Betty Martin Betty spent her childhood in a large family and mis-spent her youth in experimental communities, learning about people in more kinds of groups than she can count. She practiced Chiropractic for almost 30 years, including body-mind integration modalities. She has taught Peer Counseling for teens and adults, gender empowerment and sexuality workshops for both women and men, and boundary and communication workshops of many flavors, including Cuddle Parties. She has had a private practice as an erotic educator in Seattle, and these days is focused on training other hands-on professionals in boundaries, communication and professional standards. She is the developer of the Wheel of Consent, a model of interaction based on giving and receiving. (When you are touching, is it for you or for them, why does it matter and why do you need both options alive and well?)

The Wheel of Consent – 

Longing to be Touched, Longing to Touch

In addition to her Intensive during the festival Betty will be offering this work on opening day for all participants in order to create a shared understanding that we can all learn and play within for the course of the festival!

The Wheel of Consent is a model exploring the four roles of Receiving, Giving, Taking and Allowing. It distinguishes between who is ‘doing’ and who it’s for. When you are touching, is it for them or for you? Why does is matter and why do we need both options alive and well? And what is the difference between touching and being touched, and how does each of them meet a different need?

The Wheel of Consent offer some insights on when to be generous and when to be selfish, how to tend to your limits, how to act on your desire, and how to create spaciousness. The more responsibility you take, the more freedom you have.

This class will include mostly actively exploring the four quadrants of the Wheel of Consent. I will include some talking as well. Then we’ll experiment using them in the context of improvisation – where do they fit and where do they not? What can we find as we stick to a structured format, and then what can we find as we open it up? I’m looking forward to seeing what we discover together.