What is a "Certified" Intimacy Coordinator, Really?

A guide to the standards of training and work experience across this emerging field.

Hiring an intimacy coordinator can too often leave productions feeling a bit... lost in finding the right fit.

Intimacy coordination is often a significant investment for the production, not only financially but also in the overall well-being and creative energy of its cast, director, and crew.

Everyone wants to hire a professional who knows how to do the job and do it well, but as intimacy coordination is such a new and emerging field, many different routes to calling yourself one have arisen, leading to intimacy coordinators having long lists of training courses, workshops, masterclasses, certificates, and yes, certifications.

So what does it all mean? Well, let's break it down and demystify it, so you can make sure you're hiring the right professional for your production.

What is Certification?

A certified intimacy coordinator is someone who has completed a full course of training and usually direct mentorship through a dedicated intimacy coordinator training organization, resulting in final review of the trainee's work experience and performance and a "certification" of their knowledge and skill set by a panel of experienced industry professionals.

In some cases, certification must be periodically renewed by meeting continuing education requirements and by reviewing the certified professional's work to ensure it continues to meet all necessary professional and ethical standards.

There are currently four organizations that offer "certification" for intimacy coordinators in the U.S.:

• Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC)

• Cintima

• Intimacy for Stage and Screen

• Intimacy Professionals Association

• Intimacy Professionals Education Collective (IPEC)

If an individual completes their full course of training through one of these organizations, they will be able to provide a document verifying their certification.

If Someone Isn't Certified, Does That Mean They're Not Trained?

Put simply, no. Not all SAG-AFTRA-accredited training organizations offer "certification" as the final outcome of their training courses, even when their full training modules meet the established standards for working intimacy professionals.

And some early intimacy professionals, most of whom entered the industry prior to the role becoming formalized or training organizations existing, drew on decades of equivalent industry experience and peer knowledge sharing to build the foundational expertise that most training programs are built on.

If Someone Isn't Certified, But Claims to be "Trained," How Do I Verify Their Training?

There are a couple of ways to verify training that an Intimacy Coordinator has received from organizations that do not offer certification.

First, some organizations, in lieu of certification, will offer a certificate or similar document to verify that the intimacy professional has completed the full course of training.

Here are organizations that offer alternatives to certification:

• Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) - Diploma

• Intimacy On Set- Certificate of Accreditation

However, if someone claims to be "trained" by an organization that offers certification but cannot produce their certification or a similar document verifying completion of training, it likely means the individual has not completed the full course of training through that organization.

If they are a professional who has equivalent training and experience outside of a formal training program, they should be able to easily provide a resume with the courses, workshops, and/or work experience that shows they have significant expertise in:

• Consent

• Anti-harassment/anti-sexual harassment

• Movement coaching and masking techniques

• Proper use of modesty garments and barriers

• Mediation or conflict resolution

• Gender identity & sexual orientation

• Anti-racism/EDI in the workplace

• Bystander intervention

• Mental health first aid, trauma stewardship, or related areas

IDC Training vs. Certification

There is one organization that offers two levels of training completion certificates: IDC.

This is one of the largest training organizations, and as such, a large portion of intimacy professionals attribute their training or certification to IDC.

IDC has an intimacy professional "accelerator" program that, upon successful completion of the online-only portion of the training, issues a certificate of completion for that portion, which is required for the learner to be considered for the final portion of the certification program.

An intimacy professional who has completed the online portion of the training is expected to have a working knowledge of basic intimacy protocols and to have been exposed to basic choreographic techniques, but has not yet had their skills evaluated and refined through direct in-person learning or mentorship, or gone through the final checks that lead to full certification.

Intimacy professionals who hold full certification with IDC are the professionals who have completed the full scope of training, including the in-person learning and evaluation sessions, as well as:

• A direct supervised mentorship period with one of the teaching staff

• A portfolio review

• Verification of the required additional professional self-study courses to meet the standards for qualified intimacy coordinators by SAG-AFTRA

• Verification of a valid Mental Health First Aid certificate

• A background check

This additional training and verification are designed to make sure that intimacy professionals certified by this organization meet all the training and education requirements for qualified intimacy coordinators (as defined by SAG-AFTRA), including holding them to a standard of professional conduct to maintain certification, with clear reporting structures for productions to reach out through if they feel these coordinators have violated their professional and ethical duties.

Am I Required to Hire a Certified Intimacy Coordinator?

No, there is no official requirement for productions to hire a certified intimacy coordinator.

What certification provides is a simple way to verify that the intimacy professional has:

• Completed the full scope of training through their organization

• Completed a period of direct, in-person training and evaluation of their skillset

• Completed all additional training or verified work experience in the additional areas of required self-study

• Passed a portfolio review by established intimacy professionals

• Passed a background check

Basically, certification is designed to make it faster and easier for productions to ensure they're hiring someone with verified training and knowledge across all the areas needed to do their job to the highest professional standards.

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I personally hold a full certification from IDC because it was important to me to provide productions with the assurance that I have all the training and experience necessary to fully support their cast and crew. Learn more about me or get in contact if you want to work together!