Leaving Headway? What the New Provider Agreement Says and How to Tell Your Clients

Written By Jessica Good

Headway's new provider agreement gives it the right to use your name, likeness, image, and voice forever. It can alter them, create new material from them, and license them to other companies. You aren't paid, you have no say in how they're used, and the rights continue after you leave. Here's what the contract says, what remains unclear, and what to tell your clients.

It was around 9 pm, and I was scrolling a social media app when I saw a screenshot. Someone said it was from Headway's new provider agreement.

I read it and stopped dead in my tracks. Were they really saying they'd own a therapist's likeness, voice, and everything else, in perpetuity?

Everyone was talking about the $9.99 marketplace fee. This was bigger. A fee can change next quarter. This said irrevocable and in perpetuity. Meaning once you sign you can't take it back and it lasts forever. I was aghast.

So I got on TikTok and spoke about it, then posted it in the Therapy Is A Business™ Facebook group. A few hours later the video had over 6,000 views and over 150 comments. Therapist after therapist confirming the agreement terms, expressing the shock and horror of what this could mean, and some therapists even grappling with the regret of signing it before realizing what it included.

By signing this contract it felt like they'd own you. Your likeness, your voice, your essence. Your likeness and voice become inventory, something they can license, edit, and sell long after you've left.

I run a 100% private pay practice and help therapists build theirs. I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice. What follows is a compilation of what I could find in the agreement pages therapists shared with me and on Headway's public pages as of October 16, 2026. Other sources may say more. Each section lays out what we know, what's still unclear, and the questions to send Headway in writing.

What Does Headway's Provider Agreement Say About Your Likeness and Voice?

Studio microphone against a gray wall, for the voice and likeness rights in Headway's provider agreement

What we know

  • The grant: Section II.E gives Headway's practice entity, its affiliates, and any company that later takes it over (its "successors and assigns") the right to use your name, bio, likeness, image, voice, photos, videos, and recordings.

  • The terms: The right is perpetual, meaning it never expires. It's irrevocable, so you can't withdraw it. And it's royalty-free, so you aren't paid for any use.

  • Alteration and new material: Headway can edit your content, combine it with other people's, and create new works from it "in any and all media now known or hereafter developed." That language reaches technology that doesn't exist yet, including AI-generated versions of you.

  • No approval, no legal recourse: You waive the right to review or approve how your content is used. You also release Headway from claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, and misuse of your identity, even when the changes are intentional.

  • It survives termination: Section IX.F keeps this section in force after the agreement ends, whether you leave or Headway ends it.

  • Scope: The license covers photos, video, audio, and recordings you "captured or provided" for Headway's platform. Nothing in the clause limits it to content added after you sign.

What's unclear

  • Content already on your profile: The license appears to cover your current headshot, bio, intro video, and voice clips. The contract doesn't say whether removing them before you sign makes a difference.

  • Your social media: Posts you never gave Headway don't appear to be covered, but it's less clear if your Headway profile links to them.

  • Plans for AI: The contract doesn't say. Headway job postings refer to "AI supported therapy experiences" (archived, March 2026) and "AI powered tools for both patients and providers" (current). Neither describes what those tools do.

  • Enforceability: Whether a court would uphold all of this depends on your state. That's a question for a lawyer.

Ask Headway in writing

  • Will Headway, or any company it works with, use my likeness, image, voice, speech patterns, or anything I say in sessions to build an AI therapist, avatar, chatbot, or other AI tool?

  • Does Section II.E cover my social media, or content I provided before signing this agreement?

  • If I remove content from my profile, will Headway delete its copies?

Does Headway Record or Use Your Therapy Sessions?

Person on a video call at a laptop, like a telehealth therapy session that Headway's agreement may cover

What we know

  • No audio or video is stored: Headway's Scribe privacy page states, "No audio or video is ever recorded or stored."

  • Scribe creates a transcript: Scribe, Headway's AI note-taking tool, transcribes the session once your client consents. Headway keeps the transcript for 30 days, during which some employees may review it for accuracy. It can retain it longer under applicable law and its own policies.

  • A de-identified copy may be kept: Headway may keep a version with client names and identifying details removed "to help us continue improving Scribe and other Headway products." It says this copy isn't used to train AI and isn't sold.

  • You can turn it off: In your Headway settings, you can stop Headway from keeping that copy. Headway says it will then delete your transcripts after 30 days, along with earlier ones tied to you. Only the provider can change this setting, not the client.

  • The privacy policies don't mention AI: Headway's privacy notice for providers was last updated in 2023, before this agreement existed.

What's unclear

  • "Improve" versus "train": Headway doesn't explain where improving a product ends and training AI begins.

  • Your side of the session: De-identifying removes client details. Nothing says what happens to your words or the way you speak.

  • Whether sessions count as Provider Content: The contract doesn't say whether transcripts fall under the likeness clause.

Ask Headway in writing

  • Are any transcripts or notes, including de-identified copies, used to build, train, test, or improve AI?

  • Does the de-identified copy remove my words, or only my client's information?

  • Is that setting turned on by default for my account?

If you've used Scribe, check that setting today.

What Else Is in the New Headway Agreement?

Pen resting on a stack of papers, for the other clauses in the Headway provider agreement

Two more clauses matter if you're considering leaving. Most of the rest is standard platform language.

Headway's Non-Solicitation Clause

What we know

  • Clients that found you through Headway, stay with Headway: For 12 months after you leave, you can't try to persuade clients who came to you through Headway to leave the platform (Section V.F).

  • Clients you brought are yours: They're explicitly excluded.

  • This isn't entirely new: Headway's help center says a version of this rule "is not new to your provider agreement."

What's unclear

  • Your previous agreement: It may not have included the same 12-month restriction, and it may still govern if you don't sign the new one.

  • Referrals: The contract doesn't say whether referring these clients to therapists outside Headway counts as trying to get them to leave.

Ask Headway in writing

  • Please send me the agreement I last signed. Did it restrict contact with Headway clients after I leave, and for how long?

  • When I leave, what is the referral process? Can I refer them to therapists outside of Headway?

Headway's Arbitration Opt-Out

Arbitration means disputes with Headway go to a private arbitrator instead of a court. The process is private, decisions are hard to appeal, and arbitration agreements often prevent class actions. Opting out preserves your right to sue in court. It doesn't change any other part of the contract, including the likeness clause.

What we know: Arbitration is covered by a separate agreement you must accept (Section XI), and Headway can't remove you solely for opting out (Section XI.B).

What's unclear: The opt-out deadline and process are in that separate document, which I haven't seen. The "30-day opt-out" therapists mention may refer to this.

Ask Headway in writing: Please send me the Arbitration Agreement. What is my deadline to opt out, and how do I submit it? Can I opt out of any other part of the agreement, including Section II.E?

What Should Therapists Do Before Signing the Headway Agreement?

Hand checking off a handwritten list in a notebook, like the steps to take before signing the Headway agreement

  1. Get the full agreement: Headway says you can click "Download full terms" at the top of the agreement pop-up (help center). If you only see a banner or one page at a time, ask Headway in writing for the complete agreement. To compare your copy with someone else's, a therapist in r/therapists walked through all 25 pages.

  2. Send your questions in one email: Combine the questions from each section above, and save Headway's reply.

  3. Run your numbers: Compare what you'd earn after the marketplace fee with what you could earn in private pay, using the fee calculator.

  4. If you stay, limit what you share: Use your own telehealth link, skip Scribe or turn off the de-identified copy, and keep your profile to one headshot and a written bio, with no video or voice clips.

  5. Talk to a lawyer: California and New York have laws that can limit digital replica clauses like this one. This agreement is governed by New York law.

If You're Leaving Headway

  • Download your records first: Some clinicians lost access to their records the day they gave notice to a platform, Barbara Griswold reports.

  • Start credentialing now: Your in-network status through Headway doesn't transfer, and insurers can decline to contract with you.

  • Ask about tail coverage: If your malpractice policy is "claims-made," ask your carrier about coverage for past sessions. The contract makes that your cost.

  • Check the directories: After you leave, confirm you're no longer listed through Headway, and remove its access to your CAQH profile.

How Much Notice Do You Have?

What we know: If you leave on your own, the agreement requires 30 days' written notice, or 60 if you see Medicare Advantage clients through Headway. Headway's account help page says deactivation takes 30 to 60 days.

What's unclear: What happens if you don't sign by the deadline, and whether Headway will contact your clients.

If Headway removes you for not signing, Headway set that timeline, not you. You may have far less than 30 days to tell clients, and that isn't your fault. Start those conversations now.

Ask Headway in writing: If I don't sign by the deadline, what's my last day to see clients through Headway? Will you contact my clients, and what will you tell them?

If You Already Signed

If you signed without reading every page, you're not bad. The deadline banner was there, and the signing process didn't make reading easy.

Some of you will stay, and that's a business decision you're allowed to make. Make it with full understanding of the contract though.

How Do You Tell Clients You're Leaving Headway?

Sunlit office with a gray sofa, bookshelves, and plants, like a room where a therapist tells clients they're leaving Headway

Tell them the truth, then focus on what changes for them: the date, cost, insurance coverage, and where sessions will happen.

  • Be accurate: "It gives them the right to" is accurate. "They're going to build an AI of me" isn't something you can prove yet.

  • Make room for their reaction: A client's first response may be fear of losing you. Give that space, and remember that your rights matter too.

  • Give as much notice as you can: Headway's own guide to leaving a practice suggests four to eight weeks. If Headway's deadline is setting your timeline, say so, and tell clients before Headway does.

Clients you brought to Headway can come with you. Before inviting clients who came through Headway to follow you, check with a lawyer. Either way, every client is owed a real transition and a written follow-up with the date and next steps.

What to Say to Clients

I want to let you know about a change. On [date], I'm leaving Headway. Headway is asking therapists to sign a new contract that gives them permanent and irrevocable rights to our names, faces, and voices, including the right to change them, sell them, and use them however they see fit. If I sign that agreement, I would have no control over how they use these very personal aspects of my being. That is not something I'm willing to do.

[For clients you brought: Our work doesn't have to change. After [date], here's what changes with billing or insurance.]

[For clients who came through Headway: If you want to stay in-network, you can find another therapist through Headway. I'll help you think through your options, and with your written permission, I can talk with your next therapist.]

If a client asks whether Headway used your sessions, explain that Headway says it never records audio or video. If you used Scribe, say so, and tell them whether you've turned off the de-identified copy.

Headway Provider Agreement FAQ

Can Headway use my likeness after I leave?

Under the contract, yes. Section II.E gives Headway a permanent right to your name, likeness, image, and voice, and Section IX.F keeps that right in force after you leave.

Can Headway use my social media posts?

Not based on the agreement's wording. It covers material you "captured or provided" for Headway's platform. It's less clear if your Headway profile links to your posts.

Does the license cover content I uploaded before signing?

It appears to. Nothing limits the license to content added after you sign, so your current headshot, bio, videos, and voice clips appear to be covered.

Does Headway record therapy sessions?

Headway says no audio or video is ever recorded or stored. Scribe keeps a transcript for 30 days and may keep a de-identified copy unless you turn that off in your settings.

Can I take my clients with me if I leave Headway?

Clients you brought, yes. The new agreement bars you from trying to persuade clients who came through Headway to leave for 12 months. Talk to a lawyer before inviting them to follow you.

Next Steps

If you're leaving Headway and need income while new panels catch up, the Accessible Private Pay Toolkit is your bridge. Use code FTHIS for $20 off. That code will be good until November 1st and makes it almost half off. I know a lot of therapists are panicking right now and hopefully this can provide some resource for them while they’re figuring it out.

When you're ready to leave panels for good, the Insurance Exit Plan is the next step. It opens this fall, and people on the waitlist get a lower price.

Sources

Jessica Good
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