Kintsugi — Restoring Truth

The truth, told once,
told well.

Partial truth, staggered confessions, and slow-leaking discoveries don't protect anyone — they tend to do more damage than the original betrayal itself, stretching the pain out indefinitely instead of letting a couple actually face it and move through it. The Restoring Truth Model exists to replace that slow leak with one clear, carefully prepared account, delivered in a way that's honest without being needlessly harmful.

The model was developed by Dr. Janice Caudill and Dan Drake, co-founders of Kintsugi Recovery Partners. Officially, it's known as RTDG — Restoring Truth: Disclosure Guide — the exact terminology used in Kintsugi's own certification and training materials. If you've come across "disclosure guide" or "guided disclosure" elsewhere in your own research, this is the same process.

The name Kintsugi comes from the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold — not hiding the break, but making the repaired piece more beautiful for having been broken and restored. It's a fitting metaphor for what a well-prepared disclosure can do for a relationship.

I consult directly with Janice on this model, and apply it both in individual disclosure preparation and in guided Full Disclosure within couples work — whichever stage you're actually at.

This work shows up in two places depending on where you are: as part of Help Them Heal couples coaching when both partners are ready to do it together, or as individual preparation when your partner is working separately with her own support. Full Disclosure is one of the most significant moments in a couple's recovery, and preparation makes the difference.