Your disclosure doesn't have to be perfect. Start with what's true about how you work right now, say it in plain language, and adjust as you learn more.
If you’ve decided to use AI in any part of your practice, disclosure is the professional move. It positions you as someone who thinks about these things before they get complicated, and it gives the people you work with the information they need to make their own decisions.
The practical question is: what do you actually say? To clients who ask. On your website. At the start of a new clinical relationship. When someone tells you they’re uncomfortable.
This guide gives you the language for each of those moments, built from real disclosure practice and adapted for service-based practitioners. The templates are written to be plain, honest, and easy to make your own.
Take an authentic approach
Your disclosure should reflect your actual AI use, not a hypothetical version of it. If you use AI lightly (occasional drafting of website content, some research assistance) your disclosure will look different from someone who uses it heavily for client session notes or intake procedures. That’s fine. A disclosure doesn’t have to be comprehensive to be meaningful. Even a single sentence on your website signals to clients that you’ve thought about this.
The goal is to give the people you work with enough information to make an informed choice about how they engage with you. Plain language does that better than legal language.
Part 1: Your website disclosure
This goes somewhere clients can find it before they book or contact you. Your About page, services pages, or a dedicated transparency page are all good choices. It doesn’t need to be long.
I use AI extensively and consent is a core value for me. This is my AI Disclosure (at the time of writing this post) which lives on a dedicated page linked from my About page:
How I Use AI.
I use AI in my work. I use it to solve problems, conduct research, write content, and develop strategy. I believe it makes me better at what I do for you, and I want you to know that upfront.
I also know that for some people, this is a reason not to work together. I respect that completely.
Here's what I believe: we all interact with AI every day, often without knowing it and almost never with the option to choose. That's exactly why this transparency matters to me. My work exists to support you in building a practice you're proud of. That has to start with honesty and consent. If this disclosure changes your decision, that's as it should be.
When We Work Together, You Choose
Before we begin any engagement, you decide how AI fits into our work. There are two options.
Option 1: AI is part of the process. You trust me to use AI responsibly, as needed. I disclose how AI contributed to every deliverable.
Option 2: AI requires your consent. I don't use AI to enhance your deliverables unless you say so. By default, I present work I produced without deliberately using AI tools and, if relevant, let you know where AI could add value. You decide whether and when to bring it in.
A note on both options: AI is embedded in everyday tools in ways that aren't always visible or avoidable. A Google search returns an AI-generated summary. Your phone finishes your sentences when you text a client. If you are opting out of AI enhancements, I can't guarantee that no AI touched any part of my process, and I don't believe anyone honestly can. What I can guarantee is how intentionally and transparently AI is used to shape the work I deliver to you. No matter what you decide, privacy and security are important to me, and I never feed sensitive client data to AI.
If you have questions about how AI shows up in any part of my process, I'm always happy to talk through it.
Building yours
Here’s what a thorough and specific disclosure covers:
Which AI tools you use. You don’t need to list every tool, as the specifics might change. Name categories: “AI writing assistance,” “AI research,” or “AI transcription for intake and session notes.”
The purpose. Be honest about where AI touches your work and why you use it: “I use AI writing tools for social media and email marketing support in order to increase efficiency and spend more time with clients.”
Privacy and security. If you use an AI transcription tool for session notes, is that client data stored securely? Is the data you generate using the app sent back to the app creator to train AI? Are you using any additional tools to review or analyze that information? If your tools have clear privacy commitments, say so. (For a quick explainer on the technical considerations and where to find the specifics, check out “AI and Client Privacy: What Every Practioner Should Check Before Choosing”)
What stays human. Chances are some aspects of your practice are entirely human powered, with no technology or AI involved. Name those areas. Your clinical judgment, your decision-making, your training, your direct client care. Stating what AI doesn’t touch can be just as reassuring as explaining what it does.
Adapting it to your situation
If you use AI occasionally to draft a newsletter, research a business question, or get a social post started, your disclosure can be simple: “I occasionally use AI tools to assist with [specific tasks]. All sessions, programs, and offerings are 100% human powered.”
This still matters, even if it feels minor. A disclosure isn’t only for heavy AI use. It’s a signal that you’re paying attention, and it sets a standard you can build on as your practice evolves.
If you work with contractors who may use AI in connection to your business (such as for marketing, bookkeeping, or administrative support) you can note that: “I work with operational partners to run my business, and AI may be employed to deliver these services.”
It’s worth asking your contractors and service providers directly whether AI is part of their process. You may not know, and your disclosure should reflect the full picture of how AI touches your clients’ experience, not just the parts you control.
If your business relies on platforms with embedded AI — a booking system, a CRM, or a marketing tool that uses AI features, consider naming that: “While our sessions and programming are always 100% human designed and led, our business is powered by technology platforms that may use AI to deliver an exceptional customer experience.”
Part 2: The new client conversation
Have this conversation before you start using AI in any part of a client engagement. It doesn’t need to be a big moment, but the timing is important.
For intake and session documentation:
If you use AI to transcribe or synthesize notes after a session or intake, let the client know upfront: “If you’re comfortable with it, I use an AI app to help with documentation. It transcribes your responses and synthesizes notes for me, and nothing gets shared with anyone else. Would you like to proceed that way, or would you prefer I take notes by hand?”
Then be ready for the client to ask questions or opt out. Have a plan for how you’ll handle that session differently.
For follow-up communication:
If you use AI to help draft follow-up emails, session summaries, or care recommendations, a simple note covers it: “I sometimes use AI tools to help me draft written follow-ups. I always review and personalize everything before it goes to you. Let me know if you’d prefer I write these from scratch.”
For content that references client work:
If you develop resources, blog posts, or educational content using insights from your practice (anonymized, of course), and AI assists in that process, it’s worth mentioning: “I use AI to help develop some of the educational content I share. No client-specific information is ever used in that process.”
The pattern across all of these is the same: name the tool, name the purpose, name the boundary, and give the client a choice. Most clients won’t have strong feelings about it. But the ones who do will remember that you asked.
Part 3: When a client pushes back
Someone tells you they’re not comfortable with AI in your clinical relationship. Here’s how to handle it without losing the relationship or compromising your integrity.
Start by listening. Take the time to understand where they’re coming from and what they need. Are they uncomfortable with a specific tool, a specific task, or AI in general? Sometimes the concern is narrower than it first sounds.
A good opening: “I appreciate you telling me that. Can you help me understand what specifically concerns you, so I can make sure we’re set up in a way that feels right for both of us?”
What could be negotiable:
- Which tools you use for their sessions or case
- Which tasks AI touches in their care
- How AI use is disclosed and discussed as you go
What to be honest about:
Some AI use cases are optional time-savers. If a client is uncomfortable with AI transcription, maybe you can take handwritten notes instead. Offering to make that change can build real trust with someone who has expressed concern.
Other use cases are harder to remove. If your scheduling platform, payment processor, or email system has AI features built in, that’s not something you can easily turn off for one client. Be honest about that: “I can absolutely handle your notes and follow-ups without AI. I want to be transparent that some of the business tools I use, like my scheduling platform, have AI features built in that I can’t selectively disable. I want you to know that so you can make the best decision for yourself.”
And if a client’s initial concern opens up a bigger conversation because their discomfort with one tool reflects a broader stance on AI, take that seriously. If you use AI in other parts of your practice that affect their experience, it’s better to share that now than to have them discover it later and feel misled.
A few things to watch out for
Legalistic language. Disclosures that sound like terms of service don’t build trust and are more likely to be misunderstood or ignored. If your disclosure requires careful reading to understand, rewrite it in plain language.
Over-explaining. You don’t need to justify your AI use in the disclosure itself. Say what it is. The conversation that follows is where context and nuance belong.
Thinking your use is too minor to disclose. Even if you only use AI to draft a social media caption once a month, a line on your website that says so can set a professional standard and normalizes the practice. It’s easier to start simple and expand your disclosure as your use evolves than to add one retroactively when a client asks.
Setting it and forgetting it. Your AI use will change over time, and your disclosure should keep pace. Revisit it when you adopt new tools or change how you use existing ones. A quarterly check is a good rhythm.
Treating it as a one-time conversation. You may need a disclosure moment at the intake stage, and again later if you use AI to draft a care plan or session summary. If you get the sense that the client is not engaged, ask them how they want to be informed going forward.
Where the standards are heading
The regulatory landscape around AI is moving quickly, and it’s moving in one direction: toward more transparency.
The FTC has begun enforcing disclosure requirements for AI-generated content in commercial contexts, with penalties that started in late 2025 (source: “FTC AI-Generated Content Disclosure: 2026 Rules Explained” Human Ads, March 2026). Most of that enforcement so far has focused on advertising and sponsored content, not service-based practices like yours. But the direction is clear, and the underlying principle that people deserve to know when AI is involved, applies well beyond advertising.
Within holistic health, professional associations are at different stages. The NCCAOM has established a dedicated AI Taskforce focused on responsible integration, patient safety, and ethical standards. Yoga Alliance hasn’t issued AI-specific guidance yet, but their existing Code of Conduct already covers the principles that matter most: honesty in communication, accurate representation, and privacy and consent when collecting student or client data. The American Psychological Association (APA) has published detailed ethical guidance on AI in clinical practice, including recommendations around informed consent, data privacy, human oversight, and documenting AI use — a useful reference even if you’re not a psychologist. (Source: ACA and APA Guidance for the Use fo AI for Therapists, blueprint, May 2026)
The short version: most professional codes of ethics in holistic health don’t specifically address AI yet. That could change. The disclosure practices in this guide already align with where the standards are heading: transparency, informed consent, plain language, and ongoing communication.
Start where you are
Your disclosure doesn’t have to be perfect. Start with what’s true about how you work right now, say it in plain language, and adjust as you learn more. That level of care goes a long way.
If you’re just getting started and AI only touches a small part of your work, a sentence or two on your website is enough. If you’re using AI more extensively, your disclosure will need more detail and your client conversations will need more care. Either way, the act of disclosing plainly, (before anyone has to ask) can set you apart.
Practitioners who take this step now demonstrate their commitment to building client relationships ethically, because trust isn’t built by avoiding hard conversations; it’s built by having them first.
This guide reflects good-faith business practices for solo practitioners as of mid-2026. It is not legal advice. If your practice involves clinical records, insurance billing, or multi-provider operations, consult with a professional who can advise on the compliance requirements specific to your situation.