The IRHS Course Container Agreements

The following course container agreements have been developed to support the overall group learning process, and we request that you honour and respect these agreements to the best of your ability throughout the training.

1. We would like to ask that you agree not to identify individuals, their words, or their experiences, not to make any recordings or take photos of people without their permission, and not to discuss these outside of the specific IRHS training context.

2. When sharing, we encourage you to share from your own experiences, eg. I feel, I notice, I’m experiencing, etc.). This helps us receive each other compassionately rather than generalising and focus on our learning.

3. We acknowledge that there are community members who are under-represented and/or marginalised in our group and society. We wish to create a community where all voices can be heard and all perspectives valued. This means that we ask you to agree to actively cultivate an awareness of power dynamics and support all members to participate participatingdes,m habitually taking space in group discussions, understanding how others are participating, and asking others what they might need to participate without making assumptions. 

4.  Ethical practice is both a personal and a communal responsibility. We agree not to be bystanders and to speak up whenever we become aware of something that does not feel ethical in our community. We agree to support those who have the courage to speak up, to be willing to engage in any learning or repair that might be required of us, and to suport each other with kindness as we grow in response to any difficulties that arise. Whatever our role in a community dynamic, we agree to participate with the whole community through the collective process of restoring harmony.

5. During this practitioner training, you will be inhabiting multiple roles with each other in classmate, client, practitioner and witness roles. You will be expected to work outside of attraction and not engage in erotic sexual relationships with each other.

6. As practitioners in training in multiple roles with each other, you will be expected to work outside of aversion within your range of optimum generosity while practising setting limits.

7. We are showing up together as practitioners honouring the ACSB Code of Ethics. Please review the ACSB Code of Ethics to familiarise yourself with our duty of care. https://sexologicalbodyworkers.org

8. Use of drugs or alcohol before or during any online or in-person session is not permitted.

9. Impact and intention mismatch—At times, our words and actions may impact others in ways we may not intend. When another feels impacted by our words or actions, we request that you agree, when resourced, to engage in the repair processes taught in this training with compassion and humility. Should this arise, you will be able to help.

10. Dual Roles—Some of us here might have different relationships with each other in other contexts, current or historical. In our opening circles, we invite you to share any dual roles that may influence our community cohesion (while honouring privately agreed-upon confidentiality).

11. We'd like you to take responsibility for your physical and emotional health and well-being and seek support and guidance where needed. We recommend that you have a Therapist or Coach to support you when aspects of yourself need care and acknowledgment. Self-regulation and care for our emotional and physical well-being are at the heart of this training.

12. We ask you to participate with kindness. This training involves somatic community learning, and supporting each other supports our growth and learning, just as the trees and mycelium networks support each other as part of a forest.

13. During this training, we encourage you to nurture and support any tender new aspects of yourself. Honour your reflection and integration times until you feel ready to share with others rather than satisfying other people’s curiosity.

We ask you to read and agree to honour and respect the course container agreements above and with the Association for Certified Sexological Bodyworkers code of ethics (found on our website or the ACSB website) to the best of your ability.