A three-hour CPD session exploring Rhythm and Processing Strategies for trauma recovery, rooted in anti-racist psychotherapy.
I had the pleasure of attending this three-hour workshop led by David Archer, introducing us to Rhythm and Processing (RAP) Strategies. A therapeutic approach rooted in anti-racist psychotherapy, trauma theory, and Afrocentric healing frameworks. The space felt nurturing and reflective, blending clinical insight with cultural depth and moments of embodied pause.
The session moved with clarity and warmth, inviting us to think differently about trauma recovery. Not just as symptom reduction, but as justice, creativity, and reconnection.
David is a Marriage and Family Therapist and Anti-Racist Psychotherapist based in Montreal, Canada. His work is grounded in the reality of systemic harm, but always held with care, humour, and deep generosity of spirit. From the outset, he reminded us that his goal is simple: that even one person in the room might leave believing in themselves or believing they can help someone else.
What is RAP?
RAP Strategies are designed to work with both personal and identity-based trauma. They draw on EMDR therapy, the Flash technique, and Thomas Zimmerman’s 4 Blinks method, but shift the emphasis towards cultural responsiveness and client agency.
We explored how trauma often gets stuck in loops between the body and belief. A person might carry the belief “I’m unworthy” and feel it as a heavy sensation in the stomach. When something upsetting happens, the same sensation returns, reinforcing the belief. Over time, the body and the thought start to confirm each other. The therapist’s role is to help interrupt that loop, not by challenging the belief directly, but by bringing in a different, more empowering experience.
RAP uses tools like eye blinking, tapping, butterfly hugs, video imagery, and calm or motivating sensory input. The trauma memory is recalled and gently moved out of focus while something soothing, joyful, or meaningful is brought in. That contrast creates a shift. When repeated, it helps the memory to be re-encoded.
The process follows three key steps:
The therapist works with the client’s chosen focus, whether that’s a smell, a song, a colour, a spiritual image, or an ancestral presence. It’s not about analysing the trauma but about updating it through new experiences.
Afrocentric Dimensions
A core part of RAP is the inclusion of seven Afrocentric principles, based on the work of Belgrave and Allison. These are practical and grounding, offering an alternative to Eurocentric models of therapy. They include:
• Spirituality – Recognising that we are more than our physical body
• Collectivism – The need for harmony within ourselves and our communities
• Time Flexibility – Seeing past, present, and future as interconnected
• Orality – Valuing spoken story and expression
• Affect and Emotion – Welcoming all emotions as purposeful
• Balance and Harmony – Reclaiming our place in nature, rather than trying to dominate it
• Rhythm and Verve – Using music, culture, and personal interests as tools for healing
While these principles centre Black and racialised clients, they are relevant for all. David shared that when therapists work in this way, even white clients benefit because the whole person is being met, not just their pathology.
Proactive and Responsive Strategies
We explored the difference between proactive and responsive strategies. Proactive strategies are everyday practices that help us feel good for no reason. Responsive strategies are what we reach for when we are stressed or dysregulated.
David used the image of the sword and shield. The sword is about setting boundaries and defending ourselves and others. The shield helps us pause, reflect, and resource ourselves. Both are needed, individually and collectively.
Parts, Double Consciousness, and Internalised Oppression
In the second half of the workshop, we explored how trauma often splits into different parts of the self. These are not pathological. Each part has tried to protect us. Some carry silence, others carry rage or fear. RAP offers a way to meet these parts with care and curiosity, helping the client reclaim a sense of wholeness.
David referenced W. E. B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon to illustrate how racism creates a split between how we see ourselves and how we are seen. The pressure to perform, to mask, to survive. These experiences often get missed or pathologised in therapy. RAP acknowledges them and offers space to explore them. “There is no failure, only feedback.”
Cultural Responsiveness and Client Agency
RAP is not something done to the client. David reminded us that cultural responsiveness means being open to the client’s worldview, including ancestors, spirituality, nature, and creative imagery, as legitimate sources of healing.
Clients are invited to bring in:
• Concepts and values
• Parts of the self
• Ancestral support
• Spiritual or natural forces
These are not symbolic extras. They are part of the process of healing and change. The client leads the way. Therapy becomes a space of creativity, safety, and self-determination.
Integration and Rest
The workshop was gently paced, with moments of meditation throughout. One of the guided practices, taken from David’s book Black Meditation, invited us to work with colour and the breath to shift internal states. These pauses allowed time for integration and gave a felt sense of the work in action.
This wasn’t just a CPD training. It was an invitation to reimagine therapy itself, not only as a space for trauma recovery, but for solidarity, justice, and joy. As David shared “There is more than one way to heal.”
Further Reading
David Archer is the author of:
• Anti-Racist Psychotherapy: Confronting Systemic Racism and Healing Racial Trauma
• Racial Trauma Recovery: Healing Our Past Using Rhythm and Processing
• Transforming Complex Trauma: Reflections on Anti-Racist Psychotherapy
• Black Meditation: Ten Practices for Self-Care, Mindfulness, and Self-Determination
• Black Mountain: Fight for the Future
About the author: Jasminder Bahia is a Counselling Psychologist, EMDR therapist, and Decolonising Therapy tutor with the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN). Her work bridges trauma therapy, embodied healing, and anti-racist practice, grounded in her lived experience as a British-born Panjabi Sikh woman. She teaches and writes on intersectionality, ancestral memory, and spiritual traditions within therapeutic practice.