My Ethical and Professional Standards

Neither healing nor coaching is regulated by law, so I am at choice to create and share the ethical and professional standards that I uphold—and those to which I invite others to hold me accountable. Where possible, I’ve chosen to adhere to the strict policies of related, regulated fields and select credentialing bodies within the modalities I’ve been trained in, e.g:

Core Values

  • BELONGING—We all belong to this world, ourselves, and our interdependence; and we inherently deserve to feel belonging. I commit to being curious, humane, kind, compassionate, nonjudgmental, respectful, and appreciative of everyone’s needs in practice of being Belonging.
  • RESILIENCE—I commit to trusting and nourishing our collective Resilience: holding safe and brave space for others to feel free and supported to express themselves fully and practice ways of being, confront biases, challenge perspectives, and engage in courageous conversations for the sake of learning and growing without risk of personal harm, judgment, or repudiation.
  • SOVEREIGNTY—I commit to creating space for others to access and always be at choice for their being, actions, impact and what we aim to explore, practice, and accomplish in our work together.
  • COMMUNITY—I commit to developing and nurturing social connection and community as an extension of Belonging, a belief that we can’t outperform our environment, and Beloved Community for personal, cultural, and societal transformation.
  • PROFESSIONALISM—I commit to an open and curious mindset and professional quality encompassing responsibility, respect, integrity, non-violence, competence, and excellence.

Ethics

Key Terms: I, Jewel Mlnarik, am the “Practitioner“. “Client” is a person that I’ve entered into a professional healing and/or coaching relationship with (the “Professional Relationship“), defined by an “Agreement” outlining the scope of our working together, that may either be transactional for a fee, in-kind trade, or pro-bono.

Somatic Intuitive Healing (SIH) is a complementary healing modality to allopathic or traditional medicine. All sessions aim to create greater awareness within the Client of their healing intelligence (the language their body uses to communicate), nervous system balance and resilience, and felt senses of their inner resources. You can learn more about SIH and how I incorporate it into my work here.

Somatic and Ontological Coaching are powerful methodologies for effecting change for individuals, teams, and organizations through personal transformation, leadership, and interdependence—to develop a life of deep satisfaction, meaning, and fulfillment. Sessions aim to create awareness and spark learning that generates more powerful and constructive ways of engaging with myriad aspects of life and work. You can learn more about how I use somatics and ontology in my coaching here.

Legal Information: Neither SIH nor Coaching is a state-licensed modality in the United States. Any dialogue had during a session is not “professional counseling” and does not involve the assessment, diagnosis, or treatment of mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders as defined by the American Psychiatric Association and American Counseling Association. Neither SIH nor Coaching is to be used as a substitute for counseling, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, or other professional advice by legal, medical, mental health, or other qualified professionals.

As an SIH and Somatic and Ontological Coach Practitioner, I agree to maintain the following ethics and standards of behavior:

As an SIH and Somatic and Ontological Coach Practitioner, I agree to maintain the following ethics and standards of behavior:

  • I hold as the highest priority for my professional activities the health and welfare of my Clients, students, and others with whom I become professionally involved. Everything that follows elaborates upon this principle.

  • I am committed to a lifelong process of personal development in body, mind, and spirit.

  • I uphold professional standards of conduct and accept appropriate responsibility for my behavior.

  • I promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in my communications and in the practice, teaching, science, and art of healing and coaching.

  • I keep my agreements and avoid unrealistic or unclear commitments.

  • I take reasonable precautions to ensure that any personal biases, the boundaries of my competence, impairments to my health and well-being, and the limitations of my expertise do not negatively impact the services I provide to clients.

  • I respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination.

  • I am aware of, respect, and accommodate individual, cultural, and role differences, including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, representational system, element, and socioeconomic status.

  • I contribute a portion of my professional time for little or no compensation.

  • I demonstrate a personal commitment to acting ethically; modeling ethical behavior, encouraging ethical behavior by students, supervisees, employees, and colleagues; and consulting with others concerning ethical problems.

  • I am committed to maintaining a personal program for developing and supporting the well-being of my body, mind, and spirit.

  • I monitor the effects of my physical health, mental state, and ego needs on my ability to help those with whom I work and take appropriate steps to maximize my well-being in each area.

  • I have personally experienced the methods I offer others, using my experiences as a lab to inform myself about the value and power of specific techniques. At the same time, I take care not to project my experiences with a particular method onto others.

  • I know my limitations as an individual and practitioner, setting my boundaries accordingly with those I serve, with colleagues, and within the larger community.

  • I am open to feedback offered by students, Clients, colleagues, and mentors.

  • I closely monitor my needs to be liked, admired, achieve status, and exercise power, as well as my sexual and romantic needs, and seek feedback, guidance, consultation, and supervision from friends, colleagues, mentors, supervisors, or other professionals to keep these needs from interfering with my effectiveness in the services I provide.

  • I seek continuing education of a minimum of 10 hours every year for SIH, 40 hours of Continuing Coach Education, and ongoing healing sessions at a minimum of 4x per year or no less than once every 3 months.

  • I provide education, supervision, consultation, and mentoring services only in areas where I have received education, training, supervised experience, or other study that qualifies me for providing services.

  • I stay current in my fields of practice and maintain and further develop my competence on an ongoing basis through supervision, consultations, workshops, published works, electronic media, and continuing education courses.

  • I engage each Client in identifying goals for the services being sought and mutually creating an appropriate plan which may, as appropriate, include engaging other healthcare and strategic professionals.

  • While I may attempt to encourage, I do not attempt to pressure or coerce a Client into any action or belief.

  • While it is appropriate to encourage hope and convey confidence in my methods, I do so without implying that a method which has helped some people will help all people. I proceed with a sensitivity to not foster guilt in Clients who are not responding as hoped.

  • I discuss any unrealistic expectations as early in the relationship as is reasonable. Expectations are reevaluated throughout the Professional Relationship at times deemed appropriate by the Practitioner or at any time at the Client’s request.

  • I recognize the pitfalls of being attached to the outcomes of the services I provide. “Trying too hard,” micro-managing, or becoming overly invested may have a paradoxical effect.

  • I exercise the right to refuse to enter into a professional relationship any person seeking my services when I judge this to not be in the best interests of the Client or a threat to my personal safety.

  • I understand the boundaries and limitations of my services and make referrals accordingly. I am clear with Clients about whether or not I have personal knowledge of the skills of a particular practitioner and encourage Clients to interview prospective practitioners before committing themselves to that practitioner’s care.

  • I provide a safe, clean, welcoming, supportive, appropriate, and comfortable environment for my services and provide my undivided and uninterrupted attention during the session.

  • I may use non-traditional ways of assessing a Client’s system and well-being. I understand, however, the limitations of such methods and these methods are not to be used to replace physical diagnostic tests or to confirm or disconfirm beliefs, memories, or anticipated courses of action.

  • Clients shall be informed in advance about the purpose of any modalities and given an explicit choice about whether to proceed or to have alternative methods applied. If the choice is to proceed, an agreement is reached in advance about how the Client will communicate to the Practitioner the desire to stop the session; and I will immediately respect this signal and immediately halt the practice.

  • I am sensitive to a Client’s feelings about being touched, discuss those feelings as appropriate, and gain permission before applying any modality that requires touch. Touch is non-invasive, non-manipulative, non-sexual, and Clients are always fully clothed.

  • If limitations to services can be anticipated because of financial hardship, the related issues are discussed with the recipient of services as early as is feasible. I do not maintain a Client relationship solely for financial reasons, but I may terminate a relationship if the Client is unable or unwilling to pay for services. Prior to any termination of services, the issues involved and possible alternatives are discussed, with the Client’s well-being as the highest priority.

  • If conflicts occur regarding my ethical obligations, I will attempt to resolve these conflicts in a responsible fashion that avoids or minimizes harm, seeking consultation or supervision as appropriate.

  • Should I anticipate an interruption in an ongoing professional relationship, I shall make reasonable efforts to facilitate a continuity of services.

  • Responsibilities of the Practitioner following termination of services include continuing to maintain Confidentiality and sharing Client information with other professionals as requested by the Client. If the Client requests that such information be forwarded, it may not be withheld for any reason, including non-payment of fees, for a minimum of 6 years.

​Confidentiality in Communications and Artifacts 

Confidentiality in Communications and Artifacts: I hold that everything shared by a Client within a Session is confidential. I treat any notes and recordings (“Artifacts”) as confidential, taking care to store them privately and securely. For example, when I share confidential notes or material with a Client, I will share a link that requires them to either authenticate or enter a password. I will not include or communicate confidential information via email, text, or voice mail—and ask Clients to do the same.

Exceptions: 1) Client has consented to an exception in writing or in a recorded session, 2) there is a legal requirement and authorization for disclosure, or 3) when disclosure is required to prevent clear and imminent danger to Client or others.

Personally Identifiable Information: I do not disclose in writings, lectures, or other public media, personally identifiable information or contact information concerning my Clients, students, research participants, or other recipients of my services that I obtained during the course of my work unless 1) I take reasonable steps to disguise the recipient of service, 2) the recipient has consented in writing or in the recorded session, or 3) there is legal authorization for doing so.

Professional Relationship Disclosure: I shall not share whether I am or have worked with a Client. When a Client has written a testimonial, I shall only use their name and likeness with their additional, explicit permission. Clients are fully at choice to disclose or not to disclose the nature of our working relationship at any time. 

When Session Information May be Shared: Expanding upon when a Client may consent to a recording or transcript of a session being shared for the purpose of my professional development:

  • When I seek consultation or supervisory services from other practitioners, Client agrees that information about their sessions, with their identity concealed, may be disclosed to designated Professionals for the purpose of the Professionals evaluating my eligibility for certification, readiness to enter advanced training, or to be listed for referral.
  • When consulting with colleagues, I do not disclose confidential information that reasonably could lead to the identification of a Client, unless I have obtained the prior written or recorded consent from the Client or the disclosure cannot be avoided.
  • Before recording the voices or images of Clients in session, I obtain permission from the Client and disclose how their voices or images may be used.

Records Retention: Should a Client want a copy of our session notes, they retain the right to request them up to 7 years. Where such notes may include a transcript, please note that such a transcript may include nominal transcription errors.