Are you looking to better support couples therapy with diverse cultural and sexual orientations? Do you want to address issues of relational privilege and social justice in your psychotherapy sessions? Our online course, Relational Privilege and Systemic Trauma: Confronting Race and Sex Discrimination in Couples Work with Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP, can provide valuable support for your work with private clients.
Navigating Relational Privilege in Couples Therapy
Akilah teaches therapists how to use Liberation Psychology and similar methods to navigate issues of relational privilege in minoritized couples therapy. Our previous posts about Akilah’s work introduced the basics of Liberation Psychology and gave an overview of her P.R.I.D.E. method, which includes The Pivot and The Rumble as the first two steps.
Catch up here: Relational Privilege and the P.R.I.D.E. Method, Akilah Riley-Richardson
Systemic Racism and Harm in Couples Therapy
The writer, activist and facilitator, Adrienne Maree Brown says that we are in an imagination battle. She further notes that we are possibly living in someone else’s imagination and calling it truth. Systemic harm, racism, colonialism, homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination can annihilate imagination. Those who are affected spend so much time just trying to survive that there is no time to imagine a different way of being, devoid of the strife against oppression.
Minoritized Couples Therapy Training with Akilah Riley-Richardson
P.R.I.D.E. STEP 3: IMAGINE
Couples sometimes find themselves experiencing this challenge, and so the third step in the P.R.I.D.E model (Imagine) becomes pivotal to their transformation. Couples are given tools to build their Relational Privilege through a process called Relational Imagination. Akilah teaches this and 7 other frames to assist the couple in envisioning new ways of being in the world.
Imagination can be exhilarating, and it can also be scary. The therapist’s process and presence here also becomes important. There is a co-imagination that takes place, a welcoming and embrace of various methods of being different in the world and in our relationships.
In the P.R.I.D.E model, the first step was The Pivot. The second important step for a minoritised couple is to consider and process the impact of systemic harm on their relationships. This is a process that Akilah calls “Relational Interrogation” and is referred to in the P.R.I.D.E. method as The Rumble.
JOIN a FREE Webinar Training with Akilah Riley-Richardson
Liberation Psychology Training with Akilah Riley-Richardson
In this free webinar, you will:
Learn how systemic trauma shows up in relationships.
Gain a deeper understanding of Relational Privilege and the difference it makes in couples work.
Discover the A.R.T. of building a Liberatory Connection in couples therapy.
Consider how your own Relational privilege affects your work so you can help your clients even more.
To assist you in working with BIPOC and LGBTQI+ therapy clients, we’ll continue to discuss the remaining phases of Akilah Riley-Richardson’s P.R.I.D.E. model in subsequent articles. Visit Akilah’s course page at the Academy of Therapy Wisdom and learn more about the curriculum.
