The Culture of Heart iQ
Heart iQ work asks people to be honest about what they feel. That only happens inside a container that is clear, consented, and safe. These pages describe how we build and hold that container.
Our work touches tender territory. People come to us in grief, in longing, in frustration, sometimes in crisis. They bring their bodies into rooms with other bodies, and their hearts into conversations with strangers. The possibility of that work is enormous. So is the responsibility.
We have chosen to make our commitments visible. Every facilitator, assistant, and team member at Heart iQ operates under the same written standards. Every participant knows what they are agreeing to before they enter a room. And every person who encounters us, whether at a retreat, in a coaching session, or on a livestream, has a named pathway to raise a concern and be heard.
This is a living framework. It will grow as we grow. If anything on these pages is unclear, or if you believe we have fallen short of what is written here, please tell us at connect@heartiq.org.
Five Principles That Hold Everything Else
Every policy, agreement, and decision below traces back to one of these.
Consent Is Ongoing
Saying yes once does not mean yes forever. Participants can pause, modify, or withdraw from any exercise, touch, or conversation at any time, without justification and without social cost.
Power Is Named
Facilitators carry real power. We name it, we do not pretend it does not exist, and we do not use it to pursue personal, sexual, or financial relationships with participants.
What Is Shared Stays Shared
Stories, tears, disclosures, bodies, the content of private exchanges: they belong to the people who brought them. We do not repeat participant material in teaching, marketing, or social settings without explicit consent.
Shortfalls Are Addressed, Not Avoided
When we fall short, and sometimes we will, we want to know. We listen, we respond, and where warranted we repair. Silence serves no one.
Care Has Structure
Good intentions are not enough. We train, we supervise, we peer-review, and we write our commitments down so that safety does not rest on any one person remembering to be careful.
This Is Not Therapy
Heart iQ programs are educational and experiential. We do not diagnose or treat mental health conditions. When someone needs clinical support, we say so, and we help them find it.
The Full Framework
Each page stands alone. Read what you need, in any order.
Facilitator Code of Conduct
The boundaries, conduct, and accountability standards every Heart iQ facilitator, assistant, and team member commits to.
Participant Agreements
What you can expect from us, and what we ask of you: consent, choice, responsibility, and how to raise discomfort early.
Grievance Process
A clear, confidential pathway for raising concerns, from informal conversation through to formal review and restorative process.
Ethics & Safety Board
An independent board of practitioners, therapists, and ethicists who oversee serious grievances and set policy.
Supervision & Accreditation
How our facilitators are trained, supervised, and held accountable, and the pathway toward broader accreditation.