We, the members of the WDTA, keep each other honest and accountable by requiring of each other to maintain an ongoing relationship with our fellow teachers that include specific agreements and ethics. Only those who are listed on the teachers page of this site are maintaining those agreements and are considered WDTA teachers in good standing. If anyone claims to be a teacher of Waking Down in Mutuality, we encourage you to check this site to verify his or her status.

As teachers and mentors of the Waking Down Teachers Association, our priority is, always, our students' well-being, awakening, and integration. We recognize the influence we have on the students who come to us individually and collectively for spiritual teaching and support. We have mutually agreed to uphold high standards of integrity, mutuality, and trust in all our interactions. We agree to remain accountable in mutuality with our students, colleagues, and the wider Waking Down in Mutuality community. We agree to offer the same quality of connection and support to all students without prejudice in regard to a student's appearance, financial circumstances, education, age, gender, social status or race.

In service to these ideals here are some of the things that WDTA members agree to.

1) Maintain the ongoing business of WDTA through paying dues.
2) Participate in the culture of WDM by continuing to take part in ongoing monthly mutuality groups with their peers.
3) Uphold our shared ethics policies:


Ethics

As it is in the areas of money, power, and sexuality that the most egregious violations of trust between teachers and students (or therapists and clients) have historically occurred, these three areas will be specifically addressed below. For these purposes, a "student" or "mentee" is defined as a person who is being regularly supported by a teacher or a mentor, either in private sessions, group sittings, or WDM-related workshops.

Ethics around money

Teachers shall have clear agreements with their students about what they charge for teaching sessions, including cancellations, and should draw clear boundaries around compensated "session" time and any other time they may spend with students in informal settings. Teachers are not required to offer a sliding scale for their fees and are free to set their own fees. If a teacher does offer a sliding scale he or she may set a limit to the number of sliding scale students he or she may accept at any time. If the teacher does not have a space for a sliding scale student in their work, he or she may refer that student to another teacher who does offer a sliding scale.

Teachers also agree to not pressure students to buy products or services unrelated to the WDM work, or to engage them in unrelated business enterprises.

Ethics around power

The words of a teacher and mentor, as with anyone who holds a position of authority, can make a strong impact upon those they are supporting. With this is mind, teachers and mentors may offer suggestions or make recommendations with the intention of supporting a student's awakening process, but are specifically proscribed from telling a student what they should do in any given situation. In all instances students shall retain the authority for their own lives.

Ethics around sexuality and intimate relationships

Romantic and sexual feelings and openings can be very important to the awakening process and often arise in the teacher/student or mentor/mentee relationship. To suppress or avoid such feelings would be unfortunate for the healing and growth of students, whereas for teachers or mentors to act impulsively upon them would be a potential violation of the trust that participants in this work extend to those who are in positions of authority, guidance, or leadership. These guidelines address those occasions when the openings and feelings occur in the direct relationship between teachers and students or mentors and mentees.

In these cases the agreements essentially require that teachers and mentors welcome, allow, contain and investigate these feelings, and then communicate and explore the potential ramifications of these feelings with their mutuality circle (for teachers) or small group teacher and mutuality circle (for mentors) (hereafter referred to as "support team" in either case) before in any way acting upon these feelings. It may be the case that a relationship with a student or mentee will be the outcome of romantic feelings that arise in working with students. If so, these agreements are guidelines for making prudent and caring adjustments so that a relationship can begin well and develop auspiciously to the benefit of both people and the greater community around them.

In light of these considerations, it is our policy that:

• teachers and mentors agree to not use their teaching role to exploit their authority and position in order to assume a sexual relationship with a student
• teachers and mentors shall refrain from initiating, exploring or acting upon romantic or sexual feelings with a participant at any WDM-related event where they are functioning in a teaching or mentoring capacity
• teachers and mentors in committed relationships shall consider their relationship agreements as they embody their roles. While interacting with students, teachers and mentors in committed relationships shall conduct themselves as if their partners are also present.

We want you to know that all of us who are members of the WDTA are deeply in accord with these policies, and there are consequences for those members who fail to maintain them.

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