Are you ready to look at and address relational privilege and social justice in psychotherapy sessions? Do you want to better support couples therapy with diverse culturals and sexual orientations? Our online course for therapists Liberation Psychology Training with Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP will be a great support to you and your work with private clients. Akilah teaches us how to use Liberation Psychology and similar methods in minoritised couples therapy.
In our previous post about Akilah’s work we shared the basics about how Liberation Psychology is used to navigate relational privilege therapy and gave you an overview of her P.R.I.D.E. method and its first step: The Pivot.
Catch up here:
Relational Privilege and the P.R.I.D.E. Method, Akilah Riley-Richardson
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.
STEP 2: The Rumble
It is important for us to support clients in their psychotherapy process as they rumble with how systemic privilege and injustice has impacted their relationships. This step includes six frames for assessing the impact of discrimination on the couple’s connection and intimacy.
Via the use of visual imagery, metaphor, storytelling, and psychodrama, the client is invited to ask themselves: “How do I know what I know about intimacy? How do I know what I know about myself?”
The Rumble is an awakening and a reckoning.
This process can sometimes feel painful for some clients. Unmasking the impact of systemic trauma on your being can be uncomfortable. For many clients, though, it provides a huge relief. They are now able to externalise and point to the real source of the pain. Interestingly, externalizing helps them to look to their partner. The partner no longer is the enemy. Their partner is now their friend, and their chief support in building healthy intimacy under the weight of being disenfranchised.
The therapist guiding relational privilege therapy must rumble as well.
As a psychotherapist guiding couples in this process, you will be called to sit with your own knowledge about intimacy and question your own epistemology. You too will have the opportunity to acknowledge the real damage that can be done to a couple’s connection as a result of systemic trauma.
We’ll continue to explore the other steps of Akilah Riley-Richardson´s P.R.I.D.E. method in upcoming resource articles to help you Liberation Psychology therapy clients. You can take the next step now by visiting Akilah’s course here at Academy of Therapy Wisdom and reading about what is included in the course.
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.
