Written by Francine Houston
Well? What do YOU see as your primary job? Last month I forwarded some thoughts about ethics and how important I thought they were for healthcare practitioners, particularly for those individuals who provide care in what is often considered “alternative” methods. First of all, thank you to those of you who responded, and for others who may have read the article but who didn’t choose to respond. If nothing else, I hope it gave you an opportunity to cast your minds toward that very important topic.
In the world of conventional healthcare practitioners, most of them have industry or practice standards under which they train and to which they must adhere. Most professional organizations: CMA and its provincial counterparts, CNA and their provincial counterparts, as well as other medical, board-regulated professions, have Codes of Conduct and ethical standards against which their behaviour can be adjudicated. In most cases, alternative healthcare practitioners do not have these more universal professional standards, nor the regulatory and governing bodies that would act to manage any conduct concerns by clients/patients. Given that is the case, what then, do these practitioners use to assess their conduct and ethics? How do they determine what their role is?
Many practitioners are drawn to a healing environment because of their gifts, their personal inclinations, and very often, their own hurt or trauma. As they do their own healing, they often begin working with practitioners that feel aligned and allow them to discover their own challenges, clearing them and healing along the way. Once they have reached a certain level of awareness, they often feel driven to support others to improve their lives. What happens then? Most people seek out people who are, or who call themselves ‘master practitioners’ of the discipline that they are sharing with their students. They teach their students, perhaps enhancing the student’s innate skills, and enhance their own skills in teaching, and, for some, their reputation. Very often, unless both mentor and student are diligent, continue to educate themselves, and continue to explore their own healing, gaps appear that may not be recognized or addressed.
Ideally, along with the skill enhancement, these teachers also teach their students about boundaries, appropriate behaviours, and the pitfalls of the work that they are learning to do. Where did they learn those things? Where did you learn about boundaries, ethics, and pitfalls? For the most part, they learn these from their mentors, who learned from their mentors, who learned from their mentors. What if, though, someone along the way, the mentor was less than upright in their behaviour, and the student (who later becomes a mentor) sees nothing wrong with that practice or behaviour and incorporates it into their practice, teaching this slightly “uncomfortable” practice going forward? Like a game of “telephone,” each successive teaching becomes a little more “off” until behaviour becomes accepted practice. Without a course correction along the way- or many- these practices become normalized, and both clients and practitioners become compromised. How many of you have had this experience, either with a client who doesn’t adhere to boundaries, or with a practitioner who acts in a way that makes you, as a client, feel uncomfortable?
I know, this is a pretty general statement, so let’s look at a specific example: How many of you know practitioners who are always tired or ill? How many energy workers are unwell? All too often, energy workers take in their clients’ pain or distress, gradually absorbing these energies and ultimately becoming more and more unwell. Why? How many of you were taught that when you are about to work on or with someone that it is important to first ground yourself, and create a “bubble” around yourself so that you don’t take on your client’s “stuff.” Were you taught that as the channel to the healing, what is happening has to go “through” you? Were you taught how to clear yourself after each client so that you don’t carry anything from client to client in very concrete terms or absorb it into yourself, possibly without even realizing it? Were you taught to just “shake it off?” Were these things even topics of conversation during the time that you were working with the mentors?
From my point of view, and granted, this is only my point of view, but informed by 50+ years of engaging in this world, as a reader, mentor, practitioner, and client, these topics are, at most, barely addressed by many mentors, and only in the most cursory way, without any deeper understanding of the risks that are inherent in these types of work.
How do you address these concerns in your practice? How were you taught? How do you safeguard yourself within the confines of your practice to ensure that you maintain a high level of ethical behaviour and ensure the energetic, emotional, and spiritual integrity of your work and your client? Is this best left to the discretion of each individual practitioner or are we, as a community better served, and serve our clients better, by engaging in thoughtful, considered discussion to ensure that we are maintaining a higher standard of care, that allows us to create practices that are accepted and honoured by the larger healing community?
About Francine Houston
Transformational and Energetic Intuitive. Supporting your Art Journey through memory, recovery, celebration, inspiration, and transformation.
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Francine contributes to the Wild About Wellness Community online where members who are passionate about holistic health and wellness come together to share information, educate and contribute for the purpose of learning and growing. You are invited to explore the site with a free 1-month membership. Get your 1-month free membership HERE.