Support for Race-Based Stress, Trauma, and Resilience

Race-based trauma and stress describes the specific experiences of people of color who are surviving racial discrimination, threats, humiliation, racial bias, microaggressions, being unseen, and shaming events that happen at work, home, or in the community. These experiences create emotional injuries that, over time, can add up and result in symptoms that are consistent with traumatic stress disorders, deplete your energy, and activate a constant sense of survival mode. 

Race-based stress and traumatic experiences include:

  • Microaggressions,
  • Hate speech, threats, and intimidation
  • Police harassment, community violence, and government abandonment
  • Workplace discrimination, bias, and retaliation
  • Medical invalidation and trauma
  • Immigration difficulties and citizenship threats
  • Underrepresentation and misrepresentation
  • Environmental threats

Signs and symptoms of race-based stress and trauma include:

  • Hypervigilance (i.e. constant scanning for threats)
  • Anger and rage
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Headaches
  • Upset stomach
  • Humiliation
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Rumination
  • Avoidance (e.g., emotional numbing, behavioral inhibition)
    Nightmares
INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

Individual behavioral health support can help you recover from experiences related to race-based trauma and stress. It can also assist you to learn protective strategies such as connecting with one’s own cultural identity and tapping into the strengths, history, and wisdom of our respective cultural communities. Our culturally-responsive therapists will validate and affirm the reality of your lived experience and offer you a safe space that is focused on your healing and emotional freedom.  Click here to request an appointment

GROUP SUPPORT


Emotional Emancipation Circle* for Community Healers

Emotional Emancipation Circles (EEC) provide a culturally grounded, self-help group for Black people to come together and help heal the emotional legacies of racism and racial trauma with the intention of fostering individual and collective healing. 

EECs were developed by the Community Healing Network in collaboration with The Association of Black Psychologists as liberatory spaces where Black people share stories and deepen our understanding of the impact of historical forces on our sense of self-worth, relationships, and communities; specially trained facilitators also assist participants to learn essential emotional wellness skills and African-centered practices for healing cultural wounds.

When: Tuesdays, July 12 - October 4, 2022 (meeting every other week)
Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm, EST
Meeting Virtually: (Links will be provided to registrants)
Eligibility: Physicians, Advanced Practice Providers, Psychologists, Nurses, Chaplains, Dentists, Pharmacists, & Mental Health Therapists (etc.) who identify as Black, African-American, or part of the African diaspora.
Facilitators: Arminda Perch, MBA, MSW, Supervisee in Social Work & Julia Dumas Wilks, MA, MAT
Deadline for Registration: August 9, 2022 (must be able to attend meeting 1, 2, or 3 to be a part of the Circle cohort)
Additional Questions? Please contact Arminda Perch at ap5yb@virginia.edu or call 434.297.5839

Please Use the Form Below to Register Today (Limited Spaces)

 

*EECs are not intended to be nor should they be treated as a substitute for professional counseling, advice, or therapy. We urge you to seek the help of qualified mental health professionals, if and when necessary.

Positive Affirmations, Poetry, Apps, Articles, & Stories

    The above resources are not designed for crisis intervention. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 911, go to your nearest emergency room, or contact one of the crisis hotlines listed below:
    • National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-8255, available 24/7 | Lifeline Chat
    • Region Ten Emergency Services: (434) 972-1800, available 24/7