Since 2013, the Bounce Coalition has been working to bring education and awareness to Kentucky around adverse childhood experiences, the impact of trauma, and how to create trauma-informed programs, organizations, and communities across our state. While there are many forms and varieties of trauma that are experienced by individuals and communities, racial trauma is especially important to highlight and address.
According to Mental Health America, racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress (RBTS), refers to the mental and emotional injury caused by encounters with racial bias and ethnic discrimination, racism, and hate crimes. Any individual that has experienced an emotionally painful, sudden, and uncontrollable racist encounter is at risk of suffering from a race-based traumatic stress injury. Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) are most vulnerable due to living under a system of white supremacy.
We know that race based trauma occurs in various ways and has multiple sources. RBTS can result from direct experiences of racism and bias, vicariously through watching the news or reading about instances of racism, and/or through systemic injustices that occur as a result of racism.
In order to prevent and mitigate racial trauma in our communities and systems and to help those who experience RBTS heal from those experiences, it is vital that individuals, organizations, and communities learn about RBTS, the impact it has on individuals and communities, and consider ways they can and should create change to prevent racism and racial trauma.
Many resources exist to help educate professionals and provide them with the tools to address RBTS with their clients and in their communities, such as:
- The National Child Trauma Stress Network’s Addressing Race and Trauma in the Classroom: A Resource for Educators (PDF)
- The Center for Healthcare Strategies’ Incorporating Racial Equity into Trauma-Informed Care
- The American Psychological Association’s curated list of resources on the topic of Race, Trauma, and Social Justice
- The PBS Kids guide to Talking to Young Children About Race and Racism
The Bounce Coalition also offers Racial Trauma and Healing, an interactive training that engages participants in activities and conversations around race-based traumatic stress (RBTS). Participants will be able to define RBTS and name current and historical examples, recognize the impacts, and learn about trauma-informed interventions and local resources available to address RBTS.
A participant attending a recent Racial Trauma and Healing session remarked that the training “was helpful, insightful, and encouraging. You are helping put tools in everyone’s hands to help combat racism and hate and bring healing to those who have been traumatized from it.”
For more information and to request a training, review Bounce’s Menu of Trainings.
