Addressing the Impact of Racial Trauma on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color ’s (BIPOC) Mental, Emotional, and Physical Health Through Critical Consciousness and Radical Healing: Recommendations for Mental Health Providers

This article provides mental health professionals with information about the impact of racism and racial trauma on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Mental health professionals are poised to be sources of support and healing for BIPOC that are impacted by racism and racial trauma. However, to best support survivors of racial trauma, mental health professionals must confront the racist roots of their fields and develop their own critical consciousness of racism in their personal and professional lives.Recent FindingsRacial trauma can have significant impacts on BIPOC, individually and collectively, including individuals experiencing symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. To understand racism and racial trauma, critical consciousness describes the development of a critical understanding of systems, especially the systems that contribute to the marginalization and oppression of people and communities as well as the fight against oppressive systems. Researchers have found that radical healing is a culturally mindful approach to wellness that centers the knowledge and experiences of BIPOC.SummaryThe authors provide recommendations for mental health professionals working with survivors of racial trauma. The recommendations describe how clinicians can use critical consciousness development and radical healing to address the impact of racial trauma on BIPOC mental health.
Source: Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research