Is Yoga Therapy Safe?
Seeing the Wisdom
As more and more people are beginning to see the wisdom of bringing the body to therapy, there’s a gravitation toward body-based or somatic practitioners like yoga therapists. If you’re working with a yoga therapist, or even just thinking about it, you’ll be happy to know that yoga therapists have a code of ethics and professional responsibilities.
Ethics and Professional Responsibility
If you happen to be a yoga therapist who is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, you passed an examination on the code of ethics and professional responsibilities. Or maybe you’re a yoga therapist with a thriving practice who is not certified by IAYT. In either case, you may be an excellent, well-qualified yoga therapist. And, hopefully, you follow a code of ethics and professional responsibilities, perhaps those set by your yoga therapy school, another licensing board, or a hospital or business you work for. IAYT’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities for yoga therapists is intended to further the basic commitment to responsible and ethical practice, professional and personal growth, and growth and development of yoga therapy as a field. You should at least be familiar with it to make sure that you’re covering everything IAYT considered to be important. There’s a free PDF download below to help you.
Commitments to Clients
I WILL
Respect the rights and dignity of my yoga therapy clients.
Provide my services in a nondiscriminatory manner.
Keep the client informed by explaining practices and recommendations and make only realistic statements regarding the benefits of yoga therapy.
Protect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of client care. However, disclosure is permitted to law enforcement, family members of the client, or other persons when it is believed the client presents a serious and imminent threat to self of others, or as otherwise required by law.
Maintain professional boundaries in relationships with clients and avoid any relationships that may exploit the trust of clients.
Keep accurate client records.
Provide yoga therapy only within my level of skill and knowledge.
Provide the highest quality care to yoga therapy clients.
Make timely referrals to other healthcare professionals as appropriate.
Refrain from providing yoga therapy to clients if I am unable to safely and effectively do so due to impairment.
Seek appropriate professional assistance for any personal issues that may impair my ability to practice safely and effectively.
Bill clients and third-party payers accurately and fairly.
Neither receive nor pay a commission for referral of a client.
Obtain informed consent to use ethical touch, as appropriate, in yoga therapy sessions and group classes.
Not engage in sexual contact with a current client after the professional relationship is established.
Be mindful that engaging in sexual contact with a former client can cause egregious harm and may be exploitative of the trust established during the professional relationship. Therefore, I will exercise extreme caution in engaging in any type of personal relationship with a former client.
Free Download 👇
Those are the commitments to the client. IAYT also covers commitments to the profession (and IAYT) and to the public. These are interesting too. And even if you’re not IAYT-certified, some of these commitments are at least basic good manners and may be helpful to keep in mind.
Commitments to the Profession
I WILL
Work to promote high standard for the profession.
Commit to working toward equitable access to yoga therapy services.
Credit the sources on which materials are based when developing materials for training programs or publication, and obtain authorization/approval to utilize another individual’s or organizations copyrighted or otherwise proprietary materials.
Commit to the maintenance and improvement of my yoga therapy skills through educational activities and study.
Strive to communicate with and about colleagues in a professional, balanced, and factually accurate manner.
Provide accurate, truthful, and non-misleading information in connection with any IAYT application, requirement, or disciplinary investigation or proceeding.
Comply with all IAYT policies that pertain to my membership, accreditation, and certification status.
Commitments to the Public
I WILL
Provide accurate information regarding my education, training and experience, professional affiliations, and certification status.
Use only the appropriate professional designations for my credentials, including any designations required or granted by IAYT.
Advertise only accurate, truthful, non-misleading information.
Refrain from making public statements on the efficacy of yoga therapy that are not supported by the generally accepted experience of the profession.
Respect the integrity of other forms of healthcare and other health and wellness traditions, and seek to develop collaborative relationships to achieve the highest quality of care for individual clients.