Preamble
We, the people that come into the Core Energetics community from very different backgrounds, assert our common values as seekers of the integration of body, mind, emotions and spirit. It is the intention of the International Association of Core Energetics to celebrate our diversity, make use of the best of us to promote a more just world, a community where we all belong and a place where individual practitioners learn and develop for the benefit of world.

We also recognize our need for help to deal with our biases, limitations, or blind spots. It is from our desire to be better and to do better that we offer this Code of Ethics.

All Core Energetics Institutes and Certified Practitioners wish to improve the experience of the human condition. We do this with an intention to promote an inclusive community, welfare of clients and students, and without discrimination due to race, age, creed, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

This ethical code is an aspirational guideline to ensure and support professional development and competence in our field. It must be augmented by following the laws of our state, region and country.

Code
In order to promote and expand the honorable, professional training and practice of Core Energetics, the following guidelines must be followed:

A. Every Institute must teach about the following Ethical Concepts:
1. Confidentiality: legal protection of anonymity.
2. Boundaries: limits in roles and relationships.
3. Avoiding Harm: avoid creating physical or mental damage.
4. Sexual Boundaries: no inappropriate touch or relationships.
5. Integrity: grounded in the value of doing your best for clients and student.
6. Power Differential: the inherently greater influence that helping professionals have, as compared to the people they help.
7. Dual Relationship: multiple roles and or relationships between the practitioner and the client. Avoid dual exploitative relationship.
8. Termination of Services: ending of services, referral when appropriate.
9. Personal Responsibility: duty to support maturation and individuation. Awareness.
10. Ethical responsibilities to colleagues: avoid competition and splitting.

B. Competence:
1. Every student must meet the requirements of their program in order to practice.
2. The experience of Core Energetics, clinical supervision, and continuing education produces a good Certified Practitioner. Faculty and Certified Practitioners are encouraged to participate in the evolutionary process and clinical supervision.
3. Certified Practitioners should consider the benefits of a continuing education experience at least every other year. Participation in international conventions is one desirable way to accomplish this.
4. Certified Practitioners provide services and represent themselves as competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license, certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant professional experience.
5. Certified Practitioners should provide services in substantive areas or use intervention techniques that are new to them, only after engaging in appropriate study, training, consultation, and clinical supervision from people that are competent in those interventions and techniques.
6. When generally recognized standards do not exist with respect to an emerging area of practice, Practitioners should exercise careful judgment and take responsible steps including appropriate education, research, training, consultation, and clinical supervision to ensure the competence of their work and to protect clients from harm.
7. Practitioners seek appropriate assistance for their personal problems or conflicts that may impair their work performance or judgment, such as substance abuse and mental health issues.
8. Institutes will require a form to be signed at graduation that will attest to the willingness of Certified Practitioner to follow these ethical guidelines.

C. Human Relationship:
A greater responsibility for maintaining the values of integrity and respect is placed on Directors of Institutes, Teachers/Faculty/Assistants and Certified Practitioners.
1. Sexual harassment is strictly forbidden.
2. Sexual relationship between students and faculty is forbidden.
3. Sexual relationship between clients and practitioners is forbidden. Practitioners should under no circumstances engage in sexual activities, inappropriate sexual communication through any media or in person, or sexual contact with clients, whether such contact is consensual or coerced. The same principles apply to relatives of clients.
4. Practitioners should not provide services to individuals with whom they have had a prior sexual relationship.
5. Personal relationship between students and faculty is discouraged, unless it predates participation in the Institute, in which case it must be openly discussed with the class and the community.
6. Dual relationships: practitioners/faculty/assistants are aware of their influential position with respect to students and clients, and they avoid dual relationships that could impair professional judgment. When a dual relationship exists, practitioners/faculty/assistants take appropriate professional precautions to ensure that judgment is not impaired, and no exploitation occurs. One way to exercise precaution is for the practitioner to partake in supervision and discuss the dual relationship.
7. Sexual relationship with clients must not be participated in or pursued until at least 3 years after treatment is concluded.

D. Confidentiality:
Faculty/Practitioners respect the right of students/clients to confidentiality and make every effort to protect clients’ and students’ anonymity. Practitioners may not disclose student/client confidences except:

1. As mandated by law;
2. To prevent a clear and immediate danger to a person;
3. Where the practitioner is a defendant in a civil, criminal or disciplinary action arising from services. In the case of an ethical complaint, the information is to be shared with a designated person or committee and treated with privacy. However, it stops being confidential, due to the need to gather information relevant to the complaint; student or complainant will be informed of this.
4. When the client has given written consent to release information.

E. Ethical Procedures:
1. Practitioners consult with, refer to, and cooperate with other practitioners and Institutes to the full extent needed to serve the best interests of students and clients.
2. Practitioners are mindful about their own ethical, professional conduct as well that of their colleagues.
3. When appropriate, they consult with colleagues in order to avoid unethical conduct.
4. Because of its direct negative influence on the community as well as the field, Practitioners are urged to report any alleged unethical behavior through appropriate and prescribed channels. Practitioners are ethically bound to cooperate with this professional association in inquiries concerning ethical misconduct.
5. Every Institute must have a designated person or committee to handle ethical complaints. In every Institute, the name or names should be physically displayed and electronically posted.
6. When a student or client makes a complaint against a Faculty/Practitioner, the information is presented to the designated ethics person or committee and is investigated. A plan of action with findings and recommendations must be presented to both parties within 45 days (a plan of action may include a time extension that involved parties agree to when extra time is needed).

F. Public Opinions and Recommendations:
1. Institutes and Practitioners/Faculty, because of their ability to influence and alter the lives of others and the field, exercise special care when making public their professional recommendations and opinions outside of their practice.2. In general, Institutes and Practitioners/Faculty should limit their public opinions to their field of expertise.

G. Ethical Complaints and Violations:
1. Ethical complaints must start with a verbal statement presented by the complainant to the locally designated ethics committee or person. This initiates an investigation. If the ethics complaint is discussed in a public forum, both parties need to be present.
2. If the complaint is substantiated, this is considered a violation and the Practitioner will be required to cease and desist in the behavior in question. Depending on the complaint, a Practitioner may be referred to supervision and/or individual sessions and may be required to stop seeing clients.
3. The International Association of Core Energetics may review ethical cases from its date of legal formation, and only at the request of an Institute or in the case of widespread unethical behavior.
4. Once a complaint is made, an involved Practitioner that chooses not to participate or follow through with the recommendations of the ethical committee, will be considered suspended from membership in the community. And, depending upon the case, it will be referred to local authority and boards.
5. In order to be reconsidered as a Practitioner in good standing, a case review will take place at the local level, with a clear action plan for reintegration into the community.
6. Improper or frivolous complaints are considered an ethical violation. Whenever possible, Practitioners bring to each other’s attention a difficulty and resolve it informally. Students and clients are encouraged to present their complaint to the Practitioner when appropriate.
7. When teachers are hired by different Institutes, they will be asked if they have any pending ethical issues at other locations. And, Institutes will be compelled to share this information as part of the hiring process.

H. Ethics of Touch: 

The use of touch is considered an important tool for Core Energetics practitioners; verbal and written consent is strongly indicated.

1. In sessions, the use of touch is carefully applied, with the intent to allow a better flow of energy in the body and emotions.
2. Touch is dependent upon the consent of the client. Touch is never of sexual nature or for the gratification of the Practitioner in any way. It is solely used to facilitate the process that provides grounding, containment and/or an increase of energy flow.
3. Clients always have the right to refuse, modify, and stop touch at any time, for any reason.

I. Collegial Relationship:

We refer here to the golden rule: we treat others as we would like to be treated.

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Institute of Core Energetics Code of Confidentiality

Core Energetics practitioners have a primary obligation and responsibility to take precautions to respect the confidentiality of clients and students with whom they work. These are general guidelines and only lay down a framework for the ICE to guide its internal treatment of faculty, students and staff.

We hold confidentiality to mean having another’s trust to not share information obtained in therapeutic sessions, groups, or classes, as further defined in the information below.

1. Confidential information includes all information obtained in the context of the professional relationship. Core Energetics practitioners take appropriate steps to safeguard the confidential information of clients and former clients and to limit access by others to confidential information.

2. Core Energetics practitioners disclose confidential information without the consent of the client as mandated by law, or where permitted by law. Such situations include, but may not be limited to: providing essential professional services to the client, obtaining appropriate professional consultation, or protecting the client or others from harm.

3. The discussion of confidentiality and its limits occurs at the beginning of the professional relationship and thereafter as circumstances may warrant. When appropriate, Core Energetics practitioners clarify at the beginning of treatment issues related to the involvement of third parties.

4. Core Energetics practitioners may disclose confidential information with the appropriate consent of the client (or of another legally authorized person on behalf of the client), unless prohibited by law. A vow of confidentiality by the practitioner can be voided if a client is intending to harm him/herself or another person. Confidential information may be disclosed to the practitioner’s supervisor if the practitioner needs guidance and/or support in working with the client. It is understood that said supervisor is also constrained by the same code of confidentiality.

5. When providing services to several persons who have a relationship (i.e. partners/spouses or parents/children), Core Energetics practitioners attempt to clarify at the outset 1) which of the individuals are clients and 2) the relationship the practitioner will have with each person. This clarification includes the role of the practitioner and the probable use of the services provided or the information obtained.

6. If and when it becomes apparent that the Core Energetics practitioner may be called on to perform potentially conflicting roles (such as marital counselor to spouses, and then support for one party in an ensuing divorce proceeding), Core Energetics practitioners attempt to clarify and adjust, or withdraw from, roles appropriately.

7. In cases where there is more than one person involved in treatment by the same practitioner (such as with groups, families and couples), the therapist obtains an initial agreement with those involved concerning how confidential information will be handled both within treatment and with regard to third parties.

8. Core Energetics practitioners are aware of the possible adverse effects of technological changes with respect to the confidential dissemination of patient information and take reasonable care to ensure secure and confidential transmission of such information. Practitioners who offer services, products, or information via electronic transmission (i.e. video sessions) inform clients/patients of the risks to privacy and limits of confidentiality.

9. Core Energetics practitioners take steps to protect the confidentiality of client records in their storage, transfer, and disposal. They conform to applicable state laws governing the length of storage and procedures for disposal.

10. Core Energetics practitioners take appropriate steps to ensure, as far as possible, that employees, supervisees, interns, assistants, and volunteers maintain the confidentiality of clients. They take appropriate steps to protect the client’s identity or to obtain prior, written authorization for the use of any identifying clinical materials in teaching, writing and public presentations.

11. When working with groups, Core Energetics practitioners explain to participants the necessity of maintaining confidentiality and obtain agreement from group participants to respect the confidentiality and privacy of other group members. They also inform group members that privacy and confidentiality cannot be guaranteed with explanations and clarification as to the limits of confidentiality, i.e. a practitioner can request a vow of confidentiality from all group members, but have no real control over what the individual members discuss outside of group.

12. Core Energetics practitioners and Core student practitioners obtain written consent from clients before taping or filming any session, such consent to include the intended use of the material and the limits of confidentiality.

13. Students enrolled at the Institute of Core Energetics are bound by the structure of this policy. While the administration cannot guarantee complete confidentiality, we encourage students to hold personal information shared in classes and Process Groups as confidential. This means students will not discuss another student’s process or experience with a third party, outside the confines of the group. Recording of classes is prohibited unless authorization is obtained from the teacher and agreed to by the class.