The Trauma of Racism: Implications for Counseling, Research, and Education

• Published in: The Counseling psychologist 2005-07, Vol.33 (4), p.574-578
• Main Authors: Bryant-Davis, Thema, Ocampo, Carlota
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antisocial Behavior; Counseling; Counseling Psychology; Counseling Techniques; Counselor education; Counselors; Emotional Response; Guidelines; Identification; Psychological Patterns; Psychologists; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Racial Bias; Racial Discrimination; Racism; Survivors; Trauma; Traumatic incidents; Treatment; USA
• ISSN: 0011-0000; 1552-3861
• DOI: 10.1177/0011000005276581

Considering the barriers to discussions of racism, this document starts by acknowledging appreciation for the feedback and insights of the editors of "The Counseling Psychologist" as well as those of the responders. Spanierman and Poteat (2005 [this issue]) note that racist incidents are "most easily comparable with the established notion of trauma when they are overt and distinct events experienced directly by an individual. Divergence from one or more of these characteristics makes the comparison with the traditional understanding of trauma less direct" (p. 517). In short, racist incidents perpetrated at the individual level by an overtly racist perpetrator that involve verbal, physical, or some other type of abuse or assault fit the standard definition of trauma. In fact, these incidents would be traumatic regardless of the motivation (racist or otherwise). However, viewing racist incidents through the narrow lens of overt, individual racism removes the responsibility of action against covert and/or institutionalized racism. To assist counselors and researchers in identifying potentially traumatic racist incidents that are nonphysical and/or covert, three pointers for psychologists to consider in addition to severity, as it is traditionally understood, with every trauma survivor, are provided.