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This 16-week intensive, culturally centered practice is designed for women healing from the profound impact of relational betrayal and generational trauma. It is a path to reclaiming your sovereign self when cultural shame and silence demand otherwise. 

🎋 The Silk Bamboo Collective: Healing from Betrayal & Ancestral Shame

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 16 Weeks to the Redefining Relational Sovereignty: Betrayal Trauma Healing for API Women & Mothers

The Path That Unburdens Your Whole Story

We meet at the intersection of our identities, embracing a Third Culture Perspective—acknowledging the specific paradox of communities like San Diego and Hampton Roads/Norfolk: being visible in numbers, yet lacking a deep, felt sense of belonging.

What Makes The Silk Bamboo Collective Different

This path is an Ancestral Reclamation, offering an antidote to the societal pressures that influence our inner wounds:

Honoring the Inherited Burden: We create space to acknowledge and gently release the profound weight of carrying the secret of infidelity or the inherited relational burdens that culture often asks us to hold.

Fierce Compassion & Reclaimed Identity: We redefine your story post-betrayal with fierce compassion, honoring the survival of the generations before us—our mothers and lolas—who navigated similar wounds in silence.

Sovereign Harmony & Peace: We teach you how to define relational repair, healthy intergenerational approaches, restorative justice and set compassionate boundaries that protect your peace without forcing estrangement or breaking family ties steeped in obligatory pakikisama.

Beyond Western Individualism: We center a culturally responsive framework, directly addressing the isolation of cultural shame (Hiya) in your betrayal trauma, moving toward authentic, collective healing rooted in API and Asian-American wisdom.
We center a culturally responsive, trauma-informed framework rooted in relational, restorative repair and justice to seek the deep wisdom of API and Asian-American roots, ensuring a specialized approach in healing.

16-Week Group Details

Weeks 1-4: Rupture & The Weight of Hiya - Naming the Betrayal Trauma and the immense weight of Generational Infidelity. We explore how cultural shame (Hiya) demands silence, especially when compounded by machismo and the cultural pressure of not bringing shame to the family.

Weeks 5-8: Ancestral Wisdom & Somatic Re-Anchoring - Reclaiming the power of cultural practices and community care. Includes deep somatic work to regulate the nervous system, processing trauma responses to religious guilt, silence, and the patriarchal expectations inherited from the past.

Weeks 9-12: Reclaiming Pakikisama: Harmony on Your Terms - Shifting harmony (Pakikisama) from obligation to authentic choice. Focused work on breaking down inherited guilt and mastering the setting of compassionate boundaries to protect your peace without sacrificing dignity or lineage ties.

Weeks 13-16: The Legacy of Sovereignty: A New Lineage of Collective Thriving - Defining Restorative, Relational Justice on your own terms. Asserting your needs and clarity to co-create a new lineage—one rooted in emotional integrity and sovereignty, free from the shadow of betrayal and inherited relational roles. 

Healing is not linear, and you don’t have to do it alone.


Meet Your Relational Guide & Ancestral Steward: Michellene Burke (Therapinay Profile).
My commitment is to culturally centered relational healing that honors our specific heritage. I am committed to creating a space that feels like the community you always deserved—one that is rooted, safe, and radically honest about the journey of Ancestral Reclamation.

My Approach Is Informed By:
Culturally Responsive Framework: Utilizing a framework developed by leaders in the Asian-American, API, Filipino American mental health field to help you dismantle external imprints on your nervous system and inner self.

My Therapinay Lens: Bringing the core values of kapwa (shared inner self) and pakikisama (harmony) into our group structure, prioritizing collective well-being and compassion over Western individualism.

Embodied Healing: Guiding you to prioritize rest, play, and defining "enough" on your own terms, providing an antidote to Western productivity culture and the burden of constant caretaking.

Weekly 90-min meetings: Trauma-informed structure, focused on cultural safety and collective care, with Rooting, not Rushing, integrated into grounding and closure every session. 

Personal guidance & group psychoeducation:
Metabolizing intergenerational burdens, navigating systemic trauma, and redefining cultural roots, and processing Relational Sovereignty through a kapwa-centered lens.

Somatic regulation: Nervous system and body-based safety tools, processing trauma responses to shame, silence, and the pressure of Hiya (cultural shame). 

What You Get

16 Weeks of Guided Relational Healing: Weekly 90-minute, trauma-informed meetings focused on cultural safety and collective care, fostering the rhythm of care (rooting, not reaching).

Cultural Centering & Ancestral Wisdom: The framework is rooted in Filipino resilience and the Third Culture Perspective, viewing your pain through the lens of cultural shame (Hiya), not clinical pathology. Includes guided prompts and ancestral mapping exercises for unburdening work between sessions.

Specialized Trauma Psychoeducation: Focus is strictly on healing from relational betrayal, infidelity, and cheating—a niche that requires specialized clinical tools combined with deep cultural insight.

Embodied Healing with Kapwa: We view struggles as the impact of systemic and inherited relational distress. Healing is a collective, sovereign act utilizing the kapwa (shared inner self) concept. Includes weekly exercises for somatic regulation (nervous system tools) to process shame and silence.

Beyond Forced Estrangement: Guidance toward restorative repair and relational justice. Define compassionate boundaries that preserve dignity while navigating complex family ties influenced by Pakikisama.

Direct Access & Sanctuary: Receive guidance from a Relational Guide & Ancestral Steward (Michellene Burke). Join a safe, closed container with a maximum of 8 participants to cultivate a lasting, healing collective.

Common Questions (“Is this for me?”)

Who is The Silk Bamboo Collective for?
This 16-week group is specifically designed for API women and mothers seeking specialized support to heal from relational betrayal trauma (infidelity, cheating, and generational infidelity). If you are struggling with the pressure to keep silent (Hiya) or maintain false harmony after relational rupture, this is your sanctuary.

My family expects me to just forgive and move on for the sake of Pakikisama. How will this group help me?
We recognize the pressure of obligatory harmony and dedicate time to redefining it on your terms. You will learn to set compassionate boundaries and define relational justice without shaming your family or forced estrangement. The goal is choosing your well-being over people-pleasing.

I feel deep shame (Hiya) about this betrayal, especially due to religious or cultural beliefs. Can I talk about it?
Yes. We operate from a trauma-informed lens that fully acknowledges the compounded pain of cultural shame (Hiya), religious guilt, and the pressure of machismo and patriarchal systems. This is a non-judgmental space built for Ancestral Reclamation, where silence is mended not as trauma, but as a sacred pause. You will be seen and heard without shame.

How does this group avoid codependency? I feel like I'm always carrying everyone's emotions.
We actively interrupt patterns of codependency and perpetual caretaking. We utilize a Relational Sovereignty model—meaning we guide you to reclaim your individual emotional agency. The work is focused on gently releasing what you've carried for generations, clarifying what is your responsibility versus what is another's, and embracing the Rooting, not Reaching philosophy.

Is this group therapy? Can it replace my individual counseling? 
No. This is a highly specialized, Trauma-Informed, Betrayal-Trauma Trained, Psychoeducational Support Group, led by a clinical trauma expert. It is a powerful complement to individual therapy but is not a substitute for one-on-one counseling. We offer group psychoeducation, not individual clinical therapy.

Why 16 weeks? Isn't that a long commitment?
Healing from inherited relational and betrayal trauma requires rhythm and depth, not a rush. The 16-week duration ensures ample time to safely metabolize the pain, integrate somatic practices, and solidify the emotional agency that allows you to confidently choose your future and your lineage.

The Structure & Flow

Healing is a rhythm, not a rush. We move cyclically through acknowledgment, ancestral grounding, and boundary setting to forge a new, emotionally honest lineage. This intensive process honors the depth required to heal from the unwanted inheritance of relational distress, carried shame, generational wound, and the pervasive silence imposed by cultural expectations.

This 16-week journey allows you to put down the heavy burden you've carried, navigating four distinct phases:
Acknowledge the Rupture: Naming the betrayal and the immense weight of generational infidelity.
Ancestral Wisdom: Deeply anchor in cultural practices and somatic resilience to process trauma responses.
Sovereign Harmony: Redefine Pakikisama (harmony) on your own terms, mastering compassionate boundaries.
Legacy of Integrity: Create a future defined by emotional sovereignty, free from the shadows of machismo and religious guilt.

Clarity, strategy, and healing

This is the Journey You Didn't Choose: Healing the Unwanted Inheritance of Betrayal.

We begin by honoring the unexpected. This is the Journey You Didn't Choose—the intergenerational inheritance of relational distress, machismo, and the pressure of silence (Hiya). Your healing is not about finding fault; it is about reclaiming your dignity from the relational patterns that were laid down long before you were born. The Silk Bamboo Collective is where you rewrite the script you never asked to read.

What This Group IS
A Sanctuary for Healing: Specifically focused on metabolizing betrayal trauma and the inherited relational distress.

A Space for Sovereignty: Prioritizes your dignity, guiding you to define Relational Justice on your terms.

Culturally Centered: Holds space for the complexity of cultural shame (Hiya) and obligatory Pakikisama without judgment.

Trauma-Informed & Expert-Led: Led by a fully DSTT-trained professional. Utilizes evidence-based somatic, cognitive, and relational interventions.

A Space to Witness Reality: Provides a container to name, witness, and metabolize your existing reality.

This Group IS NOT...
General Decolonization: While culturally responsive, our niche is healing the impact of infidelity, cheating, and machismo on the API woman.

A Place for Codependency: We actively work to interrupt patterns of perpetual caretaking and gently release what is not yours to carry.

Premature forgiveness or reconciliation pressure

A Quick Fix: Healing from generational and relational trauma is a rhythm. We commit to a dedicated 16-week process—not a rush.

Generic support without DST-specific education
Get Started: Clarity Call - Let’s talk. This is a safe, confidential space to share your story, ask questions, and see if this group feels right for where you are now.

To join the 16-Week Group - 
Option 1: Pay in Full - $1,190 USD (one simple payment and your spot is secured)

Option 2: Spread It Out $330 every 4 weeks (4 payments = $1,320 USD). Payments at weeks 1, 5, 9, and 13.

Reclaiming Your Lineage: Why This Healing Matters Now.
This is an investment in breaking the cycle of silence and betrayal, not a simple transaction. You are choosing 16 weeks of specialized, trauma-informed care that utilizes a Culturally Centered framework—a vital resource often missing in standard therapy.

Consider the true cost of inaction: the emotional labor, the secrecy, and the perpetuation of the "Journey You Didn't Choose." Your investment is in ending that inheritance and reclaiming your Relational Sovereignty. This container is intentionally small, ensuring personalized guidance from a Therapinay and Ancestral Steward trained in Minwalla Betrayal Trauma models.

How to Get Started:

YoUR COMMITMENT TO Relational Sovereignty

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💔 The Grief No One Sees: Mending the Silent Rupture

Your grief is multilayered:

Mourning the Loss of Safe Harmony
the fracture of the illusions of safety and trust you once held, especially those illusions maintained for the sake of Pakikisama (harmony).

Grieving the Silenced Self and Stories
the life and family you once imagined but now seem impossible. Feeling the loss of your voice and identity, fractured beneath the weight of Discovery Trauma and the inherited expectation of silence (Hiya).

Feeling the loss of community & the Weight of Generational Shame
mourning the loss of community validation and the emotional energy spent performing peace to shield others from the shame of betrayal.

Mourning the loss of identity
the person you thought you were, fractured beneath the weight of betrayal.

Sorrow of Unchosen Lineage
grieving the future you imagined, now seemingly impossible under the shadow of generational infidelity and inherited relational roles.

This ambiguous, layered grief can feel relentless and incomprehensible, resisting closure because the betrayal remains ongoing or obscured. It deserves compassion, recognition, and sacred space for healing.

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What You Feel but Might Not Say Out Loud

"If I acknowledge the betrayal, I am failing my family's legacy of harmony (Pakikisama). It's easier to be silent."

"Loneliness crushes me when no one understands the deep betrayal I live with."

 "Shame weighs on me like a second skin, even though I know it’s not my fault."

"I feel like a fraud. I am performing strength on the outside while the betrayal and carried shame are fracturing me on the inside."

I created The Silk Bamboo Collective because I lived the complexity you know well: the Third Culture Perspective of growing up in San Diego and now being rooted in Hampton Roads/Norfolk. I understand the weight of carrying and caretaking that many of us implicitly bear, especially the inherited relational burdens.   

As a Therapinay—a Filipino-Asian-American healer—my commitment is to Culturally Centered Relational Healing. I bring specialized training from Dr. Minwalla 's models to address the shock of the discovery of Betrayal Trauma, ensuring a clinical approach that is both trauma-informed and globally aware.

My role as your Ancestral Steward is to help you put down the unwanted inheritance of machismo and cultural shame (Hiya). I am committed to creating a space that feels like the community you always deserved—one that is rooted, safe, and radically honest about your journey toward Relational Sovereignty.

My Approach Is Informed By:
Trauma-Specialized Expertise: Utilizing Minwalla-aligned frameworks to address Discovery Trauma, define Relational Justice, and interrupt the cycle of generational infidelity.

My Therapinay Lens: Bringing the core values of kapwa (shared inner self) and pakikisama (harmony) into our structure, prioritizing collective well-being over Western individualism.

Cultural Competence: Guiding you to process the unique impact of shame (Hiya), religious guilt, and patriarchal silence on your healing.

I walk fiercely with you, helping rewire survival patterns, restore self-trust, and rebuild authentic connection. Your unique story, voice, and power shape your healing journey here.

Why reach out to me? Why reach out to me?

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Healing is not about returning to what was—it's about creating something entirely new. Together, we navigate the complex terrain from the shock of betrayal trauma toward clarity, resilience, and Relational Sovereignty.

You will learn to trust your inner compass again, confidently identify the non-negotiables of Relational Justice, and build meaningful connections based on emotional integrity and authenticity—a legacy you choose for yourself and the generations to come.

Moving From Surviving to Living Fully

Long-Term Healing and Thriving: 

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You are worthy of healing, belonging, and joy. Even if you carry shame imposed by others or internalized from Here, there is no blame, no shame—only compassionate acceptance of your truth. Your emotions are valid; your voice matters.

A Space Without Shame 

or Judgment

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“Michellene's group saved my sanity. I finally had language for what happened to me—it wasn’t codependency, it was covert-phase integrity abuse.” — A.M.

“Michellene helped me understand my discovery trauma timeline. Seeing it all laid out—the car crashes, the integrity abuse at each one—I finally stopped blaming myself.” — L.T.

“The ‘eating the elephant’ metaphor changed everything. I wasn’t crazy for needing time. I was metabolizing 15 years of deception.” — K.R.
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