Welcome,
I invite you to join me for Embodied Anti-Racism, a new course that uses mindfulness principles and a body-oriented approach in the journey of becoming anti-racist therapists and helping professionals. This course has been in development for over a year, and I am so excited to finally open it to the public.
Many of you likely have some understanding of somatic tools and the power of mindfulness practices. So it will be familiar to you when we use those resources to work with what comes up as we address racism in a deeper context. And we can all use this deepened awareness in order to offer our best to our clients—even if we don’t see many clients of color at the moment.
In my own personal journey as a Haitian-Dominican Italian-American multiethnic woman, it was my spiritual mentor Jack Kornfield who encouraged me down the path to becoming more enlightened about racism. Since that time in 2015, I have dedicated my life to educating myself about how racism shows up in therapeutic interactions. During this journey, I unexpectedly discovered that my mindfulness and somatic training have been invaluable allies...
...but trying to do this work alone is overwhelming.
When we try to untangle the many knots of racism woven through the whole fabric of our society, many of us get stuck in our minds and feel alone in our thoughts, with no one to talk to who can help us sort them out. In this course, we will be creating a community for discussing our experiences, teasing apart our confusion, and sharing our struggles. Because in community, this work becomes so much easier.
As a group, we will learn how to pause and examine our shame or traumatic experiences in the moment. We will unpack what it means to be a ‘white person’ and a racialized being. We will also look at neuroscience and Polyvagal Theory to better understand how our mind and body may react when issues of race come up. We will learn to use mindfulness and self-regulation to increase our ability to be fully present for ourselves and our clients.
We need to use both the left and right sides of our brains in our unlearning of racism.
Too many other diversity and cultural competency courses fall short because they focus on trying to be “PC” instead of diving in and interrogating whiteness. I don’t want to simply tell you what you should do to be a non-racist—I want to guide you along your journey of discovering how to be an embodied anti-racist.
As Michelle Obama said, “Make no mistake about it: There are still so many causes worth sacrificing for. There is still so much history yet to be made." So, as a community of helping professionals, I encourage you to join me on this journey together!
Warmly,
Francesca Maximé and
The Academy of Therapy Wisdom Team
CO-SPONSOR:
“Healing from white-body supremacy begins with the body — your body. But it does not end there. In order to heal the collective body that is America, we also need social activism that is body centered. We cannot individualize our way out of white-body supremacy. Nor can we merely strategize our way out. We need collective action — action that heals.”
— Resmaa Menakem, MSW, SEP, My Grandmother’s Hands
Who is this for?
All Helping Professionals are Welcome
Anyone who sees themselves in a helping role is invited to join us. Participants may be therapists, licensed psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, or social workers, but you could also be a massage therapist, mindfulness teacher, yoga instructor, professor, business executive, organizational leader, teacher, daycare owner, pastoral counselor, or spiritual guide.
We Welcome All Races
We've all had different life experiences. People of all races, especially those with white skin privilege or light skin racial advantage, are encouraged to join us to share their unique experiences and help us further our learning as we work to become embodied anti-racists.
We Extend a Special Invitation to White Professionals
The majority of therapists are white women, meaning that this population has the potential to create significant change. As a multiethnic woman who’s had the lived experience of living with light-skin privilege, I was still quite ignorant until I started my anti-racism journey five years ago. I understand you don’t want to feel guilty, to feel like you’re doing it wrong, or to say the wrong thing. My goal is to help you understand yourself as a racialized being so that you can be more fully embodied and present with people who may not look like you.
“Francesca, not sure I have the words to express the level of gratitude for your session today… As a woman who identifies as white, I witnessed how today’s session was no less (in fact, I think even more from what I could see) healing for the women of color than for me.”
— LB
Here’s What we'll Learn together in
Embodied Anti-Racism: A Mindfulness Way for Therapists and Helping Professionals
Module 1: What Does it Mean to be an Embodied Anti-Racist?
Many structures in our culture have been systemized for decades and have racism cooked into them. If we want to create change, we first have to look at ourselves. Mindfulness is the tool we will use to examine different parts of ourselves, our bodily reactions, and any trauma that lies in our pasts. In this module, we will explore the history that we weren’t taught in school and how our bodies and minds react to this information.
In this module, we will discuss:
Module 2: Whiteness & Privilege: Systems We’ve Inherited
Many of us associate racism with an individual bad actor. As long as we don’t see ourselves as racist, then we get to be the ‘good’ people. This belief prevents us from actually seeing the systems in our culture that influence our neurophysiology and our neurobiology. In reality, we are inheritors of systems created long before we were born. In this module, we will use mindfulness to cultivate an awareness of these deeply ingrained systems and recognize their effects on us and what we can do about it.
In this module, we will discuss:
Module 3: Racial Identity Development
Many of us are all familiar with various models of human development, such as those formulated by famous clinicians Freud, Erikson, and Piaget. In this module, we will turn our attention to the Stages of Racial Identity Development created by Dr. Janet Helms. We will discuss all six stages through the framework of what a white person may experience so we can better understand where we are in our own awareness of our identity as racialized beings.
In this module, we will discuss:
Module 4: Allyship: Are You ‘For’ or ‘With?’
Allies are necessary in the fight against racism. In the past, many allies have engaged in their work with good intentions, however, the outcomes may not have sustained the intended impact. The important question here is, who were they trying to help and why? What is the deepest intention behind the offering? In this module, we will examine how to be present with and attuned to our impulses to help. This approach is important because it can lead us to more appropriate and effective directions of embodied service, as well as allow us to be more compassionate toward ourselves and others. We will learn the difference between trying to save communities and collectively supporting our shared community.
In this module, we will discuss:
Module 5: Grief Work: Collective & Individual
“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.” ― Leonard Cohen
Grief is often seen as somber, but there are ways that we can support ourselves in our sorrow that also celebrate our shared joy. As we use mindfulness to shift our perspective, we see that our heartbrokenness can be an opportunity for something new to emerge. In this module, we will explore grieving the systems, beliefs, and behaviors that we inherited, both from an individual perspective and as a collective community. We will turn our attention to creating a new way of being grounded in wise, embodied, compassionate, anti-racist action.
In this module, we will discuss:
Our courses are
At the Intersection of Psychotherapy, spirituality, and social change
WE BELIEVE LEARNING SHOULD CHALLENGE YOU AND CHANGE YOU.
Embodied Anti-Racism:
A Mindfulness Way for Therapists and Helping Professionals
Program Summary
1) Five Pre-recorded Teaching Modules
2) Five Recorded Q&A Calls
3) Private Membership Site to Access Transcripts & Downloads
Plus these special bonuses:
FIVE Expert Training Videos
1) Accepting Your Assignment with Jack Kornfield
2) Sociocultural and Sociopolitical Considerations for Mindfulness with Shelly P. Harrell
3) Whiteness on the Couch with Natasha Stovall
4) Everyday Racism with Susan Cousins
5) The Racist Part in You with Dick Schwartz
If you are a helping professional of color, please accept our discounted enrollment price for this course by clicking here. We are glad to have you with us!
100% Risk-Free Money-Back Guarantee
We are confident you will really enjoy and benefit from this online training. However, if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, please contact our support team at support@therapywisdom.com within 7 days of your purchase and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked.
“Francesca does beautiful work. She connects healing that is both deep and personal together with healing the collective, eyes wide open to the structural suffering of our world. Her extensive training and accomplishments help open minds and hearts to new possibilities. Francesca has been dedicating herself to compassion and awakening, and it shows!”
— Dr. Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart
Francesca Marguerite Maximé
Francesca Marguerite Maximé, LMSW, is a Haitian-Dominican Italian-American licensed somatic psychotherapist, mindfulness teacher, anti-racism educator, and award-winning poet/author in Brooklyn, New York. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her Master's in Social Work from Fordham University. Maximé offers services to help address trauma, process grief, and reduce stress for adults, groups, and organizations. She is the host of the ReRooted podcast on Ram Dass's Be Here Now Network. In 2019, Francesca received the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies Outstanding Student Advocacy & Service Award. She has been mentored in mindfulness meditation practices by celebrated author and clinical psychologist Jack Kornfield, Ph.D., and has also been a mindfulness student of clinical psychologist and internationally known teacher Tara Brach, Ph.D. Maximé’s work emphasizes issues pertaining to organizational, social, and cultural trauma as well as gender and racial equity and equality.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Testimonials
“I’ve known Francesca for many years. Her commitment to the welfare of others is profound and unshakable. With deep personal integrity and clinical experience and skill, she has helped and will help many many people. Plus she is funny, super smart, full of moxie, enthusiastic, and a joy to be with.”
— Rick Hanson, Ph.D., author of Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
“I value her unfettered commitment to social justice and anti-racism that not only opposes harmful forms of systemic oppression and white supremacy, but also invites white settler clinicians like myself to lean in and learn how to recognize my harmful biases, discover how to embody change in myself, and truly learn how to be a better anti-racist practitioner for my clients.”
— Clayre Sessons, MCP-AT
“Having gone through different webinars and trainings, Francesca’s approach is easy to
embrace as a white person... And unique... She speaks from the heart, holding people
accountable while creating a safe(r) space for uncomfortable learnings.”
— S.M.
“Thank you for your profound generosity in presenting and sharing these resources. I am a SE community member, being a retired secretary single white fairly privileged with layers of cultural dysfunctionality so I can play the fragility card easily. I will avail myself of some of your resources taking care not to overwhelm myself!”
— G.M.
“Healing is not easy in the way I thought it would be but it is rigorous and connective and helps clear the mist that may be clouding you from achieving inner peace. I would definitely recommend that others work with Francesca.”
— Sara S.
“Francesca helps me move through current and past traumas, resentments, and blocks with a 3-fold approach: psychoeducation, mindfulness practice and somatic experiencing.”
— Effy M.
Embodied Anti-Racism:
A Mindfulness Way for Therapists and Helping Professionals
Program Summary
1) Five Pre-recorded Teaching Modules
2) Five Recorded Q&A Calls
3) Private Membership Site to Access Transcripts & Downloads
Plus these special bonuses:
FIVE Expert Training Videos
1) Accepting Your Assignment with Jack Kornfield
2) Sociocultural and Sociopolitical Considerations for Mindfulness with Shelly P. Harrell
3) Whiteness on the Couch with Natasha Stovall
4) Everyday Racism with Susan Cousins
5) The Racist Part in You with Dick Schwartz
If you are a helping professional of color, please accept our discounted enrollment price for this course by clicking here. We are glad to have you with us!