“We are the dreams and prayers of our ancestors. We carry their strength and wisdom in our blood.” ~ Unknown
What is Racial Trauma?
Racial trauma is a form of intergenerational trauma that refers to the cumulative negative impact of racism on an individual’s mental and emotional well-being. It encompasses the psychological distress and emotional pain resulting from direct or indirect experiences of racial discrimination, microaggressions, and systemic injustice. This trauma can be both individual and collective, affecting entire communities. Long-term stress from racial trauma can contribute to chronic health such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, and heart disease, and mental health conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The effects of racial trauma can be passed down through generations, affecting descendants’ mental and emotional well-being for generations.
Effects of Racial Trauma
Racial trauma can contribute to chronic anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders.
Chronic stress from racial trauma can lead to a persistently elevated heart rate, can contribute to hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and it can weaken the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to illnesses and infections.
Anxiety and intrusive thoughts related to racial trauma can interfere with sleep patterns, causing insomnia or poor-quality sleep and it can impair cognitive function, making it difficult to focus or remember things.
Experiences of racism can lead to feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem.
Our Approach
Healing Racial Trauma through mindfulness, an exploration of psyche and by focusing on archetypes, the unconscious, and integration of shadow. We explore how unconscious processes, cultural complexes, and archetypal patterns influence the experience of racial trauma, and we address the unique psychological experiences and needs of people from a cultural and ancestral lens. We examine the ways in which unprocessed trauma is passed down through generations, influencing not only individual behaviors and emotions but also familial and cultural patterns.
Delving into Unconscious Ancestral Roots
We utilize techniques grounded in depth, indigenous, and contemplative psychology, to explore the unconscious ancestral roots of racial trauma. We explore dreams to access deeper layers of consciousness and we engage with myth, symbols, and archetype to gain understanding into the origins of racial trauma.
Exploring Family and Cultural Narratives
Understanding the narratives and myths that shape our familial and cultural identities, as well as gaining an understanding of where and how these have been interrupted, is crucial in addressing racial trauma. We help individuals explore these stories to gain insight into the origins and impacts of their inherited trauma so they may integrate and heal.
Healing and Integration
Healing racial trauma involves acknowledging and integrating present day and inherited wounds. Through therapeutic processes such as mindfulness practices, dream analysis, archetypal exploration, active imagination, and shadow work, we support individuals in confronting and transforming their trauma, leading to personal and ancestral healing.
Practicing Mindfulness
Practicing mindful breathing to reduce stress and increase emotional regulation.
Bringing awareness to different parts of the body to release tension and promote relaxation.
Engaging in practices that foster self-compassion and reduce self-criticism related to internalized racism.
Observing thoughts and feelings without judgment to foster self-compassion and acceptance.
Conscious and Unconscious
Analyzing dreams to uncover symbols and themes related to racial trauma.
Using symbols and imagery to explore and integrate unconscious aspects of racial trauma.
Engaging in conversation with different aspects of the unconscious, including those related to race, and identity, and shadow.
Engaging with Archetypes
Recognizing recurring symbols and themes that point to underlying racial trauma.
Using myths and cultural narratives to reframe and understand personal and collective experiences of racial trauma.
Using imagination to explore and transform scenarios related to racial trauma.
Exploration of psyche through engagement with myth, story, and symbol.
Integrate fragmented parts through exploration of archetype in examination of self, persona, and shadow.
Shadow Work
Recognizing and acknowledging repressed aspects of race and identity.
Accepting and incorporating these aspects into conscious awareness to heal from racial trauma.
Rituals and Symbolic Acts
Healing Ceremonies through engaging in rituals that honor and release racial trauma.
Creative Expression through art, writing, music, movement, and storytelling, to process and transform racial trauma.
Connection with land, ancestors, and spiritual beings as a method of healing ancestral wounds.
Creation of sacred space to return to the wisdom of source.