Participant Agreements

1. What Heart iQ Facilitators Agree To

Our Facilitator Code of Conduct is the full document. The short form, which every participant should be able to recite back to us, is this:

• We will not cross sexual or romantic lines with you. Not during a program, not within twelve months after, and never in exchange for anything.
• We will not pursue business, financial, or personal entanglements with you that use the teaching relationship as leverage.
• We will not touch you without consent in the moment. A registration form is not consent for bodywork or contact inside the room.
• We will keep what you share confidential, with narrow and named exceptions (mandatory safeguarding reports, imminent risk to life).
• We will stay inside our scope. If what you need exceeds what we are trained to offer, we will say so, and we will help you find the right support.
• We will take grievances seriously. If you raise something, a named person responds. See the Grievance Process.

2. What We Ask of Participants

2.1 Bring an honest picture of yourself

At intake we ask about current mental and physical health, medication, history of trauma, and anything else that will shape how we meet you. We ask because we want to support you well, not to screen you out. Accurate information lets us offer the right care; incomplete information can put you and others at risk.

2.2 Take responsibility for your own wellbeing

Participants are adults making their own choices. Only you know what is in the room of your body and history. Pause when you need to pause. Eat when you need to eat. Step outside when you need air. The facilitator is holding the structure, not holding your nervous system for you.

You can say no to any exercise, any touch, any question, any group task. You can leave any room at any time. You do not owe anyone an explanation for a no.

2.3 Consent is yours, for yourself and from others

Much of the Heart iQ curriculum involves paired or small-group practice with other participants. In that context consent lives on both sides. You have the right to say no, and so does the person across from you. We ask participants to hold consent as a practice, not a technicality: check in before initiating touch or intense disclosure; receive a no, a pause, or a change of mind without pressure or negotiation.

Conduct that sexualises a participant-to-participant exchange beyond its agreed frame, or that pressures, coerces, or disregards a no, is not acceptable and is grounds for removal from the program.

2.4 Confidentiality of fellow participants

What participants share with each other stays with each other. You are free to talk about your own experience after the program, in any depth you choose. You are not free to disclose what others shared without their explicit consent. This applies in social conversation, on social media, in podcasts, in writing, and in other teaching contexts.

2.5 Substances

Heart iQ programs are conducted sober. We ask participants to abstain from alcohol, recreational drugs, and non-prescribed psychoactive substances for the duration of the program, including residential evenings unless explicitly noted otherwise.

Prescribed medication remains between you and your prescriber; please let us know at intake what you are taking so we can hold you appropriately.

2.6 Raise discomfort early

If something in a program does not sit right, whether a facilitator comment, another participant's behaviour, a group dynamic, or a physical environment concern, please tell us while it is fresh. Every program has a named contact person for in-program concerns. Raising something at the time gives us the best chance of responding well, and gives you the best chance of finishing the program feeling met.

3. Consent Is Ongoing

Your agreements on registration day are a starting point, not a permanent contract. You can revise any consent at any time. You can withdraw from an exercise you previously agreed to. You can change your mind about being photographed, being touched, being partnered with a specific person. You do not have to justify it.

A change of mind in either direction, yours or ours, is a piece of information, not a problem.

4. When a Program Is Not the Right Fit

Occasionally a participant arrives, or something surfaces during the program, that means the container we are offering is not the right vessel for what is present. This is rare, and it is not a judgement. It is a recognition that our work is educational and experiential, not clinical, and some needs are better met elsewhere.

Where this happens, we will speak with you privately and help you orient to support that is a better fit for what you're navigating. We have no interest in keeping someone in a program that is not serving them.

Refunds and credits in that situation are discretionary and case-by-case, and sit within the normal cancellation terms of the program — they are not automatic, and this section is not a guarantee of reimbursement. The usual refund and credit rules apply; any adjustment beyond that is something we offer at our sole discretion, not a commitment. For the specifics of what you agreed to at booking, see the booking terms summary.

5. If Something Happened That Didn't Sit Right

If something happened, whether in this program or a previous one, recent or years ago, please tell us. The Grievance Process is the formal route. A direct email to connect@heartiq.org is an informal route. Either reaches a named person.

You do not need to have it worked out. You do not need to have decided what you want. You can simply say: something is not sitting right, and I would like to talk.