Towards Healing Racialized Trauma #blacklivesmatter

Hello, friends.

Well, this is a time of transition! We are all asking what we can do to support the shift that wants to happen away from institutionalized racism, towards understanding and healing. 

As a trauma specialist, I can't help but see these issues through that lens: we all have trauma in our lineages, whether that is from perpetration, victimization, benefiting from the degradation of others, or some combination of roles.

How do we heal intergenerational trauma? We must acknowledge the pain and suffering, and begin to work with our nervous system responses (are we angry, wanting to fight? are we scared, wanting to run away? are we overwhelmed, trying to bury our head in the sand [this one might look like, "I don't see race"])? None of these responses is wrong, but they all need to be worked with if we don't want to continue to pass on the legacies of racism and racialized trauma.

For a small step in the direction of acknowledging and healing racialized trauma, I recommend this free eCourse from Resmaa Menakem, who works brilliantly at the intersection of nervous system regulation, trauma, and race. The course is broken up into:

• black body trauma

• white body trauma

• police body trauma

• communal body trauma

Even reading these categories can help our minds warm up to the types and pervasiveness of trauma, how they work and intersect.

Feel free to reach out to me; I would love to hear your thoughts on these topics.

In solidarity, Emma

Learn more about our approach to trauma.

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Emma Sartwell, MDiv, CYT | Emma holds a Master of Divinity from Naropa University and is a registered psychotherapist. She combines Somatic Experiencing, parts work, holistic healing, and mindfulness into her sessions, which focus on nervous system regulation, trauma integration, attachment patterning, inner critics and inner children, and ancestral healing. Her deepest joy is helping people feel more integrated, authentic, and connected.