The Complexities of Racial Trauma
Written By: Jamie Dinneen, Counseling Intern
Trigger Warnings: Discussion of Racial Trauma, Racial Discrimination, and Racial Profiling
Key Words: Racial Trauma, Complex Trauma, Trauma, PTSD
Disclaimer: The information and resources provided in this blog post are simply supplementary information. The recommendations and resources in this post are not a substitute for mental health treatment.
The Complexities of Racial Trauma
In our society, an individual's race has the potential to affect every interaction they have with the world around them. Racial identity can affect how someone is treated by others as well as their feelings of safety in their surroundings. In many cases, those who hold marginalized racial identities move through the world differently than those who hold more privileged racial identities.
Often, these interactions with others can be traumatic. From being profiled by law enforcement to being treated differently than their racial majority counterparts, constantly being aware of one's surroundings and how you are being perceived can feel unrelenting. Feeling constantly "othered" through these interactions can lead to internalized feelings of devaluation, hypervigilance, and negative emotional states (Hardy, 2013). These reactions are consistent with the criteria that define the diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (American Psychological Association, 2013). However, the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria defines traumatic events as isolated incidents. Racial trauma, by its nature, is the result of events that repeatedly occur throughout an individual's life. Because of this, racial trauma is often classified as complex trauma.
Complex Trauma occurs when an individual experiences continued traumatic events over time (Courtois & Ford, 2012). These traumatic events can include seeing news stories about individuals of the same race being the target of hate crimes, witnessing friends and family treated unfairly due to their race, or experiencing unfair treatment or unsafe conditions due to your race in your own life. Because these events in some form occur on almost a daily basis for individuals who hold marginalized racial identities, whether they be systemic or individual, racial trauma fits the definition of complex trauma.
Ideally, the solution would be macro-level where race and racial trauma issues are widely recognized and addressed. Unfortunately, this country is not currently equipped or capable of making these systemic changes. Despite this, though it may be difficult, it is possible to thrive in the face of racial trauma. Working in a safe, therapeutic environment to learn that the individual does not cause traumatic racial events to happen to them and that they result from the systemic racism and oppression upheld by society has been shown to reduce the symptoms of racial trauma (Aymer, 2016). This is known in therapeutic terms as the externalization of the problem (Aymer, 2016). Additionally, working with a clinician who is mindful of racial identity, its impacts, and an individual's strengths and resiliencies can be incredibly helpful in processing these traumatic experiences (Liu & Modir, 2020).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Aymer, S. R. (2016). “I can’t breathe”: A case study—Helping Black men cope with race-related trauma stemming from police killing and brutality. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 367-376.
Courtois, C. A., & Ford, J. D. (2012). Treatment of complex trauma: A sequenced, relationship-based approach. Guilford Press.
Hardy, K. V. (2013). Healing the hidden wounds of racial trauma. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 22 (1), 24-28.
Liu, S. R., & Modir, S. "The outbreak that was always here: Racial trauma in the context of COVID-19 and implications for mental health providers." Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy (2020).