Therapy Chat

521: Marginalized Couples In Therapy with Akilah Riley Richardson

Mar 30, 2026
Guest
Akilah Riley Richardson
Akilah Riley Richardson, a trauma and couples therapist and author focused on relationships for marginalized people. She discusses systemic trauma affecting LGBTQI and BIPOC partnerships. Conversations cover the PRIDE model, relational curiosity, decentering clinicians, and honoring alternative knowledge systems. The talk highlights presence, transparency, and building liberatory connections in therapy.
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ANECDOTE

Therapist From Trinidad Shaped By Global Work

  • Akilah works from Trinidad and Tobago as a trauma and couples therapist serving clients globally.
  • Her clinical focus developed from teaching internationally and sitting 'at the feet' of marginalized couples to co-create methods.
INSIGHT

PRIDE Model Links Systems To Relationship Dynamics

  • The PRIDE model centers systemic context by inviting relational curiosity rather than imposing a linear technique.
  • PRIDE (Pivot, Rumble, Imagine, Develop, Evolve) uses tools like relational terrains and theater of oppression to link external systems to couple dynamics.
INSIGHT

Epistemic Embracing Over Therapist Authority

  • Clinician presence must include epistemic embracing: fully accept clients' ways of knowing rather than imposing therapist assumptions.
  • Akilah calls for a lower-stance co-creation where clinicians learn intimate definitions like culturally specific intimacy.
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