Consent-Informed Care is Our Mission

Consent is a “fuck yes,” not a deferential “well, you’re the expert.”

You should feel safe and included. Not overpowered by expertise. In practice, that means…

  • Adjusting technique and intensity in real time

  • Respecting boundaries immediately

  • Checking in throughout the session

  • Taking accountability if a boundary is crossed

Emma Sulkowicz is an internationally recognized consent educator, activist, and licensed acupuncturist who came to Chinese Medicine after more than a decade of advocacy for survivors of sexual violence.

When she entered the wellness field, she noticed a pattern: practitioners pushing clients past their limits, intensity mistaken for effectiveness, and patients treated like cogs in a machine. Too many wellness spaces felt polished but disconnected — promising transformation while leaving people feeling small.

She founded Little Fox to create a place where both practitioners and patients could feel safe.

FAQs

  • Consent-Informed Care (CIC) is a clinical framework developed by Emma Sulkowicz at Little Fox to operationalize consent in wellness settings. Practitioners explain before acting, check in throughout treatment, adjust in real time, and welcome redirection without hesitation.

    Unlike traditional informed consent — often treated as a one-time formality — CIC treats consent as an ongoing process. Your agency isn’t a courtesy. You remain in charge of what happens in the room.

  • Practitioners earn this credential by completing CIC training, passing an assessment, signing the CIC Code of Conduct, and renewing certification every two years.

  • You don’t need to share your history to receive careful care here. Our practitioners are trained to follow your lead.

    If it helps to say something before your session, we welcome that. If you’d rather just see how things feel, that’s fine too.

    You’re in charge from the moment you walk in.

  • Yes. Emma teaches Consent Informed Care through an NCBAHM-approved continuing education program for licensed wellness practitioners.

    Graduates earn the CCIP credential and are listed in our practitioner directory.

  • Informed consent is typically a one-time process. You’re told what’s going to happen, you agree, and the treatment proceeds.

    Consent-Informed Care treats consent as ongoing. It’s checked, updated, and respected throughout the session — especially as techniques, intensity, or focus change.

    It’s the difference between getting permission once and staying in conversation the whole time.

  • They overlap, but they’re not the same.

    Trauma-informed care focuses on understanding how past experiences may impact the nervous system and sense of safety.

    Consent-Informed Care focuses on how power, choice, and agency are handled in real time during treatment.

    At Little Fox, we see consent as a practical way to support safety without requiring clients to disclose their history. You don’t have to explain anything for your boundaries to be respected.