Racial Trauma and the Need for Equitable Support
When we talk about race, the conversations are usually around social systems, history, and public policy. The focus is less on the psychological impacts that race and racism have on many people. The experiences of discrimination, repeated microaggressions, and stress can accumulate, influencing mood, relationships, and physical health.
This is why it’s important to talk about racial trauma and mental health. We want to highlight the very real emotional and physiological responses that racism has and the toll it can take. Our goal with this article is to understand:
- What racial trauma is and how racial trauma affects mental health
- The common effects of racial trauma
- How to recognize and address racial trauma
- Therapies and strategies for equitable mental health support
- Answers to the commonly asked questions about systemic racism and mental health
What Is Racial Trauma?
Racial trauma refers to the emotional impact of the microaggressions and stress related to racism and discrimination, whether that includes threats, prejudice, humiliation, shame, or guilt.1
The acts of racism or discrimination often expose you to biased systems, direct acts of discrimination, or subtle messages about your worth and belonging. These experiences can cause you to feel like you’re always on guard, making it easy to overlook how systemic racism and mental health become connected.
When we talk about discrimination and psychological impact, we’re talking about the way that other people discriminate against you can alter how you see yourself, others, and the world around you. This strain can disrupt your mood and overall well-being – and also physically impact your nervous system.
How Chronic Exposure to Racism Affects the Nervous System
Encounters with prejudice, profiling, and ongoing microaggressions can keep the nervous system activated. Even when there’s no immediate threat or danger, the body interprets these experiences as threats and turns on your fight-flight-or-flee response. Especially if you’ve experienced repeated discrimination or racism, your body is likely to be on high alert, scanning for these instances.
To protect us from real or perceived threats, the body redirects energy to the systems needed to fight or flee. This means your heart rate will increase, your muscles will become tense, and your attention will sharpen to the threat. This is your sympathetic nervous system preparing to protect you.2 But when this response is chronic (because you’re always bracing for the threat of racism), it leaves you feeling perpetually on edge, exhausted, or emotionally flooded.
And over time, the response causes mental and physical wear and tear, contributing to emotional dysregulation and racial trauma. This emotional dysregulation makes it harder to settle after upsetting interactions or to feel safe in your body or neutral spaces.
Mental Health Effects of Racism
Plus, when addressing racial trauma, we often see mental health effects like:
Persistent anxiety and depression from racial trauma, which can make everyday interactions feel loaded or unpredictable.- Ongoing fear-based scanning of the environment, leading people to feel “on edge.”
- Withdrawal, especially when repeated invalidation leads to hopelessness or emotional fatigue.
- Irritability or anger after years of absorbing the prejudice and harm.
- Emotional numbness or disconnection from uncomfortable emotions.
- Disruptions to sleep or physical issues, like headaches, stomach pain, or constant muscle tension.
- Low self-esteem or questioning self-worth after being exposed to repeated biases.
Additionally, prolonged incidents of racism and racial discrimination can lead to symptoms that look similar to PTSD.4 These responses are understandable reactions to environments shaped by social inequities affecting mental health, where you may feel forced to stay alert even after the situation has passed.
How Structural Inequities Shape Mental Health Access
Due to these disparities in services that stigmatize people of color, when people try looking for racial trauma therapy, they often come across obstacles. They might face long waitlists, limits in transportation, delays in authorization, shortages of culturally competent clinicians, and prior experiences of being dismissed.
Understanding this context is central to developing real strategies for equitable mental health support, because healing depends as much on access as it does on insight.
Historical Mistrust and Medical Harm
Many racial and ethnic minority communities also have a deep mistrust and skepticism toward healthcare systems. This skepticism is shaped by generations of unequal treatment or neglect. That history can influence whether people feel safe opening up in therapy today.
For providers, this means slowing down, listening closely, and approaching care with humility – an essential part of providing effective care for racial trauma and equitable support.
What Equitable Mental Health Care Actually Looks Like
Effective mental health care for racial trauma survivors begins with curiosity and respect. Culturally competent therapy involves clinicians who understand how racism, migration histories, family systems, and community dynamics intersect with mental health. Rather than assuming what someone needs, therapists invite clients into shared decision-making, tailoring goals and interventions to fit cultural values, spiritual beliefs, language preferences, and personal priorities.
Further, modalities should be trauma-informed, not deficit-focused. Trauma-informed care for racial trauma recognizes that hypervigilance, withdrawal, or anger often started as protective strategies in unsafe environments. Therapy reframes these responses as adaptations rather than flaws, helping people loosen patterns that no longer serve them without shame.
By shifting away from pathologizing narratives, clinicians create room for resilience, agency, and self-trust.
Recognizing and Addressing Racial Trauma
Recognizing the impact that racism and discrimination have on someone’s well-being is the first step in addressing racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress. This type of trauma often goes unnamed, especially if these experiences become routine. For instance, people may feel the need to minimize their distress. Recognizing and addressing racial trauma helps shift these experiences from something you have to endure silently to something that you work through with support.
For clinicians, addressing racial trauma is about acknowledging people’s lived experiences and validating the impact that both current discrimination and intergenerational racial trauma can have. And for those experiencing racial trauma, addressing it starts with understanding that what you’re dealing with is, in fact, damaging to your well-being. Then, speaking with someone who can provide culturally competent therapy.
Therapy Approaches Used to Treat Racial Trauma
No two experiences are the same, so there is no single method to treat racial trauma. When clinicians focus on addressing racial trauma, they often draw from several evidence-based approaches that support nervous-system regulation, emotional processing, and healthier ways of relating to oneself and others. Such approaches include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT and racial trauma work together by helping you notice how repeated exposure to bias can shape internal beliefs about safety, worth, or what to expect from others. Therapy may focus on identifying thoughts that emerged after discriminatory experiences, testing whether they still apply, and building coping strategies for moments when vigilance or self-criticism takes over.
Trauma-Focused Therapies and EMDR
Trauma-focused modalities, like EMDR, aim to help the brain reprocess distressing memories so they carry less emotional charge in the present. If you develop PTSD related to racial experiences, this work can reduce intrusive thoughts, physiological reactivity, and avoidance patterns linked to specific incidents.
Somatic and Nervous-System-Based Care
Because racial trauma often lives in the body, many clinicians include somatic techniques that build awareness of the physical sensations in your body and how it responds to stress. Breathwork, movement, and body-based mindfulness can help support mindfulness and emotional regulation, and can also make it easier to notice early signs of overwhelm and respond with compassion rather than self-blame.
How Mission Connection Supports Racial Trauma Recovery
Healing from racial trauma is about rebuilding safety, steadiness, and self-trust. At Mission Connection, we approach racial trauma and mental health with collaborative, personalized care that feels accessible.
As an outpatient provider, we offer both in-person and remote therapy sessions. Our clinicians draw from multiple treatment approaches, and they’re trained to provide culturally competent therapy.
If you have been navigating the effects of racism, whether through major incidents or the daily accumulation of stress, reach out to us today. We’re committed to recognizing and addressing racial trauma while providing mental health support that meets you where you are.
FAQs About Racial Trauma and Mental Health
If you suspect that your mental well-being has been affected by racial trauma, it’s normal to have some ongoing questions. This is why we’ve provided the following answers to FAQs we receive.
How Does Racial Trauma Affect Mental Health?
Racial trauma is linked to more depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.7 Racial trauma can also cause people to be more psychologically inflexible, meaning they have a harder time staying in the present moment and being open about uncomfortable emotions. Repeated exposure to bias or discrimination can also shape people’s trust in others and feelings of self-worth.
What Are the Behaviors of Racial Trauma?
Some behaviors of racial trauma might include feeling constantly on alert, problems sleeping, feelings of humiliation, withdrawing or avoiding, difficulty concentrating, and changes in relationships. These reactions often reflect emotional dysregulation and racial trauma rather than personal weakness.
How to Heal From Racial Trauma?
There are several ways to heal from racial trauma. First, validate your reality, meaning validating that this experience isn’t uncommon and there is nothing wrong with you. Talk about it with trusted people, whether that’s family, friends, or a therapist. Then find ways to take action by connecting with activists or joining a learning circle with like-minded people. And finally, work with a therapist to do identity affirmation, where you challenge internalized false beliefs.
Can You Get PTSD From Racism?
Yes, you can develop PTSD from racism, called “racial trauma” or “race-based traumatic stress,” especially if you’re subject to severe or repeated incidents of discrimination. Racial trauma is not a formal diagnosis, but it is a very real experience.
What Is the Connection Between Trauma and Equity?
Trauma is an issue of equity. When people are discriminated against or lack access to effective support or care, they’re likely to experience racial trauma from the continued discrimination. Equity means recognizing how social systems and access barriers shape who receives support and how effective that support can be.
How Does Mission Connection Provide Equitable Mental Health Support?
We offer equitable mental health support by providing culturally responsive and flexible treatment. Our trauma-informed care for racial trauma packages are always collaborative, meaning we work with you to make care accessible. Through these efforts, Mission Connection aims to offer meaningful pathways for healing while advancing long-term strategies for equitable mental health support.
References
- Cénat, J. M. (2022). Complex Racial Trauma: evidence, theory, assessment, and treatment. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(3), 675–687. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221120428
- Harvard Health. (2024, April 3). Understanding the stress response. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
- Office of Minority Health. (2026, January). Mental health in Black/African Americans. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/mental-and-behavioral-health-blackafrican-americans
- Carter, R. T., Mazzula, S., Victoria, R., Vazquez, R., Hall, S., Smith, S., Sant-Barket, S., Forsyth, J., Bazelais, K., & Williams, B. (2011). Initial development of the Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptom Scale: Assessing the emotional impact of racism. Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy, 5(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025911
- Center for High Impact Philanthropy – University of Pennsylvania. (2023, January 11). What is structural inequality? https://www.impact.upenn.edu/what-is-structural-inequality/
- Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2016). Structural stigma: Research evidence and implications for psychological science. American Psychologist, 71(8), 742–751. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000068
- Stephens, J. R. B., Murphy, E. R., Gallagher, M. W., & Walker, R. L. (2025). Racial Trauma and Mental Health: The adaptive role of psychological flexibility for young Black adults. Behavior Therapy, 56(5), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2025.02.001
