Ethics

These are my guiding principles:

I Commit to My Ethics by Embodying Them in Life

My ethics are not simply a set of rules I show up for in the professional container. Ethics are not a hat I wear. I have come to the conclusion that ethics of this nature are best embodied and exemplified in my own life first. I walk this talk of my ethics in my relationships with myself, my partner, my family and my community.

Go Slowly

I move slow to capture it all. I take a moment or as many moments as needed to move, speak and listen. I own and am aware of internal parts and how they may drive me to speed up, or to impress, or to act out. Going slowly means I take the time to receive information and to sit with it. To listen deeper. To have space to track myself or to ask questions, or to ask for help.

Thorough Application Process

I ask as many questions as I need to begin to obtain a necessary understanding of the needs and life experience of this applicant. I check referrals and references.

Referral and Reference Checks

I ask to make contact with several people with whom the applicant has close relationships in service of attaining a more well rounded view of them.

Multiple Free Consultations

I meet with the applicant either in person or virtually, both to cover the application process and to begin to get to know each other.

I Invite Feedback

I bring myself into humility by always being willing to receive feedback. Feedback gives me an opportunity to learn, grow, implement and integrate, both personally and professionally. 

I Do Repair

Repair is essential to the health of our dynamics and connections, to the rapport and trust between us. Repair begins with the understanding that clash happens, miscommunication happens, and agreements can be broken. It is made up of the willingness to be with the discomfort of such experiences and to stay engaged with the other person(s) until mutual understanding is reached and/or a new agreement is negotiated. Repair is a non-negotiable for me on a personal level and a professional level.

I Train & Utilize Apprentices

There is so much benefit to having an apprentice present in the journey space: for witnessing and reflection, for inducing relational dynamics and making them visible to the client, for back-up if anything gets lost in translation. 

I Do My Shadow Work

I am committed to doing my shadow work, and I require the same of my apprentices. Shadow work is never done. We can encounter, sometimes unexpectedly, various forms of our shadow through a multitude of experiences. I commit to keep meeting and integrating my shadow through the therapy and personal growth modalities I find helpful. 

I Participate in Accountability Groups

…also known as peer supervision groups, where my apprentices and I receive reflection, guidance, and clear direction to support us in being ethical and integrated Journey Guides. 

Dignity and Humility

With the awareness that to be alive is to be learning about the world and what it means to be human in it, I move with dignity in what I actually know and with humility in what I don’t know. I choose to not posture over the gaps in my knowledge but to reveal them. Alternatively, I own that I did posture and I course correct by owning both my posturing and my not knowing, and thus coming into humility.