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Hemmings and Evans (2018) investigated counseling professionals' experiences with identifying and treating race-based trauma. Of the 106 participants, over 70% said they had worked with clients who had experiences with race-based trauma, but 67% had not received training to identify race-based trauma, and 81% had not received any training to treat race-based trauma.
Sharma (2024) surveyed 378 psychotherapists in the province of Ontario and found that almost a third had never received training on racial trauma (31.0%), with most (71.5%) not satisfied with their training in this area; the vast majority (92.0%) indicated they needed more training in treating racial trauma.
This highlights racial disparities between essential health care needs and the ability to provide related services. Therapists require validated treatment approaches to help their clients heal.
Racial Trauma Treatment Study
Designed and supervised by Dr. Monnica Williams, this study aimed to determine if symptoms of racial trauma could effectively be treated using a suite of evidence-based techniques, called the Racial Stress and Trauma Treatment Protocol. As such, this study asked: (1) Does administration of the Racial Stress and Trauma Treatment Protocol result in a decrease of racial trauma symptoms in participants? and (2) If so, is this decrease in symptoms sustained post-treatment?
Participants of this pilot study (N=19) completed the treatment protocol with a qualified Treatment Facilitator at a mutually convenient time. Before starting, they completed a 90-minute intake session. The protocol itself includes 12 sessions, each 60-minutes in length, designed to take place over a three-month period. Sessions will occurred via Zoom. Sample session activities included learning about the nature of racism in society and practicing healthy coping skills in response to experiences of racism.
In addition to session attendance, participants completed questionnaires over the course of the study to help the research team better understand if and how the protocol was working. From week to week there were also be homework activities for the participants to undertake. To acknowledge participant efforts, each participant was compensated for completion of the treatment protocol.