Racial trauma: Theory, research, and healing: Introduction to the special issue.

Abstract

Racial trauma, a form of race-based stress, refers to People of Color and Indigenous individuals' (POCI) reactions to dangerous events and real or perceived experiences of racial discrimination. Such experiences may include threats of harm and injury, humiliating and shaming events, and witnessing racial discrimination toward other POCI. Although similar to posttraumatic stress disorder, racial trauma is unique in that it involves ongoing individual and collective injuries due to exposure and reexposure to race-based stress. The articles in this special issue introduce new conceptual approaches, research, and healing models to challenge racial trauma. The authors encourage psychologists to develop culturally informed healing modalities and methodologically sophisticated research and urge the inclusion of public policy interventions in the area of racial trauma.

Surviving Being Black and a Clinician During a Dual Pandemic:Personal and Professional Challenges in a Disease and Racial Crisis

“…Viewing incessant coverage of police lynchings on media platforms is perceived by many Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) as racial trauma. Racial trauma, or race based stress, is defined as events of danger related to real or perceived experiences of racial discrimination, and include threats of harm and injury, humiliating and shaming events, and witnessing harm to other BIPOC (Bor et al, 2018;Carter, 2007;Comas-Díaz, Hall, & Neville, 2019). Police violence can be understood through a racial trauma framework that posits that vicarious traumatization from consistent media depiction of the murders of Black Americans, the invisibility of historical trauma, intersectional oppression and ongoing racial microaggressions create a cumulative racial trauma that is scarring and dehumanizing (Comas-Díaz et al, 2019).…”

“…Racial trauma causes psychological distress and physiological effects. Many of these symptoms, including hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, somatic experiences (such as heart palpitations or headaches), and suspiciousness are consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Comas-Díaz et al, 2019). Despite the lack of representation of racism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), racist events and experiences may function as traumatic catalysts and serve as exacerbating stressors even when there is no evidence of actual threat to life (Helms, Nicolas, & Green, 2010).…”

Theorizing Black Trans Survivance and Care in the Context of COVID 19: A Clinical Case Study

“…Trauma theory would focus on the frequency and length of trauma experienced by Dominique and, like Winnicott, would recognize the impact of this trauma on both symptoms of anxiety and capacity for relating. Queer of color critique would encourage us to include the experience of racial-gendered trauma in our conceptualization (Comas-Díaz, Hall, & Neville, 2019). With this in mind, one must recognize the trauma embedded in Dominique's lived reality as a Black trans subject in the United States and its impact on her capacity to move through the world safely.…”

Counseling Psychology and the Amelioration of Oppression: Translating Our Knowledge Into Action

“…In the past decade, much work has been done using quantitative methodologies to understand the forms and influence of oppression, as well as personality and dispositional traits that foster awareness and sensitivity to oppression. Examples of these constructs where counseling psychology has played a leading role are theory and scale development in the study of microaggressions (Sue, 2010;Torino, Rivera, Capodilupo, Nadal, & Sue, 2018), racial and historical trauma (Comas-Díaz, Hall, & Neville, 2019), cultural humility (Davis et al, 2016;Gallardo, 2014;Hook, Davis, Owens, & DeBlaere, 2017;Tormala, Patel, Soukup, & Clarke, 2018), and multicultural personality dispositions (Ponterotto, 2010a;Ponterotto et al, 2014).…”