About the Seminar

Inspired by the Japanese art of Kintsugi—a Japanese art that repairs broken pottery with gold, rendering a new piece that is more exquisite than it was before the break—this interactive seminar explores how moments of rupture in mixed race relationships can become opportunities for deeper connection and transformation.

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Have you ever felt unseen or misunderstood in your interracial relationship?

When a racial rupture occurs, how do you both tend to the wounding?

When race enters the room, how does it shape your relationships?

This experiential seminar offers a supportive space to explore the complexities of racial breaches in mixed race relationships.

Whether with a partner, friend, co-parent, or colleague, navigating racial dynamics can lead to both deep connections and painful ruptures. Through personal storytelling, guided discussions, and reflective exercises, we will explore how to tend to ruptures with care, honesty, and courage.

What Happens When a Racial Breach Occurs?

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• The Shattering – A rupture occurs, leading to a breakdown in communication and trust. Pain, grief and loss arise.

• The Retreat – Both individuals begin to process the pain separately, confronting feelings of abandonment, shame, anger, white fragility, internalized racism and hierarchy of culture in feelings and expressions.

• The Orbiting – A delicate dance of circling each other, staying with the discomfort rather than rushing to resolution.

• A Different Season – The relationship evolves. How do we return to each other truthfully and with care?

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Led by Charmaine McCaulay and supported by Lizzie Cummings, this course offers a supportive space to reflect on the complexities of racial dynamics with partners, friends, colleagues, or co-parents. Using their lived experience and the Four Stages of a Racial Breach—The Shattering, The Retreat, The Orbiting, and A Different Season—participants will learn how to navigate and repair racial wounds with honesty, courage, and care.

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This interactive seminar is for anyone in meaningful interracial relationships—

• Romantic partners (cohabiting, married, or dating)

• Close friendships navigating racial differences.

• Strong working relationships (colleagues, business partners, co-creators).

• Divorced or separated co-parents who remain connected through their children.

• Psychotherapists who want to deepen their understanding of how to tend to racial and cultural ruptures in relationships.

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Learning objectives:

Use the four-stage model

(Shattering, Retreat, Orbiting, A Different Season) as a guide for navigating racial ruptures in intimate, familial, social, and professional relationships.

Foster trust and resilience in interracial partnerships

Gain a deeper understanding of the emotional and psychological effects of racial tension to sustain long-term, healthy relationships across racial differences.

Engage in meaningful repair and rebuilding

Understand how to navigate racial breaches in ways that foster deeper connection, accountability, and ongoing growth.​

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Meet the Facilitators:

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Charmaine McCaulay (Lead Facilitator) is an integrative body psychotherapist specializing in the healing of racial trauma. She is the creator of the transformative “Racism in Real Time” workshop, guiding participants through embodied and emotional processes to reclaim authenticity and humanity in the face of racial wounding.

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Lizzie Cummings is a drama and movement therapist who brings over 20 years of experience in creative, embodied healing. She works in collaboration with Charmaine, offering playful and imaginative approaches to support personal and relational growth.