The Wheel of Consent

A Two Part Online Workshop

Wheel of Consent Online Intro Workshop – Next Dates:

Mondays 8th & 22nd April

7pm – 9pm BST on Zoom.

Key info at a glance:

An introduction to the Wheel of Consent on Zoom (group size 20-30 people)
Two evening sessions with a supported practice fortnight in between.
This workshop is for adults (18+)
Cost: £45 (earlybird), £55 (standard)
Facilitators: Rupert James Alison and Rose C Jiggens

What is the Wheel of Consent?

The Wheel of Consent distinguishes between the ‘doing’ aspect of an interaction: who is doing? – and the ‘gift’ aspect: who is it for? Asking these two questions together creates four possible dynamics, each of which has a different flavour, and requires a different type of consent agreement to be made. This is the central insight of the Wheel of Consent, from which many consequences and insights flow.

We can use a simple touch practice to experience each of the Wheel’s four quadrants, discovering which feel comfortable and which feel unfamiliar, enabling us to clarify our desires, needs and boundaries, and shining a light on our blind-spots. We see how our life experience may have limited our expression of these qualities, and we can use the Wheel as an embodied practice to open them up again.

Who is this Wheel of Consent workshop for?

You’re likely to find the Wheel of Consent helpful if you answer yes or sometimes to any of the following questions:

Do you find yourself giving resentfully, people-pleasing, or doing things for others without being sure if it’s really what they want?
Are you sometimes unsure about what you really want, and even when you are sure, do you struggle to ask for it?
Even if you get what you want, do you sometimes feel unworthy of receiving it?
Do you find yourself going along with things because it feels less awkward or safer than expressing a boundary?
Do you struggle to know what your boundaries are – or perhaps only realise after the event that they’ve been crossed?
Do you find it difficult to respond gracefully when hearing a ‘no’ from another?
Do you sometimes cross other people’s boundaries unintentionally, perhaps without even realising it?

Establishing clear consent agreements can be challenging for all kinds of reasons, including peer pressure, social and cultural conditioning, personal trauma, and imbalances of power and privilege. The Wheel of Consent is a powerful tool to help individuals, partners and communities co-create a culture of consent.

Workshop content:

How the Wheel of Consent goes beyond other models of consent
Recognising the four quadrants in all areas of life
Learning a solo practice to help slow down, notice your inner experience and awaken greater sensitivity to touch
Demonstrations of how to experience all four quadrants using a partnered, fully-clothed touch exercise. We will provide instructions for how to play this game afterwards with friends, family members or a partner.
Opportunities to ask questions and share about your own experience.
Optional ‘homework’ for the fortnight in between the first and second session, to help you integrate the material

Wheel of Consent Workshop format and logistics:

This two-session workshop will be on Zoom: we will circulate the link a couple of hours before the first session
We offer flexibility in how you attend – you can choose to have your camera on or off, and there will be no use of breakout rooms
Questions can be asked verbally or using the chatbox. Please wear headphones to maintain confidentiality if anyone else is in your space.
This is a live event and the workshop will not be recorded.

Important Information:

This workshop is for adults (18+) and our confidential discussions may include topics such as intimacy, trauma and consent violations. This is an inclusive space and we request that participants do not attempt to fix, advise or make judgments on anyone else’s life experience or choices.

About your facilitators:

Rupert James Alison (he/him) has been holding group spaces since 1992 and has facilitated consent workshops in the UK and Europe for over a decade. Informed choice and an inclusive, trauma-informed approach are central to all his work. He is an accredited Wheel of Consent facilitator. https://www.artofconsent.co.uk/

Rose C Jiggens (they/them) has been a somatic therapist and educator since 2008 and has co-facilitated the Wheel of Consent in groups since 2016. Their work offers embodied approaches to therapy. Their offerings include Family Constellations, Trauma Sensitive Breathwork, Transforming Touch, EMDR. Rose C Jiggens – True Self Systems

How to book your place:

You can book your place on Eventbrite. Tickets will be on sale until five hours before the start of our first session and are limited to a maximum of 30. Early-bird sales will end on 25th March.

Book your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-wheel-of-consent-tickets-805716779577?aff=oddtdtcreator

You can find out more about the Wheel of Consent at Betty Martin’s School of Consent https://www.schoolofconsent.org/