Ethics & Conduct Guidelines -
July 2024

Confidentiality

All our retreats, sessions, workshops, coaching/counseling, and support groups (hereinafter referred to as "sessions") are conducted under a confidentiality agreement. At the beginning of each event, we will explain what this means for the specific setting, including agreements regarding the anonymity of other attendees. Anything shared within a session will be treated with professional confidentiality and not disclosed to others. If we encounter clients outside of our professional activities, we will not disclose where we met them or any sensitive information about them.

Empowerment & Freedom of Choice

We encourage freedom of choice in participation, both at the start of a session and throughout its duration. Coercion to participate is avoided under all circumstances. If we suspect a process relating to inner resistance, we may remind participants of their reasons for attending the transformational event. 
Participants can choose not to participate in any activity and are free to leave the workshop at any time, provided they inform the facilitator or a team member (no explanation is demanded). It is also possible to stay and not participate. The only exception is in circumstances where we believe it would be unsafe for the participant to be unsupervised.
Service providers can interrupt or end a session if the well-being of the participant or provider requires it. Exercises are explained in advance to give participants the opportunity to decide if they want to participate. Participants are encouraged to modify exercises to suit their physical or other capabilities. Participants are not forced to work with any particular person, and exercises are never assumed to be reciprocal. Service providers use inviting terms rather than imperative forms.

Inclusiveness and Diversity

We are aware of social inequalities at the societal level, including:

• Gender (male/female ratios, transgender and nonbinary experiences)

• Sexual orientation (LGBTQIA+ issues, homophobia, biphobia, asexuality)

• Ethnicity and skin color (institutional and everyday racism)

• Body acceptance (societal positioning of different body types)

• Age (glorification and desexualization of youth and seniority)

• Ability (diversity of physical capabilities)

• Neurodiversity (assumptions about “normal” social behavior and sensitivity to group dynamics)

• Social class (education, employment, rural/urban background, social mobility)

We strive to create an inclusive space for minorities by:

• Believing in everyone’s self-identification without making assumptions.

• Clearly specifying who a session is suitable for and why.

• Avoiding generalizations, stereotypes, or deterministic statements about identity traits.

• Not dividing groups based on identity characteristics without practical reasons.

• Ensuring spaces are as accessible as possible and accommodating helpers when necessary.

We appreciate and take seriously any feedback on our adherence to these standards.

Marketing & Business Dealings

Recognizing that some participants may be more suggestible during and after intense processes, we refrain from publicizing or sharing specific details of our other offerings during onsite retreats unless asked directly. There are no hidden charges or donations expected beyond what is shown during registration. Any invitations or promotional information will be shared via email.
Our team members agree not to initiate or make any agreements with participants regarding business dealings or commercial projects during the retreat. Such matters can be followed up after a two-week period or after the integration call.

Sexual and Romantic Connections

The relationship between client and service provider is not an equal connection. We recognize that there is a power difference between service providers (including their team of assistants, organisers, etc) and clients. For this reason, we use guidelines regarding the possible establishment of a sexual or romantic connection between team and clients. We make a distinction between potential clients, existing clients, former clients, and people we knew before the service was provided.

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• Potential clients: Potential clients are people with whom we have not yet entered into a service provision, but with whom the potential client has indicated that they are interested in this and we as a service provider are considering the client. While sometimes some deep sharings and even processing happens during this consideration / consultation phase, even if for some reason, there is no payment involved in the session, The moment that the relationship moves into service provider roles, it will be clearly spoken and identified.  We encourage team members and potential participants to be transparent from the start about any desires or attractions so that we are aware of all dynamics when considering our ability to meet participant needs.  When individuals with whom we have connections (family, friends, partners, partners of partners) consider entering into a professional service with us, and that seems appropriate within the context of the service (where an individual session with a partner may be inappropriate, participation in a workshop could potentially be appropriate), an open discussion is started in which the shift in power dynamics, impact on the existing connection and possibility of impact on shared connections are discussed, as well as possible agreements on both a professional and personal level.

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• Existing clients: Clients are people with whom we have entered into a service provision (paid or unpaid). As a service provider, we do not enter into romantic or sexual connections with clients. Sexuality can be a theme within a session/workshop. In that case, sexuality in no form will take place outside this context of session/workshop.  If for example the client and service provider will be present at a third party event where the service providers are just attending a workshop, play party or otherwise, this should be discussed in advance (where possible), and agreements/boundaries for the interaction will be made about this.

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• Ex-Clients:  For medicine facilitators: No romantic or sexual connection is aspired within 4 months of cessation of professional activities.  For co-facilitators (not serving medicines), collaborators, assistants and organisers: No romantic or sexual connection is aspired within 2 weeks of cessation of professional activities.  If a situation arises within this period in which it is desired to deviate from this rule, the team member is obliged to contact other team members for reflection. We also encourage the client, whether or not in the presence of the service provider, to speak with at least one team member.  Team members also agree that during this period they will not make or allude to future plans for romance for after the period is over. 

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• People we already have a connection with:  Sometimes people with whom we already have a personal connection participate in a session. This connection originates in a situation without power dynamics and therefore differs from connections that arise within the power dynamics of the client/service provider dynamic and can therefore be seen as appropriate. Such a connection can give a client special status in workshops, or create a feeling of insecurity for people who are not familiar with this relationship. When appropriate and contributing to the security of the setting, these connections will be disclosed at the start of a workshop.

Because situations between client and service provider do not always fit in the context of basic ethical principles, it is possible to deviate from the above. In such a case, the service provider will always discuss it with the team eg (Organiser and co-facilitator)

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Being Trauma Informed

We strive to continuously learn about trauma, have sought education about trauma, the causes of trauma, and how to deal with trauma when it comes up in our clients.
We only work with clients with traumas (as far as we can reasonably know) that we believe we can handle safely when the trauma is touched. If we estimate that we cannot handle this safely, we will refer the client to trusted colleagues.
We are able to direct our team on how to deal with surfacing trauma where needed.

Team members

We carefully choose the people we work with, inform them of what we expect from them, offer appropriate compensation (financial or otherwise), and educate them about our ethical principles. Team members are invited to address each other and the service provider about their behavior.

Accountability

We value clarity, honesty and transparency. We refrain from spreading baseless misinformation, factual inaccuracies and lies. We do what we say, walk our talk, and if that doesn’t align (or seems not to align), we want to be held accountable.
If an incident occurs, we prefer to be addressed personally first. This can be done during our work or afterwards, in person or by e-mail. If one prefers, it is possible to use the feedback form on this page to give feedback or complain. If approaching the person responsible feels impossible, you can contact any one of the team members you feel comfortable with . We take both the reporter and their complaint extremely seriously. If one prefers, it is possible to use the feedback form on this page to give feedback or complain.