Accountability & informed choice.
We believe people deserve enough information to make their own choices about the spaces they enter and the people they learn from.
Bliss Boogie creates spaces where people explore connection, embodiment, relationships, pleasure, vulnerability, communication, and personal growth. Because some of these experiences can involve vulnerability and power dynamics, we believe our responsibility extends beyond simply choosing talented teachers.
It includes asking difficult questions about who we platform, how we participate in power dynamics, how concerns are addressed, and what accountability looks like when harm has occurred.
We don’t believe safety comes from pretending harm never happens.
We believe stronger communities are built by developing meaningful ways to respond when it does.
The space we are creating is that everyone is able to step into their power. It is our job to be transparent. It is your job to make decisions. And when harm is done, we have a clear path to lean into the messy.
There is not a model for this. There is no clear path. But placing it in others’ hands is not working. So we are unfolding a new era.
It’s not for everybody.
Accountability does not mean erasing what happened.
It does not require someone who was harmed to forgive, reconcile with, communicate with, or participate in the rehabilitation of the person who harmed them.
At the same time, we believe that accountability does not automatically mean permanent exclusion from the community.
Questions of accountability require discernment rather than a single rule that can appropriately address every situation.
When considering working with a facilitator who has a significant, publicly known history involving harm, consent violations, professional boundaries, or misuse of power, Bliss Boogie may consider factors including:
None of these considerations erase past harm or determine what someone who was harmed should feel about the person who caused it, but it does help us to consider whether a facilitator is capable of participating with more awareness and responsibility than they have in the past.
Exclusion is easy. Leaning in and figuring out a new map requires developing skills to live together.
Often in community it was not intended. And everyone needs a place to grow, or problems will just continue to happen.
Consent requires more than the ability to say yes or no in the moment.
Whenever we become aware of information about a teacher that we believe could reasonably affect someone’s decision to participate in their offering, we believe our community should have access to that information.
Our goal is not to tell you what conclusion to reach.
It is to give you the opportunity to make that decision for yourself.
Those choices belong to you.
No participant at Bliss Boogie is required to attend an offering from a particular teacher. Choosing not to participate with a facilitator will not prevent you from participating in the larger Bliss Boogie experience.
When appropriate, Bliss Boogie will provide an Informed Choice Notice alongside a facilitator’s information.
These notices are not endorsements of someone’s version of events, declarations of innocence, certifications of rehabilitation, or determinations that all harm has been repaired.
They are disclosures.
Whenever reasonably possible, we will provide access to relevant publicly available information so participants can learn more rather than asking them simply to trust our interpretation.
We also recognize that an accountability process can itself be disputed. The existence of an apology, public statement, or accountability process does not automatically establish that accountability was successful or that anyone affected experienced repair.
Someone who has experienced harm does not owe the person who harmed them forgiveness.
- They do not owe reconciliation.
- They do not owe participation in an accountability process.
- They do not owe approval of that person’s return to community or professional life.
Someone else’s decision to engage with a person again does not invalidate someone else’s decision not to engage with them again.
All of these realities can coexist within a community.
And this may cause conflict. Conflict is not a sign that one person is right and another person is wrong. It means that diversity is allowed to exist.
Informed choice does not absolve the organizers of this event of our responsibility.
We don’t believe that simply providing a disclosure means anything that happens afterward becomes the participant’s responsibility.
Bliss Boogie remains responsible for establishing expectations for facilitators, maintaining consent and community standards within our events, providing ways to raise concerns, and responding when those standards are violated.
We also reserve the right to reconsider a facilitator’s participation when new information becomes available or when behavior within our community warrants reconsideration.
About Reid Mihalko
In 2018, people came forward reporting harms caused by Reid Mihalko involving concerns around consent, professional boundaries, and power dynamics.
Reid subsequently stepped away from teaching and undertook a process of public accountability. He has published information about the reported harms, his response, the process he participated in, and changes he says he made as a result.
Reid also acknowledges publicly that the process ultimately should not be characterized as restorative justice because the participation necessary for restoration with those harmed did not occur.
We are also aware that some people who were harmed, as well as others within the broader community, believe that Reid’s accountability efforts were insufficient and object to his return to teaching. We believe people considering attending his offerings deserve to know that disagreement exists.
Bliss Boogie’s inclusion of Reid as a facilitator should not be interpreted as a declaration that all past harm has been repaired or that everyone should trust, forgive, or learn from him.
Reid is on the bill because people will break boundaries and cause harm. I think it is powerful to have someone who has walked through that and talks openly about it.
We encourage you to read the available information and reach your own conclusion before deciding whether to participate in his offerings.
Read Reid Mihalko’s public account:
Informing You About My Accountability Process
Where available, we also encourage reading accounts and materials from people affected by the harm and from those involved in responding to it rather than relying solely on the perspective of the person who caused harm.
Participation in Reid’s offerings is entirely optional.
If something happens at a Bliss Boogie event that concerns you — or if you have information about a facilitator you believe we should consider — we want there to be a way to bring it forward.
You do not need to publicly disclose an experience in order for us to listen.
You also do not need to confront the person involved before contacting us.
We will take concerns seriously, seek information where appropriate, and determine what actions fall within Bliss Boogie’s responsibility and ability to address.
Reports come to Amanda. If a situation warrants it, we will also involve the police.
To bring something forward
Email Blissboogieinfo@gmail.com and mark it for Amanda. Tell us as much or as little as you want to.
A dedicated reporting form is being added to this page. Until it is here, that address reaches us.
We aren’t interested in creating a community where everyone is assumed to be perfect.
We’re interested in creating one where consent matters, power can be questioned, harm can be named, accountability is expected, and people retain agency over their own participation.
We don’t believe community integrity comes from never encountering difficult histories.
We believe it comes from how honestly and responsibly we respond to them.