KALEIDOSCOPE Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
November 2025 28th
Hosted by: Dr Yvon Guest
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KALEIDOSCOPE Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
People of mixed and multi racial heritage are the fastest growing demographic in the UK. Whilst there can be much to celebrate about this manifestation of multiculturalism there may also be very complex challenges. Some struggle to find a sense of belonging; others feel confused about their identity if faced with discrimination and rejection from family members and the wider community. All of this can lead to poor mental and physical health, and some will seek therapeutic help.
There are practitioners all over the UK doing a fantastic job supporting these clients. But they are doing so without specialised training or educational materials. They have answered the call to bring together all their knowledge, and expertise at this one-day conference.
Presenters on the day will have ancestral roots from all over the world. They work as counsellors and therapists, social workers, academics, artists, and youth workers. Some presentations will be educational and others experiential.
This conference is open to all professionals working with clients or service users of mixed and multiracial heritage. We hope to see anyone working in social care, education or healthcare. Members of the public are especially welcome, so if you are of mixed or multi racial heritage yourself or are parents, grandparents, or wider family members – please join us.
From conference host,
Dr Yvon Guest
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM Introductions - Welcome & Housekeeping
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Panel Discussion - Interactive discussion with workshop presenters
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM BREAK
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
5:15 PM - 5:30 PM Concluding Discussions (GMT)
Concurrent Workshops Session (1) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
11:30 AM - 11:45 AM BREAK
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Concurrent Workshops Session (2) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM MEAL BREAK
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
Concurrent Workshops Session (3) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM BREAK
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Concurrent Workshops Session (4) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM BREAK
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Concurrent Workshops Session (5) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
4:15 PM - 4:30 PM BREAK
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Concurrent Workshops Session (6) CLICK TO VIEW WORKSHOP STREAMS
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOPS
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
WORKSHOPS | SESSION 1 KALEIDOSCOPE
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
STREAM 1
STREAM 2
STREAM 3
STREAM 4
Email for support:
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
Yvon Guest - Rethinking Trauma & Resilience for Clients of Mixed and Multiracial heritage
Janine Miller - Holding the paradox of the multi-heritage experience in our nervous systems
Myriam Ferreira - Beyond Categories: A Black French Guianese Perspective on Identity, Culture and Belonging
Dr Yvonne Ayo - Systemic Approaches to Working with Mixed Heritage Families
help@onlinevents.co.uk
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
WORKSHOPS | SESSION 2
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
STREAM 1 Victoria Dada - Shame & Shadeism
STREAM 2
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Namalee Bolle - Transforming the mixed and multiracial experience: Reclaiming wholeness through the power of our own language and self-expression
Dr Carlene Cornish - Recognising the power of Strategy, Ambition, and Courage in parenting multiracial children
STREAM 4
Natasha Clewley - Unseen & In-Between: The mixed-race experience in counselling
Email for support: help@onlinevents.co.uk
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
WORKSHOPS | SESSION 3 KALEIDOSCOPE
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
STREAM 1
STREAM 2
STREAM 4
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
Rema Begum - Therapy Harm for Mixed & Multi Racial Heritage Individuals & Communities
Mohini Murti Gulati-Olapoju - Internalised Racism through Attachment theory and Psychoanalysis
STREAM 3 Lydia Puricelli - Cultivating Cultural Collateral
Jamilatu (Jamila) Andersson - ShapeShifters & Bridge-Builders: Archetypes of the Mixed-Race Experience
Email for support: help@onlinevents.co.uk
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
WORKSHOPS | SESSION 4 KALEIDOSCOPE
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
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STREAM 2
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STREAM 4
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
Amal Wartalska - Processing Mixed Heritage Trauma with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing):a case example
Claudia Coussins - Revisiting a MixedRace Story of Therapist Burnout: A Black Feminist Healing Perspective
Leo Cruz - Psychological Impact of Community and Intra-Familial Racial Discrimination
Ailsa Fineron - Asking For More: What can we, as mixed race people, expect from professionals?
Email for support: help@onlinevents.co.uk
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
WORKSHOPS | SESSION 5
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
STREAM 1
Steven Russell - Mixed Faces in Mixed Places
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Lisa Broni - Multi-Racial and Mixed-Race
Clients: A Person-Centred Approach
STREAM 3
Tracy Rowberry - Mixed Feelings: the Mixed-Race Therapeutic Experience
STREAM 4
Libita Sibungu - Quantum Ghost: Tending to the Underground Feedback Loop
Mixed&Multi-RacialHeritageinTherapy
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STREAM 4
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Clicktitlesformoreinformation
Kimberley Fuller - The Internal World of Mixed- Heritage/ Mixed-Race, Multi-Racial /Multi-Heritage Children: Navigating Identity and Society
Dr Rhianna Garrett - Making Multiethnic Matters, Matter: Developing Collaborative Approaches to Multiethnic Support
Emily Mitchell - Understanding Mixed heritage Identity
Ruth Abban - Only One 'Side' of the Story: Working with Positionality in Therapy
Email for support: help@onlinevents.co.uk
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 1 | 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Dr Yvon
Rethinking Trauma and Resilience for Clients of Mixed and Multiracial Heritage STREAM 1
Guest
Resilience is often thought of as the ability to overcome life’s challenges, to bend but not break or to bounce back. This can be problematic if it places the responsibility on individuals who may be doing their best to survive in environments that are not supporting them. In this workshop I will be drawing on the findings from my PhD on Trauma and Resilience (2015), where I demonstrated the need for a more sophisticated, nuanced way of thinking about sustainable resilience that emphasises the importance of support from family, community, and society.
The clients of mixed and multiracial heritage that seek my support are subjected to identity policing as identified by Karis Campion (2019) they are told they do not belong to groups they share ancestry with. Despite these rejections starting before birth and continuing throughout the life span these are not always recognised as traumatic experiences. I will be using anonymised cases, from my counselling practice, to demonstrate how painful, unprocessed experience become traumatic. I am also presenting artwork created to represent my personal and professional journey.
There will be a 25-minute presentation followed by 20 minutes for reflections and discussion. This is suitable for professionals working in health, mental health, social care, or education. And of course, anyone who is of mixed or multiracial heritage, parents, carers, and relatives.
The workshop aims to:
Introduce a non-binary, intersectional way of thinking about resilience to understand the difference between ‘survival’ and ‘sustainable’ resilience. Consider new ways to think about trauma, for those of mixed and multiracial heritage, when the lived experience is the lifelong policing of one’s identity. Identify individual resources that support resilience. These could be inherent qualities such as creativity. Also complex, unconscious, psychological, protective mechanisms such as dissociation (repressing traumatic events). Identify external resources, in family, community and wider society. For example, other people with nonbinary identities, and multiracial communities. And access to knowledge that provides context for the mixed and multiracial heritage experience.
By the end of this workshop, I hope you will understand the need to revise the way we think about trauma and resilience for people of mixed and multiracial heritage, that a combination of individual and external resources is required to move, from survival, towards sustainable resilience. And that this workshop has provided a foundation for further exploration.
Yvon is of Jamaican, Irish and English heritage. Her parents’ interracial marriage was seen as problematic for both families and wider society in 1962. The relationship did not survive. Both parents were powerless to prevent her from being taken into care, where she stayed for 18 years. Tenacity has been her superpower. Yvon is now living and working in Bristol as a psychodynamic counsellor. After gaining her PhD in trauma and resilience in care experienced adults she returned to counselling and built an intersectional practice. Yvon has been at the forefront of the conversation about working with mixed and multiracial heritage clients in the UK since 2019.
She creates multimedia resources for understanding and working with the impact of racism and colourism for people of colour. The idea for the Kaleidoscope conference was born out of frustration with the lack of specialised training and educational materials for practitioners working with mixed and multiracial heritage clients. In her spare time, she loves going for long walks, cooking, creating art, family and friend’s time.
STREAM 2
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Janine Miller
Holding the Paradox of the Multi-Heritage Experience in Our Nervous Systems
What does it mean to hold so many things at once—oppression and privilege, belonging and otherness, visibility and invisibility? The multi-heritage experience is layered, full of contradictions that shape how we move through the world, how others see us, and how we come to see ourselves.
In this experiential workshop, we’ll take a deep breath and drop into the body. we’ll explore where these tensions live in our nervous systems – how they show up in our relationships, in the spaces we navigate, in the ways we carry ourselves every day.
Through guided somatic practices, reflection, and discussion, we will:
Recognise how the experience of being multi-heritage is held in the body and nervous system
Explore where oppression meets privilege in our personal and professional lives
Learn three tools for grounding and self-regulation when faced with identitybased confusion or external projections
Validate the importance of supporting ourselves and our clients in navigating racial identity beyond rigid categories and constructs
This is a space for reflection, connection, and embodied learning. Come as you are—curious, open, willing to explore what it means to hold all of who you are.
Janine Miller is a psychotherapist of mixed origins, originally from South Africa, who has lived in the UK and is now based in Sweden.
With over a decade of experience supporting people through complex trauma, she brings a deep understanding of how identity, belonging, and the body intersect.
Trained in the UK, her work is grounded in somatic and relational approaches, helping clients connect with their bodily experiences to navigate the complexities of who they are.
Passionate about collective healing, she creates spaces for reflection, embodiment, and deep self-understanding.
STREAM 3
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Myriam Ferreira Beyond Categories A
Black French Guianese
Perspective on Identity, Culture and Belonging
As a Black French-Caribbean therapist from French Guiana, my journey has been shaped by the complexities of race, culture, and belonging. With Black, Chinese, and Caribbean heritage, and having built my life in England, I have experienced the shifting nature of identity across languages, cultures, and social expectations.
In this workshop, I will explore the nuances of multiracial and multicultural identity, drawing from both my personal experience and my work as a therapist supporting clients on similar journeys. Through reflection and discussion, we will examine how identity is shaped, the challenges of visibility and belonging, and the strengths that come from embracing multiple cultural influences.
This session is open to practitioners, individuals of mixed heritage, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of multiracial identity. Together, we will explore how to move beyond fixed categories and embrace the richness of lived experience.
MyriamFerreiraisacounsellor,psychotherapist,andwellnesscoachwith overtenyearsofexperiencesupportingclientsandtrainingfuture practitionersthroughculturallysensitiveandholisticapproachestotherapy. OriginallyfromFrenchGuianaandnowbasedinEngland,shedrawsonher Black,Caribbean,andChineseheritagetoexplorethemesofidentity, belonging,andresilienceinherwork.
Sheintegratestraditionaltherapeuticpracticewithnature-basedhealing, recognisingtheimportanceofconnection—tooneself,toculturalheritage, andtothenaturalworld infosteringwellbeing.
STREAM 4
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Dr Yvonne Ayo Systemic Approaches to Working with Mixed Heritage Families
In the workshop I will present some systemic ideas which are useful when working with families.
The cultural genogram forms an important part of our work and I will discuss the various ways in which I use this to explore different contexts, belief systems, values, relationships between family members, communication styles and the impact these ideas have upon identities. Cultural differences will also be addressed in the use of the Social GGRRAACCEESS, (Burnham, 1993) an acronym which includes gender, race, religion, abilities, culture, class, education, ethnicities, sexual orientation.
The ways in which identities are invisible/unvoiced/visible and voiced will also be discussed. These ideas will be linked with clinical practice which I hope will increase understanding of systemic approaches to complexities within families.
Iamofdualheritage(Nigerian/English)raisedinamixedethnicstepfamily (English/Trinidadian)inManchester.
Myfirstcareerwasintheculturalindustries,firstasaResearchAssistantin theBritishMuseum(ethnography)thenontothethenCommonwealth Institute(nowtheDesignMuseum)whereIdevelopedcuratorialand managerialskillsandknowledge.Intheearly1990sIdecidedtotrainasa familytherapistandstudiedatKensingtonConsultationCentre(nowclosed) whereIdidmyfoundationandintermediatetrainingthencompletedmyMSc attheTavistockCentre.
AfteraworkinginthevoluntarysectorImovedtoaCAMHScommunityteam andthenontotheTavistockin2005.Here,Iworkedinamulti-disciplinary teamandtookontheroleofCourseLeadforthesystemiccourses.
BaseduponmyownexperienceIundertookresearchintomixedethnicstep familiesandhowtheynavigateddifferentcultureswithinfamiliesandgained mydoctoratein2017.SinceleavingtheTavistockCentreIworkasan independentclinicianandsupervisor.
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 2 | 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Victoria Dada Shame & Shadeism
Shadeism, Shame and the Mixed-Race Experience: Understanding Intra-Racial Bias inTherapy
Shadeism is a global issue, impacting communities across continents — fromAsia to Africa to the Americas. Rooted in colonial history and reinforced by media, beauty standards, and societal hierarchies, shadeism creates psychological wounds that often go unseen especially for those with mixed or multilayered heritage.
This workshop explores the emotional, cultural, and relational impact of shadeism through a therapeutic lens, with particular focus on how it affects clients who are of mixed-race backgrounds. These individuals often face conflicting messages from different sides of their heritage: from being “not Black enough” to “not white enough” or seen as privileged and problem-free because of proximity to whiteness. These projections can lead to internalised shame, fractured identity, and a disrupted sense of belonging.
We’ll consider how shadeism shapes self-esteem, identity, and mental health, and how therapists can support clients navigating this complex terrain. Through case reflections and discussion, we’ll explore:
The psychological and emotional effects of shadeism
How intra-racial dynamics affect mixed-race clients
Ways to challenge unconscious biases in ourselves as therapists STREAM 1
The link between shame, cultural projection, and identity fragmentation
Tools for supporting clients affected by shadeism
By unpacking the subtle yet powerful ways shame operates within and between racial communities, this session invites us to think more critically and compassionately about the nuances of race, heritage, and identity in therapeutic work.
Victoria (or Taiwo) is a Christian psychotherapist with a deep understanding of religious and black culture shame. She now helps people heal their relationship with God, themselves, and others so they can let go of shame, guilt, and disconnection.
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Namalee Bolle
Transforming the mixed and multiracial experience
Reclaiming wholeness through the power of our own language and self-expression
“Self-designations are important vehicles for self empowerment of oppressed people (Helms 1990a). Labels are powerful comments on how one’s existence is viewed.” Dr. Maria P. P. Root, The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders As The New Frontier.
How do you self-identify as a multiracial person? Have you ever questioned this or changed it over time? Do you like the way you identify, feel indifferent, or is it simply a label you have inherited from society?
This workshop is an invitation to support mixed and multiracial practitioners explore, unpack and gently re-imagine our expression and the language we currently use to self-describe ourselves with a view to both our individual selfexpansion and as a collective.
My forthcoming book ‘The Mixed + Multiracial Guide To Wellbeing: Navigating Family, Identity + Healing’explores how the language of race describes us through a monoracial lens, rather than our own racially non-binary one and how this might affect us…
Monoracial language emphasises a lack of ‘racial wholeness’ often describing us in fractions with standardised labels like ‘half’ white or ‘half’ Black etc. Reflecting on this is helpful because as mixed and multiracial people we are used to STREAM 2
operating within a system of race binary categorisation, which in turn might have become our internalised inner dialogue about ourselves. From a mental health perspective we might ask ourselves: how is describing ourselves as racially ‘less’ or not enough of one or the other affecting our sense of psychological self and wellbeing?
With this binary perspective on our highly multicultural identity, the way we are expected to see ourselves through the binary eyes of others, might feel inexplicably unexpressed or restricted in who we really are in our expansive fullness as mixed and multiracial people.
We will explore:
Racially non-binary self expression and why it’s important to identify seeing ourselves and eachother through our own multiracial lens
Current language used to describe mixed and multiracial people and how it’s internalised by us
Fractions, splitting ourselves into parts and how it affects our self concept and what we may like to use instead
Finding freedom beyond societally imposed labels of mixed heritage identity
I will use a transpersonal and trauma informed approach with a combination of presentation slides and interactive exercises that helps the participant to explore how they self-describe and explore new possibilities of expression that feel helpful
Namalee Bolle is a London based transpersonal transcultural integrative psychotherapist, multidisciplinary artist and Guardian award winning writer. She is British born of Sri-Lankan and Dutch-Jewish heritage and her work explores themes of multicultural identity, intergenerational trauma and posttraumatic thriving. Her poem Dear White Therapists is published in the recent book Therapy In Colour: Intersectional Anti-Racist and Intercultural Approaches by Therapists of Colour and she has been published in The London Evening Standard and Vogue.
Her first book 'The Mixed + Multiracial Guide To Wellbeing: Navigating Family + Identity + Healing' for Jessica Kingsley publishing comes out in November 2025.
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Dr Carlene Cornish
Recognising the power of Strategy, Ambition, and Courage in parenting multiracial children and multiracial experience
This is an interactive workshop session split into different parts.
I. The workshop starts with a short introduction, followed by a presentation on how I was raised, whereby my father intentionally used strategy, instilled ambition, and displayed courage in the face of poverty and racism. He had strategy, and therefore, an end goal in mind: raising three children to become successful, despite growing up in a precarious, gang-ridden community My mum supported this vision, and we grew up in a loving home.The end goal was accomplished.
II This talk is followed with a 5 minute group discussion focussed on giving the audience some opportunity to reflect and identify one point that resonates with their experiences and one point of difference. This is shared in their different groups.
III. In this next section, I will focus on my own parenting experiences of raising two beautiful, white-presenting teenage daughters, and the different strategies, raceinformed discussions, and activities that we have used to ensure that my daughters know that they are loved. They also have a strong cultural identity and are in an advantageous position to make good career and relationship choices. They also hold strong family and religious values. The use of Powerpoint slides, photos, and perhaps a reflection from Keziah and or Gabrielle (if they consent) would form part of this presentation delivery
IV This is followed by a 10-minute group work activity, whereby people discuss and identify three strategies or activities they could use in their circumstances. Stating the reasons why they have chosen these specific strategies.
Originally from South Africa, I am married and have two beautiful daughters, Keziah (19) and Gabrielle (16) years old. My husband is White British and I have lived in the UK for over 24 years. I have both national and international academic and professional qualifications in Social Work, Criminology, Sociology and Education. These qualifications led to employment in Child Protection, Youth Offending Service, National Probation Service and Higher Education.
My research interests include a specialist focus on Race, Racism, Social Work, and Educational Inequalities. I am a registered social worker with Social Work England and the British Association for Social Workers (BASW). I also hold external strategic leadership positions that include being the UK Council representative of the Commonwealth Organisation of Social Work, BASW England Committee Member, BASW International Committee Member, and NSPCC Policy Co-Opted Governance Committee Member.
Link to my UEA staff page: https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/carlene-cornish
STREAM 4
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Natasha Clewley Unseen & In-Between
The Mixed-Race Experience in Counselling
As a counsellor or supervisor how do we consider the mixed race experience in your work? As counsellors and supervisors questions of identity, belonging, and authenticity are ever-present in personal life and professional spaces. However as a mixed race client or counsellor it may hold true that a feeling of being ‘not enough’ for any one cultural or racialised group is a common but misunderstood trigger into shame, exclusion, and imposter syndrome, particularly in therapy and supervision, where identity is so deeply interwoven with practice.
In the session, we will explore the complexities of the mixed-race identity in therapeutic and supervisory spaces, unpacking the impact of racial ambiguity, micro aggressions, and the internal conflicts that come with ‘fitting everywhere and nowhere.’ Attendees will gain insights into how these experiences shape clinical work and supervision, and how we can foster more inclusive and validating spaces both as a counsellor / supervisor and for clients.”
Key Learning Points
Shame & exclusion in the mixed-race experience – How cultural ambiguity and societal narratives shape identity struggles. Imposter Syndrome & Supervision – How feelings of not being ‘enough’ manifest in professional settings.
The counsellor’s own identity & its impact – Recognising the unconscious ways identity influences therapeutic relationships. Creating more inclusive supervision & therapy spaces – Practical tools to support mixed-race therapists and clients in navigating these challenges
Delivery Style
A blend of presentation, discussion, and self-reflection. Potential interactive exercise: A reflective prompt on societal discussions about mixed race humans
I’m a counsellor, supervisor, and leader in the counselling world. I’m also a mum to mixed children, a wife to a white man, a grandchild of blacks grandparents, and a human who happens not to be perceived as white or black.
My relationship with identity has been a journey. I journeyed from my younger self fiercely & proudly calling myself “half-caste” owning the term as a rebellious act to challenge its negative roots to identifying as a black woman at the height of the George Floyd outpouring. In that moment, it felt like the only way to be allowed to grieve as deeply as I did was to disregard my white heritage.
But now, I find myself returning to my once proud snd heavily defended position of being mixed—not as something that reduces me, but as my authentic self, this empowers me, and in doing so, hopefully empowers others.
Along the way, I’ve navigated deep feelings of shame and imposter syndrome never quite enough of one thing or another, even now as much as I have achieved feeling like I have to prove or explain my existence. I never feel enough.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by therapists and supervisors that I’m not Black enough, or that I should educate myself on my own identity. My workshop is about unpicking that bringing into focus what’s often unseen, challenging the assumptions we make in therapeutic spaces, and making room for more honest, nuanced conversations about race, identity, and belonging.
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 3 | 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
STREAM 1
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
Rema Begum Therapy Harm for Mixed & Multi Racial Heritage Individuals
& Communities
This is an interactive 45 minute session, led by Rema A Begum, to explore the concept of therapy harm and its specific risks for mixed and multiracial heritage individuals and communities. Attendees will hear about real world case studies, engage in discussions and gain best practices to encourage culturally responsive environments.
Through reflection exercises and activities attendees will learn to recognise and mitigate therapy harm by validating complex identities, avoiding racial stereotyping and practicing cultural humility. This workshop equips mental health and public health professionals with practical tools to enhance inclusivity and provide affirming care for diverse clients.
Rema Aribon is a registered member of the BACP with a background in counselling, psychology and community work. As an ethnically diverse counsellor, Rema brings a deep cultural responsiveness to her practice, supporting individuals from underrepresented and underserved communities through an integrative approach.
Currently, Rema serves as Lead Counsellor at University of South Wales for TalkingZone and Psychotherapist at her private practice, Belonging Counselling. She also is a trustee for a local organisation Young Muslim and
Community Organisation, a school governor and supports decolonising work for a task and finish group for People’s Collection Wales. In recognition of her work with children and young people from displaced, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds she was awarded Silver for Outstanding Impact in Education in 2023 for her work with children and young people.
Committed to continuous professional development, Rema is dedicated to providing inclusive, culturally responsive mental health support that brings meaningful and sustainable change within communities.
STREAM 2
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
Mohini Murti Gulati-Olapoju
Internalised Racism through Attachment theory and Psychoanalysis
The workshop will examine internalised racism through the frameworks of attachment theory and psychoanalysis. It will focus on how early attachments experiences and societal racism influence the internal narrative and self-concept, particularly in relation to the internalisation of racial views, beauty standards and self-worth.
The workshop will explore the unconscious defence mechanisms, such as splitting where individuals may idealise one racial identity whilst devaluing another, leading to a fragmented sense of self. Practical tools will be offered to address the psychological effects of internalised racism both personally and professionally to support with the development of a more integrated and authentic sense of self.
Mohini is of Nigerian and Indian heritage, born in Britain and holds a BSc in Mathematics and Psychology, a qualified advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher and a UKCP Registered Attachment-Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist.
With over a decade of experience in the financial sector, Mohini brings nuanced understanding of structural and interpersonal dynamics to their therapeutic work. Mohini facilitates Race and Culture Seminars to psychotherapy trainees, creating a safe space for critical discussions on power, privilege, and belonging.
Through her teachings and clinical practice, Mohini encourages deep reflection and meaningful dialogue through mind-body awareness supporting both personal and collective growth.
STREAM 3
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
Lydia Puricelli Cultivating Cultural Collateral
Cultural Collateral (Mckenzie-Mavinga, 2009) refers to the cultural experiences, values, and beliefs that shape an individual’s identity and influence one’s mental health. This workshop will use guided meditation to unblock the throat chakra to help participants express more about their unspoken experiences of suppressing their culture. There will also be an active exercise on uncovering more about their cultural and ethnic characteristics and reflection how they don’t always align, especially from a mixed perspective.
Learning outcomes:
Enable marginalised all ethnic groups to connect and reflect on their own Cultural Narratives and celebrating their identity.
Exploration of ‘cultural constriction’ and evoke curiosity to cultivate cultural collateral.
Learn practical pointers and self care strategies on how to deal with external and internal oppression stressors.
Develop personal action plan and steps to continue the ongoing commitment to cultivating cultural collateral.
Lydia Puricelli (aka Conscious Culture Coach) is an Anti-racist integrative transpersonal transcultural trainee psychotherapist, coach, social justice activist, speaker, writer, author and trainer.
She focuses on the unique challenges Black & People of Colour as well as other marginalised groups face in training institutions and the workplace. She also specializes in treating the Mental Health and Wellbeing of B&POC and LGBTQIA+ communities through Frontline therapy and Opening Doors London. Where she works as counsellor and advisor.
Lydia is one of the Master graduates under Dr. Isha McKenzie-Mavinga delivering anti-racist training to therapists through BAATN on “The challenge of racism in therapy’ and "Celebrating the Mixed Experience'. She founded and chaired the Student of Colour and Allies Network at the Centre of Counselling and Psychotherapy Education where she worked supporting students of colour in their training and challenge the institution on their oppressive teaching practices and curriculum.
Lydia features in the book Therapy In Colour, Intersectional, Anti-racist and intercultural approaches by Therapists of Colour. And contributed to the book 'The Mixed + Multiracial Guide to Well-being' by Namalee Bolle.
STREAM 4
1:30 PM - 2:15 PM
Jamilatu (Jamila) Andersson
Shape-Shifters & Bridge-Builders
Archetypes of the Mixed-Race Experience
This 45-minute lecture and discussion explores the Mixed-Race Archetypes as a powerful framework for understanding and integrating racialised identity. Participants will be introduced to four key archetypes—the Outsider, Chameleon, Bridge-Builder, and Trickster—to help make sense of the roles they have played and the internal “splits” they may have experienced.
Rather than a one-way presentation, this session will be a dynamic and interactive exchange. Blending a transpersonal lens with creative imagination techniques, it offers a holistic approach to identity exploration. Participants will be invited into guided reflection and discussion, using the archetypes to deepen their selfawareness, make meaning of their mixed-race experiences, and begin to move toward a more cohesive sense of self.
The Origin of the Mixed Race Archetypes
This work arises from a desire to shift the narrative around mixed-race identity. Much of the discourse focuses on what is ‘lacking’—casting mixed-race individuals as ‘marginal’ or ‘groupless’—which pathologises multiplicity. Like Root (1996), I take a different view: I focus less on exclusion and more on the creative, connective spaces mixed-race people build (Parker & Song, 2001).
The framework I share in this workshop emerged from my personal and clinical experience as a mixed-race therapist. Caroline Myss’s Archetype Cards informed my interpretation of four core archetypes—the Outsider, Chameleon, BridgeBuilder, and Trickster—which reflect patterns I’ve witnessed in myself, my clients, and the wider multiracial community.
These archetypes are informed by:
Jungian archetypal psychology (Jung, 1969) offers universal templates for psychological experience.
Multiracial identity theory (Root, 1996; Rockquemore & Laszloffy, 2005), particularly the concepts of identity fluidity and social pressure, is widely used. Transpersonal psychotherapy (Assagioli, 1971; Rowan, 2005) supports the integration of fragmented self-states through symbolic, creative, and ancestral processes.
Maria Root (1996) argues that distress in multiracial individuals stems not from their identity itself, but from external environments shaped by internalised racism and rigid social categories. Rather than fitting into fixed boxes, many seek recognition of their full, complex heritage. Recent scholarship moves away from identity ‘resolution’ toward understanding identity as fluid and shaped by social, familial, and historical forces. This mirrors the purpose of my archetypes—they serve as symbolic tools for exploring internal conflict and identity survival strategies, opening pathways to deeper integration.
Who This Workshop is For
This 45-minute session is for both practitioners and mixed-race individuals seeking language, insight, and tools for identity integration.
For Practitioners: Understand how racialised identity splits can show up in therapy. Presentations of anxiety or depression rooted in cultural erasure or racial ambiguity. Code-switching in the therapy room to gain validation.
For Mixed-Race Individuals: Reflect on survival patterns through the archetypes, Begin reweaving a narrative of wholeness, fluidity, and empowerment
The workshop is designed to engage practitioners in meaningful learning while creating space for participants on their own understanding.
Mixed-Race Archetypes
These archetypes are flexible, context-sensitive patterns—not rigid labels, but living forces shaped by experience. Jung (1969) described them as currents within the collective psyche.
The Outsider – Holds the pain of misrecognition. One participant said, “I’m seen as exotic or invisible—never just human.” The gift: piercing insight into the race construct. (Root, 1996)
The Chameleon – Adapts to survive, but may lose self. A client told me, “I mirror the room so well, I forget who I am alone.” (Adekoya, 2021)
The Bridge-Builder – Weaves connection across conflicting identities. Often feels responsible for helping others understand their complexity. (Guest, 2021)
The Trickster – disrupts binaries through humour and creativity. One participant joked, “I’m like racial tofu—I absorb whatever flavour is around.” (Ellis, 2022)
Participants will explore which archetypes have led or been silenced in their lives. This reflection deepens awareness of personal survival strategies—and mirrors patterns that may appear in therapeutic work.
What Participants Can Expect
This workshop is a space of inquiry, not performance. Archetypes are not answers but pathways into the unconscious patterns shaping identity. By engaging with them symbolically and reflectively, participants can begin to name their ways of being, uncover hidden dynamics, and reclaim parts of themselves.
Potential Outcomes:
An awareness of archetypal identity patterns as expressed through emotion, behaviour, and inner dynamics. A beginning framework for mixed-race selfintegration. Practical tools for reflection and clinical application
Jamilatu Andersson, a trainee transpersonal transcultural integrative psychotherapist interested in mixed-race identity integration, ancestral healing, and creative imagination interventions, will lead this session.
Her work, rooted in her Nigerian and Filipino heritage, aims to create inclusive spaces for identity exploration. She has experience delivering workshops and facilitating group spaces focusing on racialised identity and self-integration.
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 4 | 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
STREAM 1
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Amal Wartalska Processing Mixed Heritage Trauma with EMDR
(Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing): a case example
Discussing intersectional experiences of mixed heritage people and different types of socially inflicted trauma they encounter in their lives.
Exploring the impact of this type of trauma including unconscious negative self-beliefs, emotions and physical sensations.
Discussing how the trauma can be processed using EMDR: presentation of a case example.
Amal Wartalska is a BACP Accredited Integrative Counsellor and Psychotherapist, an EMDR Europe and UK Accredited EMDR Practitioner and a member of The Black African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN). Her professional experience includes working in primary care, addiction field, charity sector, young people education system and private practice.
She has an extensive experience of working with clients from marginalised groups. Some of the themes of her work include intersectional experiences of social oppression, identity and mixed heritage experience. Within her integrative model of practice, she uses EMDR to process all types of trauma, including socially inflicted trauma.
STREAM 2
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Claudia Coussins
Revisiting a Mixed-Race Story of Therapist Burnout
A Black Feminist Healing Perspective
In this workshop, I am returning to a piece of narrative research I conducted on trainee psychotherapists of colour who had experienced burnout. I will focus on the knowledge co-created from the relational storytelling process between me and a mixed-race participant/co-narrator called Bella. Using a Black feminist healing perspective, I will re-story the narrative to both critique and create mixed-race notions of Blackness and wellness. Although there is a growing body of work about mixed-raceness and therapy, this work responds to a gap relating specifically to the wellbeing of mixed-race psychotherapists as opposed to the clients or therapist-client relationship.
ClaudiaCoussins(she/her),isanintegrativepsychotherapist(MBACP, UKCP,BAATN)andresearcher.Claudiaprovidesprivateintegrative psychotherapyandtherapeuticcoaching,worksforalow-costcommunity therapyorganisation(SpiralHolisticTherapy),andconducts‘system change’work(research,teachingandfacilitation)withmentalhealthand wellbeingorganisationsandcommunitygroups.
ClaudiaiscurrentlycuratinganewcourseentitledBlackfeminism, womanism:therapeuticperspectives
(https://www.feministtherapynetwork.org/post/reflections-on-blackfeminism-womanism-and-therapy)https://www.claudiacoussinstherapy.com
STREAM
3
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Leo Cruz
Psychological Impact of Community and Intra-Familial
Racial Discrimination
This 45-minute educational workshop is designed for individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of anti-oppressive and identity-affirming practices. The session will explore the lived experiences of mixed-race individuals who have faced racial discrimination from their nuclear families and broader communities. Given that families are often perceived as sources of love, security, and validation, the psychological impact of intra-familial racial discrimination can be profound. When a child’s racial identity is invalidated, or when they are subjected to discriminatory beliefs, it can lead to a range of psychological conflicts and distress.
Workshop Structure and Timing:
1.Introduction (10 minutes)
– Brief overview of the workshop’s purpose and objectives.
– Explanation of the significance of the topic.
– Engaging video introduction (subject to time constraints).
2. Key Themes & Discussion (18 minutes)
– Internalised Racism & Self-Alienation (5 minutes): Examination of how individuals may internalise negative racial stereotypes, leading to diminished self-worth.
– Racial Trauma (5 minutes): Discussion on the psychological distress resulting from repeated racial discrimination.
– Double Consciousness & Code-Switching (5 minutes): Exploration of the psychological toll of navigating multiple racial identities in different social ontexts.
– Transgenerational Transmission of Racism (3 minutes): Understanding how racial biases and prejudices are passed down through generations within families.
Note: Instead of in-depth analyses, key themes will be introduced concisely, supported by 1-2 illustrative examples.
3. Interactive Component (10 minutes)
– Case Study or Guided Reflection: A brief real-world scenario will be presented, allowing participants to reflect on the psychological impacts in small groups or pairs.
– Group Discussion: Selected participants will be invited to share their insights, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
4. Liberatory Framework: Healing & Resistance (8 minutes)
– Practical strategies for applying identity-affirming and anti-oppressive practices.
– Closing reflection and key takeaways for participants to consider beyond the workshop.
Leo is a QPOC (Queer Person of Colour) psychotherapist with extensive experience supporting adolescents and adults across the lifespan. Grounded in an integrative and intersectional approach, he works with individuals from diverse backgrounds, with a particular focus on minoritised populations. His practice is affirmative, socially conscious, and deeply informed by the principles of social justice.
Committed to fostering an inclusive and decolonial therapeutic space, Leo empowers individuals to explore their identities, experiences, and challenges with authenticity and without fear of judgement
STREAM 4
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Ailsa Fineron
Asking For More
What Can We, as Mixed Race People, Expect from Professionals?
This workshop is aimed at empowering mixed race and multi-heritage people to ask for and expect excellent care when working with professionals. Through an experiential workshop, we will explore the power disparity between client and practitioner, what our current expectations are, and what might be holding us back from expecting more and/or speaking up when someone lets us down.
The workshop will be focussed on therapeutic relationships but also take into account and be relevant to other relationships in wider contexts.
Though aimed at mixed race individuals, the workshop will also be of benefit to white practitioners wishing to learn more about how to work in a validating and non-defensive way with mixed folks.
Ailsa is an integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor living and working in Bristol. She works in both private practice and at BAME led and focussed organisation Nilaari.
As a mixed white and Chinese Malay person, she has both professional and personal experience of the mixed experience.
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 5 | 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
STREAM 1
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Steven Russell Mixed Faces in Mixed Places
Mixed Faces in Mixed Places Transformational Talk, Seeking Connection in a Disconnected World
Mixed Faces in Mixed Places is an engaging and impactful talk that uncovers the lived experiences of children navigating the care system. Led by Steven, who draws on his personal story, this session highlights the emotional and social challenges faced by children adapting to ever-changing environments, communities, and routines.
The talk focuses on the effects of constant change on a child’s identity, sense of belonging, and feelings of isolation. It explores how children become chameleons, altering themselves to fit in and feel safe while grappling with the conflict between who they are and who they must appear to be.
Through Steven’s poignant storytelling, participants gain meaningful insights into these experiences and are encouraged to reflect on their role in creating spaces where children feel secure and supported. This workshop offers practical guidance while inspiring action, helping practitioners build deeper connections with children in care.
Perfect for educators, foster and kinship carers, and social workers, this is more than just a talk—it’s a chance to transform understanding and become a force of positive change.
Steven is a dedicated leader in the care and education sectors, with over 18 years of lived and professional experience inspiring change for children in and out of care. Winner of the prestigious Global Inclusion Award for SEMH from the International Forums of Inclusion Practitioners (IFIP), he is recognised for his commitment to promoting inclusion and empowering the professionals who support vulnerable young people.
Through Elements Support CIC and Elements Education and Training, Steven leads innovative projects tailored for teachers, social workers, foster and kinship carers, and residential care teams. His initiatives, including The Power of One, Connection Before Correction, and Mixed Faces in Mixed Places, champion fresh, practical approaches to creating meaningful connections and driving positive change.
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Lisa Broni Multi-Racial & Mixed-Race Client
A Person-Centred
Approach
This workshop will discuss the following:
The multi-racial and mixed-race experience from a personal perspective
The person-centred theory and approach when working with this client group From theory to clinical practice and the ways that a societal structural approach can be integrated with person-centred therapy
Lisa Broni is a qualified and experienced counsellor and trainer working in both private practice and for a charity specialising in trauma, based in London, UK. Lisa has also worked as a tutor for several years teaching counselling courses at various levels.
Lisa is a registered member of the British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Black African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN). Lisa holds a BACP accredited Diploma in Counselling and a BA (Hons) degree in Counselling & Psychotherapy.
Lisa has a special interest in trauma and intergenerational trauma, depression, and anxiety and works from a person-centred approach
STREAM 3
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Tracy Rowberry Mixed Feelings
The Mixed-Race Therapeutic Experience
Workshop Aims
Being Us: Mixed-race as a research topic
Being heard and seen Co-researcher experiences and research findings
Being alongside: Therapy with a mixed-race client
Being Us: Exploration of the small-scale research project I undertook in the final year of my MSc: Being Us: What are the mixed-race person-centred therapists’ experiences of their conditions of worth affecting the therapeutic relationship? . Highlighting the distinct lack of UK-based research exploring the experiences of the mixed-race community from a therapeutic perspective, as it centres itself on mono-racial/ single race aspects of race and racial identity. Why I set out to explore the experiences of mixed-race therapists and focus specifically upon how their mixed-race identity may affect their therapeutic relationships with clients.
Being heard and Seen: Exploring my research findings using the lived experiences of my co-researchers. Considering how their experiences offered their self-worth (conditions of worth) around their mixed-race identity impacted their client work.
Touching on the themes of external factors, self-concept and therapeutic relationship, indicating a complex, on-going and multi-layered nature of the mixedrace therapist and their relationship with their self-worth. Use of a creative piece of artwork I produced as part of my research, allowing attendees to consider their perceptions of the mixed-race individual, and reflect their own, or any therapeutic relationships with mixed race individuals.
Being alongside: Exploring how the mixed-race community can be perceived or assumptions made as to their ethnic and cultural identities and the impact this could have on client-therapist relationships. Considering the hinderances and benefits a dual ethnicity can be present for mixed-race clients. Acknowledging prejudice from both aspects of a person’s ethnic heritage and how an acceptance of parts of self can be growthful.
Time has been allowed for introduction, Conclusion and delegates Q&A
I am a MSc qualified and UKCP accredited person-centred psychotherapist. I have been working with clients since 2020 and opened my own private practice in 2023.
As a therapist, I believe that every individual is the expert in their own life. I have a particular passion for supporting clients from diverse and marginalised backgrounds, helping them explore challenges related to identity, belonging, and self-worth.
As I researcher, in my MSc final year small scale research project I set out to research the experiences of mixed-race therapists, who adopt personcentred philosophy, and how they perceive their mixed-race identity, and associated conditions of worth, may impact their therapeutic relationships with clients.
STREAM 4
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Libita Sibungu Quantum Ghost
Tending to the Underground Feedback Loop
I am a multidisciplinary artist drawing on my British-Cornish-Namibian heritage to make discursive works that explore the entangled personal histories, and colonial legacies inscribed in the body and land. My ongoing research explores the conditions that create displaced rocks in reference to deep time, alongside the afro-diasporic experience, within the British context. I will present my body of work ‘Quantum Ghost’, (which toured Gasworks London and Spike Island, Bristol, 2019, UK), as a way to frame my thinking through this. The project comprised an immersive sound installation, and a series of large-scale photograms. Which mapped a journey through archives and territories related to my heritage. Tracing my family tree across different mining regions and colonial geographies of extraction, I reconstructed the paper trail left by her late father, a member of SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organisation, the political mass movement that fought for Namibia’s liberation from Apartheid South Africa) who went into exile in the 1980’s and studied mining engineering in Cornwall. Grounded in these sites of memory and testimony, my research unearthed the subterranean histories and political undercurrents connecting the mining regions of Namibia and Cornwall. The installation formerly took the shape of something like a cave, mine, and or ear canal. Poetically the message was carried through a love song / lament – both an expression of grief and healing.
This project framed and shifted my practice up to the present day. Supported by therapeutic practices, I have found multiple ways to express the complexities of the multi-racial experience. Which more recently tends to the whiteness within,
asking the question what are we / I performed by? From here I propose a space for collective healing with the more-than-human through artist-led methodologies that move through embodied practices connected to place. I have been bringing a group of black and mixed-heritage women together in West Cornwall since 2023, to emerge dialogues about complex racialsied identities in relation to our environment. Questioning the possibility / impossibility for racial fluidity inspired by the imagined journeying of igneous rock; from its erupting liquid magma birth to becoming multi-mineral abundant granite.
I propose to share these complex processes of thought through images, words, and sound as a type of decolonial feedback loop — which wanders through these geological processes guided by ancestral wisdom and my personal living archive of the multi-racial experience.
Libita Sibungu (b.1987, Cornwall) lives and works in West Penwith. She is a multidisciplinary artist drawing on her British-Cornish-Namibian heritage to make discursive works that explore the entangled personal histories, and colonial legacies inscribed in the body and land. Sibungu employs sound, performance, photography, and installation as a way to usher subversive pathways into the present through reimagining materiality, movement, and collective healing in relation to the environment.
Sibungu is the recipient of both the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Future Foundation awards (2022). Selected exhibitions have been with; Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway (2023); Sonsbeek, Netherlands, and Temple Bar Gallery, Ireland, (2021); Gasworks, London, and Spike Island, Bristol, (2019).
KALEIDOSCOPE
Mixed & Multi-Racial Heritage in Therapy
WORKSHOP HOSTS
Session 6 | 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
STREAM 1
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Kimberley Fuller
The Internal World of Mixed-Heritage/ Mixed-Race, Multi-Racial /MultiHeritage Children
Navigating Identity and Society
In this 45-minute presentation, we will explore the complex internal experiences of mixed-race and multi-racial children, with a particular focus on how these children navigate their sense of self and their relationship to society. Drawing from both my work as a psychotherapist and my experience within children’s services, including working with children in care, I will discuss the psychological challenges faced by these children and the impact of their mixed racial identities on their sense of belonging and self-worth.
Children of mixed race often find themselves positioned between multiple worlds — racial, cultural, and societal — and this can create a unique psychological landscape. These children frequently feel like they are bridges between two (or more) identities, which can lead to a complex, fragmented sense of self. The question of where they truly belong can manifest as both an internal struggle and an external challenge as societal perceptions and expectations shape them.
This presentation will dive into several key themes:
1.The Internal Struggle for Integration:
– The difficulty of integrating diverse racial and cultural parts of their identity. – How psychotherapy can help create space for these children to honour all parts of their identity.
– The tension between feeling “not enough”
2. Society’s Commenting and Its Impact:
– How societal labelling and stereotypes impact their sense of self-worth.
– The psychological toll of feeling constantly scrutinised, misinterpreted, or marginalised.
– The notion of “feeling like a bridge” between multiple lands and how it can lead to internalised isolation.
3. Feelings of Guilt and Disempowerment
– The pressure to feel they don’t have the “right” to claim their mixed-race experience and the burden of having to explain or defend their identity.
– How mixed-race children sometimes feel invisible in spaces that are heavily racially defined.
4. The Specific Case of White-Passing Children
– The particular impact on children who are perceived as white, despite their mixed-race heritage.
Kimberley Fuller is a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor with a special interest in racialised trauma and its impact on children and young people. Her work has always focused on supporting children impacted by trauma, whether through direct support within the home for children subject to Child in Need or Child Protection plans or working with children in care and those who have been adopted. She has worked extensively across both the voluntary and statutory sectors. Advocating for all children and families to receive the right support to meet their individual needs Kimberley began her career in homelessness support before becoming a young women's gendered violence advocate.
While training as a psychotherapist, she continued working in support roles, assisting children and young people affected by serious youth violence. She later managed a therapeutic service for adolescents within Bristol City Council. Beyond her clinical work, Kimberley is a trustee for Growing Futures, a grassroots organisation in Bristol that supports children and families. She also serves as Co-Deputy Chair of the Independent Scrutiny Board for Tackling Disproportionality in Avon and Somerset’s Criminal Justice System, advocating for systemic change and equity. Kimberley cofounded Sisu Therapeutic Services alongside three colleagues to provide accessible, long-term therapy for children, young people, adults, and families within Bristol and the surrounding areas.
STREAM 2
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Dr Rhianna Garrett Making Multiethnic Matters, Matter
Developing Collaborative Approaches to Multiethnic Support
Britain has become a global hub of multiculturalism, containing an intricate tapestry of what it means to hold a racialised identity. Yet, multiethnic considerations continue to be overlooked in society, policy, education, and health, where we still experience legacies that traditionally dictated, we are ‘confused’, can’t self-identify, and don’t belong.
This workshop aims to support practitioners pioneering the future of therapy from a multiethnic perspective and develop collaborative approaches to providing multiethnic support. Participants will begin the workshop by introducing themselves in a shared Padlet, providing any information they might want to disclose to collaborate with others in the future. Next, I will present my positionality and literature in multiethnic studies, exploring the key issues multiethnic people appear to be facing in society today. Then, as a group, we will discuss how these issues align with issues practitioners have identified in their practice and collaborate on new ways to approach these problems. From this, participants will gain a more nuanced understanding of Britain’s multiethnic experience and develop a connectedness in their approaches to multiethnic therapy.
By the end of the workshop, participants will gain new tools to support multiethnic clients explore their sense of self in a monoracial society and facilitate effective collaboration between participants to reflect on practice and develop new methods to advocate for multiethnic considerations in clinical practice.
Dr Rhianna Garrett is a researcher and activist at Loughborough University in the field of racial geographies, specialising in global multiethnic sociopolitical identities.
As a Chinese British multiethnic woman, Dr Garrett approaches the topic of mixedness from a lived experience perspective and aims to cultivate a shared kinship between other multiethnic people all over the world. She has published several articles on multiethnic experiences in higher education, is currently the Global Coordinator for the Critical Mixed Race Studies Association executive board and holds a position as Research Fellow at Nottingham Trent University, where she explores intersectional multiethnic experiences of career progression and employment.
She has also collaborated with several multiethnic organisations across the world, including Mixedracefaces and People in Harmony. Dr Garrett aims to ensure multiethnic identities are being considered in policy, scholarship, and practice, and make multiethnic matters, matter.
STREAM 3
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Emily Mitchell Understanding Mixed heritage Identity
A course is designed for therapists, social workers, and professionals working with individuals from mixed heritage backgrounds. Racial identity is a core part of a person’s sense of self, yet the unique experiences and nuances of being mixed heritage are often overlooked in professional practice. A lack of understanding can lead to identity confusion, cultural isolation, and emotional distress for individuals navigating multiple racial and cultural influences.
Through this training, participants will explore:
The complexities of mixed heritage identity and why it requires specific consideration
The impact of racial identity/Socialisation in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
How professional biases and systemic gaps can affect support for mixed heritage individuals
Practical strategies to create inclusive, identity-affirming spaces in therapy, social work, and other professional settings.
I have over 20 years of experience working with Adult, Children, and Families in the charity, public, and private sectors.
I am a qualified social worker for 13 years in a variety of roles, from in Child Protection, Children with Disabilities and working for the Family Court, representing the view of the child during proceedings.
I specialise in Safeguarding, Contextual Safeguarding, Cultural Awareness,, Anti racism and Suicide Prevention, Domestic Abuse and Mental Health First Aid training.
As a member of the British Association of Social Workers and participant in a Thematic Mental Health Group that continues to drive and support positive change in the field.
I am dedicated to being a change maker, with the hope to create a more equitable and compassionate society for all.
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Ruth Abban
Only One 'Side' of the Story
Working
with Positionality in Therapy
What emerges in therapeutic work when the mixed heritage clients we work with only visibly present as one ‘side’ of their stories – the people who visually ‘look’ as belonging to just one racialised group, whilst their remaining heritages are ‘unseen’? The experiences of people of mixed heritage are not monolithic, and this session will incorporate anonymised case examples to explore important considerations and nuances in racial identity work.
Outcomes:
To learn about what positionality is
To learn about how to consider positionality when working with mixed heritage clients
To develop more awareness of aspects of racial identity work
To gain more confidence in working with positionality in therapy
Structure Plan:
In the first 5 minutes, I will introduce myself, learning outcomes will be stated and positionality will be defined I will also mention that in the context of this presentation topic, positionality and racial identity can contrast and I will use examples (one being a case study of a therapy client who appears ‘white’ but actually also is Black, with a “Black-sounding name”. White father, Black mother and with darker skinned siblings and how this has impacted how she navigates the world. Another one is a case study of a therapy client who appears to the world as STREAM 4
“Black”, yet he also is of Eastern European descent with a “European sounding name” (white mother, Arab and Black father) – pseudonyms will be used for this. This session will be interactive, so people are welcome to ask questions throughout.
I will be pulling out key aspects of these 2 examples which include: power and structural advantage that comes with the construct of whiteness, and the structural disadvantage that comes with complexions further from whiteness, intersectional factors (gender, class etc), the cultural significance and identity markers of names, how these clients have moved through society and the impact on their sense of identity and how they “label” themselves (e.g. belonging/displacement), how they responded to me as a therapist who is solely of Black African heritage, and certain interventions I used.
15 minutes will be spent on the first case study and 15 mins will be spent on the second case study. In each study after sharing these parts, I will open the floor for any questions and I will go with the flow of the discussion that emerges in the session.
As there is often a “pressure” for many people of mixed heritage to “pick a side”, I will be constantly emphasising the importance of letting clients define their racial identity for themselves, and for practitioners to not perpetuate further racial trauma by ensuring they remain culturally humble and honour the full range and richness of their clients’ heritages, with additional tools as to how to broach this in therapy. If there is additional time, the remaining 10 mins can be used as a brief Q&A with participants.
Ruth Abban is an Integrative Psychotherapist, who works in private practice with young people and adults via an intersectional, intercultural and Systemic lens.
She has several years of clinical experience in children and young people's charities and counselling organisations, alongside having worked in management. She also works as a Clinical Supervisor, and provides Racial Equity consultancy for various organisations. Ruth works with a wide range of areas, including her specialisms of Adultification Bias, Racial Identity and Racial Trauma. She is one of the co-creators of a leading global service called "The Black Woman's Rest Revolution", helping Black women to heal from racial trauma and workplace abuse.
