Urgency. Overwhelm. Burnout.
Numbing. Enduring. Overgiving.
When your work is about saving the world,
it can feel like your work will never be done.

How might a consent practice liberate you individually,
and impact collective systems?

My work with consent is informed by Dr. Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent framework and practices, and my approach recontextualizes some of those practices to address equity, liberation and the decolonization of the body and decolonizing our relationship to desire. We do this by learning how our bodies are conditioned to go along with things we don’t want, from childhood through adulthood, how boundaries are not taught or respected, how our anger is devalued - and how to reclaim the power of choice and agency.

I work with organizations and individuals to create clear agreements, and build social-emotional skills to understand and implement consent as a practice in way that supports diversity, builds equity and inclusion, and navigating boundaries as a pathway to self-knowledge and sovereignty.

My approach to teaching consent, which focuses on developing Somatic Awareness and building Somatic Discernment decision-making skills, includes teaching modules on Embodiment, Boundaries, Consent and Sovereignty which are available as standalone modules or as a workshop series, and can be adapted to address specific needs/initiatives.

Consent and Resilience Education for Leadership & Organizations

When working with leaders, changemakers, executives and mission-driven organizations, Carmen’s primary goal is to cultivate a safe container to explore and expand capacity in relational communication and negotiation. With humor, warmth and compassion, Carmen guides clients through embodied processes to access authentic desire for vitality, creativity and self-advocacy, as well as somatic awareness of limits and capacity. These practices empower the integrity of working relationships with clear and consensual agreements to resolve and prevent conflict.

A career in corporate advertising, marketing, recruitment and direct experience with entrepreneurs and start-ups informs Carmen's keen insights into the challenging relational dynamics inherent in working relationships. Carmen brings with her an intersectional lens that factors in the impact of culture, trauma, obligation and systemic inequities on access to embodiment, equity and consent.

Carmen has been a consent practitioner, colleague and collaborator with Dr. Betty Martin, developer of the Wheel of Consent framework, since 2013. She has applied this framework to her work within the business world - inspired from her own lived experiences with sexual harassment, unhealthy power dynamics, burnout and the lack of consent culture in the workplace.

Carmen can often be found in Instagram sharing practical applications of Betty Martin’s @thewheelofconsent or her personal account, @consentisapractice.

In addition to teaching as Faculty for the School of Consent, she previously served as the Communications and Marketing Director where she also coordinated the organization’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice initiatives.

Carmen also serves as guest faculty for the Surrogate Partner Collective, and as the Resilience and Liberation consultant for the non-profit organization North Bay Organizing Project serving Sonoma County in California.

As an offering and a container for community, she facilitates dialogues about Somatics, Sovereignty and Social Justice, through the lens of the Wheel of Consent - either in Zoom groups, Instagram Live conversations or podcasts.

Carmen also provides private coaching for individuals who want to integrate Wheel of Consent® practices into their personal and professional lives, and supervision for those who are facilitating workshops or working with groups.