ANNOUNCING RADICAL HONESTY 2.0
Radical Honesty (RH) is a practice for personal empowerment and growth through honest expression and transformative communication. It fosters greater self-awareness, forgiveness, and deeper intimacy—values that remain central to our approach.
The initial promise of Radical Honesty was that by simply saying what was true (the good, the bad, and the ugly) we would all get over our differences, heal and grow together, and become more empowered. What we have learned over the years is that it’s not that simple.
Being radically honest DOES have an empowering effect. What we failed to realize is that when honesty is taken as the primary value and not tempered with care for the other and applied with a deep awareness of power, honesty tends to empower those who already have power, and disempower those who don’t. This is true both at the one-on-one relational level, as well as at the societal level. Oftentimes, being radically honest without awareness of this dynamic tends to justify and perpetuate existing power issues, rather than level the playing field.
In order for EVERYONE to be honest, we need safety and accountability. We initially missed that, and were at times even hostile towards those who tried to point it out to us, responding with dismissal, ridicule, or even hostility, rather than openness, curiosity, and compassion. That resistance came at a great cost. We get it now, and are reworking the approach to Radical Honesty in order to incorporate what we have learned in an attempt to maintain what we feel is most vital, helpful, and positive about the practice, while removing elements which tend to lead to harm. Even in the process of developing a system of accountability, we made mistakes, learning along the way that holding each other and our Trainers accountable without perpetuating the same kinds of power issues that we are trying to avoid is also complicated.
With the continuing development of RH, our goal remains to create spaces where people feel free to express themselves, connect authentically with others, and continue to grow through ever-deepening self-awareness. To achieve this, we are committed to fostering an environment of trust, safety, inclusion, and accountability that benefits both participants and Trainers.
The Evolution of Radical Honesty
Since Brad Blanton published Radical Honesty in the 1990s, significant social movements (#MeToo, BlackLivesMatter, etc.) and psychological / therapeutic developments have reshaped our understanding and practice of Radical Honesty. Below, we outline how RH has evolved since its introduction in the early 1990s.
RH 1.0 (1990s - 2010s)
Influenced largely by Fritz Perls-era Gestalt therapy (1960s-70s) and Werner Erhard era “est” trainings (1970s-1980s), Brad Blanton’s Radical Honesty emphasized unfiltered emotional expression, prioritizing personal experience over rational constraints. It also held that individuals were fully responsible for their own happiness and boundaries.
This approach was seen as the path to liberation against the background of the predominantly rational-strategic thinking at the time and helped many people open up their ability to be emotionally expressive and more in touch with themselves.
During this period, many trainees and participants voiced objections to and offered suggestions for the improvement of Brad’s rather brazen approach. Most of these were ignored by Brad. However, Taber Shadburne (Brad’s “right hand man”) was able to somewhat soften the practice by bringing attention to the experience of and impact on the other. This made the practice more relational, and a bit less focused on uninhibited self-expression.
While this early approach helped many people become more emotionally expressive and in touch with themselves, it overlooked critical issues, particularly unhealthy power dynamics between leaders and participants/students.
For example, participants (often men) were encouraged to freely express attraction and sexual desires, without sufficient awareness of the impact on those receiving such expressions (often women). When leaders themselves shared their feelings and desires toward participants, the imbalance of power became even more pronounced. In some cases, a leader asking for sex with a participant was framed as uninhibited self-expression rather than recognized as a potential abuse of power and a boundary violation.
RH 1.1 - 1.9 (2017-2024)
In 2017, as Brad’s working days were coming to an end, a wave of new RH Trainers was certified. Ten certified Trainers then formed an advisory board to Brad’s Radical Honesty Enterprises. In 2021, most of these Trainers would go on to purchase all of Brad’s Radical Honesty assets, forming a new organization called the Radical Honesty Institute, LLC.
Until 2018, there were no formal ethical guidelines nor a system of accountability for Trainers. It was believed that all conflicts could be dealt with via honest communication. The focus was high on personal responsibility and forgiveness, with little to no focus on accountability, apology, or repair.
In 2018, the first steps were taken towards clear and enforceable ethical standards in the form of a Trainer Sexual Conduct Agreement, establishing for the first time some rudimentary but formal boundaries around sexual conduct between Trainers and participants. Each year, as mistakes were made and lessons were learned, the Trainer Sexual Conduct Agreement became more restrictive. Beyond sexual conduct, however, no formal guidelines had yet been implemented for the ethical behavior of Trainers.
In 2022 and 2023, as the Radical Honesty Institute was beginning to expand (especially across certain parts of Europe), and as new Trainers and candidates were being certified, complaints began to pile up, predominantly around various issues of power abuse, consent violations, boundary pushing, and ignorance of social identity issues and trauma. In early 2023, these complaints culminated in a community crisis.
We owe a debt of gratitude to those who came forward with their grievances, stopping us in our tracks, and demanding change. We regret and are saddened by the loss of so many good Trainers, trainees, and participants during this period of dramatic transition. If you would like to report an incident please use any of the methods on our Speak Up! page.
RH 2.0 (January 2025)
Our Commitment to Change
Since 2023, we have been reflecting, learning, rethinking, and taking action. We are actively addressing issues from the past, taking accountability for mistakes made, and continuing to implement meaningful reforms.
To create a safer, more ethical practice of Radical Honesty, we have introduced a new Code of Ethics conforming with contemporary ethical standards for coaches and therapists. We have created and implemented a structured accountability system to educate—or, when necessary, remove—Trainers with histories of abuse, complaints, or non-compliance with these new ethical standards, including former leaders and founders Brad Blanton and Taber Shadburne.
Our goal remains to create spaces where people feel free to express themselves, connect authentically with others, and continue to grow through ever-deepening self-awareness. To achieve this, we are committed to fostering an environment of trust, safety, inclusion, and accountability that benefits both participants and Trainers. We have retained the effective elements of RH that support personal growth and deep connection, while eliminating behaviors and practices that manipulate, coerce, or push boundaries.
Ongoing Improvements
We are actively developing new training practices to cultivate a community where honesty, ethics, and mutual support enable both Trainers and participants to thrive. Some of the key improvements include:
Emphasizing consent over boundary-pushing
Encouraging self-inquiry and vulnerability over angry outbursts
Enhancing self-awareness training and compassionate listening
Increasing flexibility in agreements and language use
Establishing clear boundaries regarding flirting and sexual expression for trainers
Providing training for Trainers on sexism, racism, and power dynamics
Fostering an environment of accountability
Not only will all future Trainers follow a revised curriculum, all existing Trainers have undergone additional training and will continue to receive ongoing education and support in these critical areas.
We now require all Trainers and Trainer Candidates to read, sign, and adhere to our Code of Ethics. Additionally, during workshops we require Trainers to step out of the participant role, where personal emotional processing and self-expression are the focus, and step into the leader role, where they prioritize supporting others and refrain from reactive behavior.
Moving Forward
As we continue evolving, we strive to make better mistakes and solidify ethical practices and accountability as the foundation of the RH community. We welcome your feedback and invite you to share any suggestions for further improvements in our ethical practices. Feedback and reports of violations of ethical standards can be made using any of the methods on our Speak Up! page.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
Radical Honesty Institute Owners
(Christoph, Gudrun, Jesper, Maggie, Mak, and Selina)
April 12, 2025