SET defines “ethical touch” in the context of care as touch that:
centers the agency and wellbeing of the person receiving touch at all times
occurs within an explicit framework of informed consent and refusal: that all people have the right to determine if and how they will be touched
acknowledges the possible power dynamics present in the relationship between caregiver and patient/client, with clarity that a person’s sense of authority over their body and their experience of care is profoundly impactful to their overall health outcomes
recognizes that the complexities of individual experience as well as the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender are important variables that affect the quality and outcome of care
is rooted in connection, kindness and shared humanity over efficiency and profit.
IMAGINE THAT.
When therapeutic exchanges are transparent and considerate, predicated upon informed consent and refusal, and grounded in the full engagement and empowerment of a person in their own care, the recovery and healing process becomes a relational act, one that fosters trust in the intrinsic capacities of our bodies, in our own judgement and capacity for self-determination, and in the providers who are supporting us.
We feel that it’s high time for a considerate and thorough re-imagining of the culture and practice of care provision.
The School for Ethical Touch is our response to the lasting negative impacts we have witnessed and experienced in the context of traditionally authoritarian models of healthcare, our recognition that these choices and behaviors are not inevitable, and our longing to participate in something better.
Rather than continuing to double down on outdated, detrimental attitudes that focus on managing liability as the primary response, we propose that the time is long overdue to address the roots of power-over dynamics in the culture of care as a microcosm of the culture at large. We aim to radicalize and humanize the role of the provider and to transform provider education and standards of practice to responsibly meet those we care for with the generosity and respect they deserve.
We believe this to be a simple, powerful and immediately applicable remedy.
As somatic practitioners and manual therapists engaged in hands-on care with our patients and clients, we believe that these changes are of greatest relevance for providers whose scope of practice includes physical touch of any kind.
Because the impacts of the failure to center the agency of the patient/client are amplified exponentially in the vulnerable realm of sexual and reproductive healthcare, we find that there is a particularly urgent need to offer this education to providers whose scope of practice includes pelvic health.
In our work with birthing people as well as with survivors of sexual violence and other forms of intimate trauma, we have long observed the overwhelming need for providers who are able to offer skillful, ethical, trauma-informed touch rooted in the understanding and active practice of dynamic embodied consent.
This is where our work takes root.
The body is the ground where we individually and collectively navigate our relationship to healing and health, and the work of SET takes place here, in the realm of flesh and bone.
We envision a world where healing work, in the manifold ways we practice, occurs in the spirit of shared humanity brought to bear on the fragilities, vulnerabilities, and needs we all hold in common. As such, it is a world where healing is also a meeting of minds, a ritual of agreement and empowerment.
In this way, we seek to address and contextualize not only the healing of the individual, but also of the collective/social body and of the great body of the earth.