Dr. Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent® is a cutting edge model of consent which 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 dynamics of interaction, 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. Here is a simple example:  I ask John if I can place my hand on his knee, and he replies, “Sure, that’s fine”.  On the face of it,

we seem to have consent.

But the Wheel of Consent® says our agreement is not complete until we have also answered the question,

“Who is it for?”

Without establishing who the touch is for, all kinds of misunderstandings can arise. John might agree to me placing my hand on

his knee because he thinks it’s for me (e.g. he thinks I am in need of reassuring physical contact, and he’s OK with providing that)

but meanwhile I might think I’m doing it for John’s benefit to reassure him!

With the Wheel of consent you will learn what consent and boundaries really are.