My Ethical Statement

 

There are many different therapists, coaches, and healers to choose from when wanting to find a greater sense of peace with your relationship with food and your body.

It’s important for me to share a little bit about my ethics & values as a coach, in order to help you feel more informed, and so that you can decide whether or not my approach resonates with you.

As a coach, one of the foundations of my work is the belief that you are naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. I centre healing in my coaching practice but I don’t believe that you are broken or in need of rescuing or “fixing”.

I believe in trauma-informed coaching practices. Many of us are traumatised in this culture, but we are not our trauma.

You are the expert of your lived experiences and your story matters.

I am a good listener, show up whole-heartedly (in my full imperfect humanity) in our coaching relationship, and strive for humility. I seek out communities that support me in holding myself accountable for addressing my learning edges. 

I believe that many of the ways we have lost trust in our bodies, and internalised shame and bias towards them, arise from various forms of systemic oppression, including white supremecy culture and racism.

This oppression needs to be challenged and dismantled at a collective level, and I am commited to contributing to this in my coaching practice, my business, and in my personal life. There is no body liberation without the liberation of Black bodies.

I aim to centre my coaching in social justice, diversity & inclusion. I recognise and value all types of diversity including ethnicity, race, size, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, class, religion and abilities.

I’m a feminist and my feminism is inclusive and intersectional.

I acknowledge my own apparent privilege as a white, cis-gendered, heternormative,  financially secure, able-bodied woman, in a mid-large sized fat body – and am commited to unlearning and examining the many ways in which this shows up in my life and work.

This is a working document and I will seek to update it as my learning evolves.

How my ethics are reflected in my Business Practices

Below are some of the ways in which these ethics are reflected in my current business practices. This is an evolving practice and process that changes and grows with me and my coaching practice.

I read, listen to, learn from, and attend paid workshops and training led by Black teachers and anti-racism consultants. This is an ongoing commitment that I don’t see as a one-time investment. 

I tithe or redistribute 20% of my income to charities, causes, projects, or individuals, with an emphasis on supporting BIPOC, and other marginalised communities. The four main donations I made in 2020 went to support:

    • Black Minds Matter UK, whose mission is to connect Black individuals and families with free mental health services
    • Nova Reid’s anti-racism work in the UK, specifically a donation to support investment in the creation of her new anti-racism course
    • Sponsoring the production of the My Black Body podcast which is co-created by Jessica Wilson and Rawiyah Tariq
    • Sponsoring the production of the Me Little Me film by director Elizabeth Ayiku

I participate in accountability groups with peers doing body liberation work to help ensure I am staying true to my values, de-centering my identity, sitting with discomfort around my growth edges, & remain open to critique.

I name Diet Culture & Anti-Fatness as having roots in racism and other systems of oppression and I seek to amplify the work of marginalized voices in the resources that I provide in my coaching practice. While I am not a social justice or anti-racism educator, I try to hold a systemic analysis and encourage my clients to connect with resources and/or educators that can support them in furthering their divestment from the ladder of bodily hierarchy (h/t Sonya Renee Taylor).  

Getting support with this work is a privilege that I want more folks to have access to. I try to keep my prices as affordable as possible while ensuring that I can support myself and cover my costs. For every 4 full paying clients that I take on I am able to offer 1 sliding scale place to folks who have less financial resources, with priority going to those who are disproportionately impacted by institutional and systemic oppression. I will continue to review and explore further ways to improve financial accessibility as my business grows.

I appreciate you taking time to read this statement and information on my business practices. I do not expect or believe that I am the right Coach for everyone, and I am interested in supporting you to find a healer who will work best for you.

Find out about more about working with me

EMBODY

Once a month(ish), I email you a lovingly crafted newsletter sharing nuggets of wisdom, interesting articles, and encouraging words to help sustain & fortify you at whatever stage you are at in your building your Body Trust® Practices. 

Are you in?

“Body Trust is a reclamation. Of pleasure. Of knowing. Of wanting. Of listening. Of your own damn self. Body Trust work is a process of reclaiming our bodies after they’ve been harmed by stigma, diet culture, shame, difference, and othering, and then further distanced by our attempts to mitigate that harm by trying to control the size, shape or appearance of our body.”

Dana & Hilary, Be Nourished