Most Of Us Lack Robust Communities Who Will Support Our Accountability

Who do you talk with when you’re facing an ethical dilemma? 

What do you do if you’ve done the wrong thing with a client and you need to get support and supervision? 

Have you experienced fear and/or shaming when you bring ethical questions to your professional communities? 

Unfortunately, most of us lack robust professional communities with whom we can explore the nuances of our ethical practices, communities that will support our accountability, and to which we can bring both our innovative (and perhaps therefore edgy) ideas and our mistakes.

To make the situation even more difficult, Western Industrial Culture largely relies on shame and exile as its mechanisms for obedience. So if (or when) we do find ourselves in ethically murky waters, we’re more likely to try to cover it up than step boldly into the light of day to acknowledge, learn and evolve. 

Yet our ecologically embedded Ethical Self––who behaves with the understanding that we exist within a context that is ever-shifting––requires a sophisticated and robust community of allies. Those who will courageously disagree and challenge and support but who do so within a container of compassion and care. We require resilience and devotion to create and sustain communities of this kind. Simply developing the muscles to participate in communities of this kind takes practice and determination.

In our upcoming course,  Embodied Ethics – for all those in a position of power and therefore responsibility – we provide just such a community. Across professions, cultural backgrounds, ages and personal belief-systems, we weave a community of care with the power to both nurture and challenge us all. We explore our unique geniuses and our shadows within a curious, practical and generative culture; a culture most of us have never experienced in our personal or professional lives. 

A week before we launch into these uncharted waters, on January 5th, we will offer our last webinar in a series of three. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience a quick dip at the edges of the deep water Embodied Ethics will explore.