Pathwork Helpers ' Code of Ethics

Introduction

This code of ethics is adapted from the 2004 draft developed by Pathwork® Helpers Association of North America (PHANA). This was a council of senior helpers assembled to promote consistent standards for our Helpers’ profession and to provide some specific guidance.

The purpose of this ethical code is support Pathwork Helpers professional development journey and our alignment with the spiritual laws of the Path. PHANA worked to achieve consensus in the North American Pathwork community about best practices that support integrity for Pathwork

Helpers and Apprentices; they did this by consulting those teaching Helpership programs as

well as Helpers throughout the country.

Though PHANA is no longer active, many regions have adopted the PHANA code to guide

Helpers and Apprentices. Lorraine Marino has added elements to this Code that provide guidance around important issues of inclusion and bias, and she revised portions to reflect organizational changes since 2004 as well as more specific advice on boundaries and roles.

Our Commitment To Inclusivity and Spiritual Law of Brother-Sisterhood

As Pathwork helpers and apprentices, we come from many different backgrounds, ethnicities,

gender and sexual identities, and spiritual traditions, amongst other differences. Yet we share a

brother/sisterhood in our practice of Pathwork and our common aim to integrate and live the

teachings. 

As helpers, we support our workers’ spiritual evolution by helping them understand

and apply these teachings. We do so without any forcing current or ulterior motive.

We also share an intention to promote an inclusive community, ensure the welfare of our

workers and students, and to do so without discrimination due to the various differences noted

previously. We recognize our need for help to face our biases, societal messaging, and human

limitations, and we are willing to examine where our conscious and unconscious biases hinder

our work -- individually and as a collective.

We understand that each of us is a spiritual being, seeking re-union with Spirit. At the same

time, we do not invalidate, or skip over, the earth plane reality that certain groups and social

identities experience life here differently and face differing levels of societal pressures and

vulnerabilities. We acknowledge our fundamental principles of self-responsibility for our life

experiences while also acknowledging our collective need to examine our particular

contributions to societal issues.

Our Basic Commitments

As helpers and apprentices, we commit to:

• Base our work on the Pathwork Guide lectures.

• Make a Stage IV commitment as recommended by the Guide AD6: Stages and

Questions or a commitment equivalent in substance even if it is worded differently.

• Continue our personal self-work with a Pathwork helper as we consciously

incorporate Pathwork principles and spiritual laws in our lives. We honor what the

Guide’s defined as our main responsibility:

“To be him or herself, totally committed to the path, to overcoming the resistances and

defenses, to really wanting to go all the way, as best as this is possible, to really want to

face the truth, experience the painful feelings, and to grope with the inevitable need to

find the right answers at the right time and to bring out the inner guidance. When a

person is thus committed, he fulfills his responsibility to himself and those he works with.

That is key.”

• Do our continuing personal work including individual and/or group process work and

peer or paid supervision with a recognized Pathwork Helper while working with

workers and students.

• Honor the law of brother/sisterhood, by addressing conflicts constructively and

being mindful of the effects of interpersonal and group conflicts on ourselves,

others, including our students and workers.

o We do our own work first when in reaction.

o We don’t malign; we deal directly with the person(s) with whom we need to

resolve issues.

o We practice healthy support of one another as asked in Stage 2 commitment.

• Live by the operating agreements of our respective regions or chapters.

• Honor the International Pathwork Foundation copyright and trademark policies.

• Conduct ourselves in ways that build trust, confidence, and respect in the title

Pathwork Helper.

The Helper/Worker Relationship

Our foremost concern as soul doctors is for the welfare of our workers, and we honor and give

our best to the sacred contract between us.

• At the beginning of a Pathwork working relationship with workers, we make clear

arrangements about the timing and length of sessions, and fee. When changes are needed,

we discuss and agree to these changes with our workers ahead of time.

• We make clear arrangements for terminating the working relationship, including referrals

when appropriate. We avoid precipitous or harmful terminations of contracts with workers.

• We do not enter a working relationship with someone already working with another helper

without the knowledge and consent of that helper. An agreed-on reason for doing so

should be worked through with both helpers and the worker.

• We are honest about our training and credentials and make no fraudulent claims regarding

our abilities, knowledge, or the outcomes of Pathwork process work. We are responsible for

knowing the limit of what we are able to undertake with a worker.

• We are aware, and make workers aware, that the Pathwork is not psychotherapy.

• We maintain awareness that the worker may have a problem that requires a different kind

of assistance than what we can offer in the Helper’s role as spiritual guide. 

For example:

o A worker with physical problems may need to be advised to seek medical treatment.

o A worker may have serious psychological problems (psychosis, severe depression,

suicidal ideation, severe anxiety) and may need to be advised to seek a licensed

therapist (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, mental health counselor).

o A worker with a drug or alcohol, or other, dependency should be advised to seek a

substance abuse counselor or treatment program.

• We do not engage in sessions with workers while having impaired capacity caused by:

alcohol and/or drugs; a significant physical, emotional, spiritual and/or mental dysfunction

which interferes with the member’s ability to practice the Pathwork.

• We are responsible for knowing the limit of what we are able to undertake with a worker.

• We do not exploit the Helper/Worker Relationship, thus do not:

o Solicit a worker’s abilities, expertise or cooperation for our own personal or financial

benefit in matters unrelated to the worker’s Pathwork process.

o Encourage a worker to continue for purposes of our personal and/or financial gain.

o Use sexual or other derogatory language or behavior intended to demean a worker. If

we take on a role (e.g. in role playing) that requires the use of particular language, we

make it clear in advance to the worker that we are taking on this role.

o Engage in any form of exploitative overt or covert seductive speech, gestures, behavior,

or physical contact of a sexual nature with a worker.

• We maintain objectivity and neutrality. We work to avoid Influence from a worker’s

reactivity toward, or conflict with, another.

o We do not act on info from a worker’s session, unless this is a serious need and the

worker is briefed beforehand.

o We do not align with a worker’s case making, maligning, or talking about a third person.

It may be helpful to comment on the pattern/nature of an interaction involving a third

person, always with the focus on the self-responsibility of the worker and never the

third person. Realize a worker is bringing reactive material to a session, which may or

may not have any real accuracy to it.

o We do not air grievances; promote personal biases or political positions; promote or

request sales of products.

• We maintain mindful, healthy boundaries. Boundaries are the relationship guidelines

between a helper and worker to safeguard the wellbeing of the worker and the

professionalism and spiritual integrity of the helper. Because there is a role and power

differential between helper and worker, establishing and managing clear boundaries is

essential to the emotional safety, trust, integrity, and effectiveness of the helper-worker

relationship. (see appendix)

The Practice of Pathwork Helpership

The ethical practice of Helpership requires continuing study and reflection. Understanding this,

we seek to keep ourselves informed of evolving thinking, teaching, and interpretations of

Pathwork Guide Lecture material. We participate in ongoing opportunities for professional

development and are continually involved in updating our practices and in finding ethical

solutions to problem situations.

• We maintain a daily spiritual practice to support establishing a truer and deeper connection

with the Divine self as the source of answers for problems in our own development and our

work; and to pray to cleanse motives one brings to the practice of the Pathwork.

• We do not create dual roles for ourselves or our workers, particularly any role that would

put a worker in a care-taking role or service role to us; peer roles in which potential

disruption of the primary helper-worker role would be adversely affected; any business or

personal relationship. 

• We do not enter into a helper/worker relationship with our very close relatives or close

relatives of our workers.

• We acknowledge the dependence that workers may develop within the helper/worker

relationship and aspire to respond sensitively to this when circumstances of the contact

change, as in the case of vacation, illness or termination.

• We keep and store records in a way that secures confidentiality, and we arrange for

appropriate care and/or destruction of records in the event of our incapacitation.

• We do not engage in sexual intimacy with a former worker for at least two years after the

end of the helper/worker relationship, because it is potentially harmful to the worker. A

helper who engages in such sexual activity is responsible for ensuring there is no

exploitation, fully taking into account all the relevant factors, including:

o The amount of time that has passed since the end of the helper/worker relationship

o The nature and duration of the work and the circumstances of termination

o The worker’s personal history

o The worker’s current ego strength (psycho-spiritual health)

o The likelihood of adverse impact on the worker

o Any statement or action by the helper during the course of the work suggesting or

inviting the possibility of sexual or romantic relationship with the worker.

• If we use physical touch, we do so consciously and non-sexually. We get worker’s consent

before touching, and act with consciousness for the worker’s safety and with awareness of

boundaries. Any physical touch that is acting out of sexual feelings is specifically prohibited.

Diversity and Freedom of Expression in Helper Practice

• We create an inclusive environment of respect for those of racial, ethnic, sexual and gender

identities, religious traditions, socioeconomic status, and abilities that differ from their own.

• We actively work with our conscious and unconscious biases as a part of this commitment.

We honestly assess if we are unable to take on workers without bias that would detract

from the helper-worker relationship.

• We strive to recognize and respect differences amongst ourselves as fellow helpers and

amongst workers, and we challenge differences, when relevant, in constructive ways based

on our teachings.

• We may bring many sources of spiritual inspiration and practice to the work, though we

commit to basing our teachings on the Guide lectures as in "Basic Commitments." We

accept that “all the great [religious] traditions … contain aspects of the truth” (Lecture 247)

and we do not promote any particular religion or religious orientation in a way that

denigrates other religions and religious orientations.

• Each helper and region should also bring mindfulness to examine what extent other

modalities and traditions support, or deter from, Pathwork practices and teachings. This

balance is best attained by open dialog and discernment amongst helpers.

• We recognize and respect that diverse personalities, styles, and backgrounds contribute to

positive Pathwork opportunities for helpers and workers alike, and to the growth of the

Pathwork as a whole.

Privacy and Confidentiality

• Helpers maintain an obligation of confidentiality, except under certain specific conditions:

o In most states helping professionals are considered mandated reporters and are

required by law to report certain situations, for example abuse or neglect of children

and vulnerable adults, and situations in which there is evidence of clear and immediate

danger to someone.

o In most states information may be required from helping professionals by the courts or

other statutory requirements.

o Information about, and/or recordings of, interaction between helpers and workers is

shared during supervision sessions, but anonymity of the worker will be maintained

insofar as possible.

o Information about specific workers may be exchanged between helpers when both

helpers are working with the same worker (e.g. one is teacher and one is helper in

individual sessions) as long as the worker has been informed in writing that this will

happen.

• A helper obtains permission in writing prior to providing identifying information about a

worker, except when this information is required by law and/or mandated by a court order.

When there is a legal requirement for the release, only essential information is revealed.

• To the extent possible, workers are informed before the information is disclosed. The

worker should be informed of the foreseeable uses of released information whether the

release is voluntary on the part of the worker or is court-ordered.

• In group work, helpers/teachers clearly define confidentiality and the parameters for the

specific group, explain its importance, and discuss the difficulties related to confidentiality

involved in group work. The fact that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed is clearly

communicated to group members.

The original team who first worked to put some type of ethics code together, which is a source for some of this info, included Sarah Aschenbach (VT), Roddy Duchesne (Canada), Cynthia Schwartzberg (GA), the late Dottie Titus (MN), Joel Walzer (NY), and Charles Cresson Wood (CA).