domestic abuse. A partner may not be able to speak freely in the room, and what is said in a session can be used against them at home.
- Give each partner a private way to raise concerns, such as a short individual session at the start or a direct phone number.
- Ask about fear, control and money, not only violence. Coercive control and economic abuse are part of the legal definition.
- Put in the contract that you may pause or stop joint sessions if you are concerned about safety, and that you will do it in a way that does not increase risk.
- If children live in the home, follow your safeguarding procedure.
- Professionals can get advice from the Respect Phoneline on 0808 8024040 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm).
Free couples counselling contract template
Copy it into your own document, or download it as a Word file. Where a clause says "Choose one", keep the option that fits how you work and delete the other. Replace everything in highlighted brackets.
Records, and when one partner asks for them
Each partner has the right to a copy of their personal data. Joint session notes are usually about both of them, so a request from one partner includes information about the other.
The ICO's subject access guidance says that where information is about another person, you can disclose it if that person has consented. Without consent, you have to decide whether it is reasonable to disclose anyway, balancing the requester's right of access against the other person's rights.
- Say in the contract that this is how you will handle requests, so neither partner is surprised.
- Keep notes factual and balanced, and write them on the assumption that either partner may read them.
- Decide whether notes from individual sessions sit in the joint record or separately, and say which.
- Make sure your privacy notice explains how joint records are held.
Separating couples sometimes ask a counsellor for a letter or report for court. Saying at the start that you do not provide these, unless ordered to, protects the work and both partners.
Common questions
Who is the client in couples therapy?
Most couples counsellors say they work with both partners and with the relationship. Whatever you decide, put it in the contract, because it shapes your secrets policy, individual sessions and what happens if one partner stops.
Should a couples counsellor keep secrets between partners?
That depends on your policy, and you should choose one before the work starts. A no-secrets policy brings anything said alone into joint sessions. A limited-secrets policy keeps it private unless that would make the work dishonest or unsafe. Neither covers a risk of serious harm.
Is couples counselling suitable if there is domestic abuse?
Respect, the UK organisation that runs a phoneline for professionals and people using abuse, says couples counselling is not a safe intervention where there is domestic abuse. Give each partner a private way to raise concerns, and be ready to stop joint sessions and offer individual support.
Can one partner get a copy of joint session notes?
They can ask for their personal data. Where the notes also contain information about the other partner, the ICO says you can share it with that partner's consent, or without it if it is reasonable to do so after balancing both people's rights. You may need to withhold parts that are only about the other partner.
What happens if one partner wants to stop couples counselling?
Agree this in advance. Many counsellors offer a final session to the remaining partner and then either individual work, on agreed terms, or a referral to someone new so they do not appear to take sides.
Sources
Checked on 30 October 2026. Rules and prices change, so check the source before you rely on a figure.
- BACP Good Practice in Action 055: Making the contract (fact sheet) — section 3.9 on couples and confidentiality
- BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions (2018)
- BACP: What complaints tell us (July 2024) — joint session email forwarded without consent
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021, section 1 — definition of domestic abuse
- Respect Phoneline: frontline workers
- ICO: Subject access request, information about other people
This guide is general information, not legal advice. It reflects the guidance and law as we read them on the date above. Your professional body's current guidance takes precedence.