Clinical Topics & Methods Category
Live Event

Understanding Trauma in Black Communities: Promoting Healing Through Cultural Awareness

Tue, Jan 5th, 2027
12:00pm – 3:15pm US Eastern Time
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About the Event

Trauma within Black communities cannot be fully understood without examining the historical, cultural, systemic, and relational experiences that influence individual and collective well-being. While traditional trauma-informed approaches provide an important foundation, professionals must also recognize how racial discrimination, intergenerational experiences, systemic barriers, and cultural beliefs surrounding mental health can influence psychological safety, trust, help-seeking behaviors, and engagement with care.

This interactive, three-hour training explores the intersection of trauma, cultural awareness, family systems, and community healing. Participants will examine how racial, intergenerational, financial, and institutional stressors may contribute to trauma-related responses and influence emotional well-being, family relationships, and access to support. The training will also highlight the role of cultural identity, family connections, community resources, and protective factors in fostering resilience and healing.

Through research-informed education, case scenarios, guided reflection, and practical application, participants will explore culturally responsive, trauma-informed strategies for recognizing trauma responses, addressing barriers to care, strengthening professional relationships, and supporting healing within Black communities. Particular attention will be given to the importance of cultural humility, psychological safety, and the recognition of the strengths and lived experiences of individuals and families.

Participants will leave with practical strategies they can apply within clinical, healthcare, educational, and community-based settings to move beyond cultural awareness toward more intentional, relationship-centered, and trauma-informed care.

Live Event
This live online event will be held as a Zoom Webinar. Attendees will have the option to interact through features such as the Chat and Q&A, but cameras and microphones will not be enabled.

Live Event Instructor

Shayla Gray

Shayla Gray

Shayla Gray, LMFT, LCMFT, MA, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, EMDR-Certified Therapist, PSI trained, relational educator, and trainer with more than a decade of experience in behavioral health. She specializes in couples and relationship therapy, trauma-informed care, and supporting individuals and couples through major life and family transitions. Grounded in a family-systems perspective, Shayla’s work focuses on helping couples recognize and interrupt recurring relational patterns that contribute to conflict, disconnection, and difficulty functioning as a team. Her clinical interests include communication and conflict, relationship repair, trauma, and the transition to parenthood, including the relational and identity changes that can accompany pregnancy, fertility challenges, and early parenthood. In addition to her clinical work, Shayla develops and facilitates professional and community education on trauma, relationships, communication, and family systems. She has designed and delivered more than 20 workshops and developed Intergenerational Trauma: Breaking Cycles Through Caregiver Partnership, a training examining how intergenerational experiences and recurring relational patterns can affect caregivers, partnerships, and family systems. Shayla is also a doctoral candidate in Marriage and Family Therapy with a concentration in Couples Therapy. Her research focuses on relationships during the transition to parenthood, specifically fathers’ experiences of psychosocial distress during the transition to parenthood and the effects of that distress on their relationships.

Target Audience

This live interactive is intended for Behavioral Health and Physical Health professionals, including psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage & family therapists, art therapists, dietitians, school psychologists, psychoanalysts, music therapists, behavior analysts, dietetic technicians, school counselors, addiction counselors, nurses, physical therapists, physicians, and occupational therapies. It is appropriate for intermediate levels of knowledge.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Identify at least three historical, systemic, and sociocultural factors that contribute to trauma exposure and influence mental health outcomes within Black communities.
  2. 2 Analyze how racial trauma, intergenerational experiences, and systemic barriers may influence emotional regulation, family relationships, help-seeking behaviors, and engagement with healthcare and mental health services.
  3. 3 Apply at least two culturally responsive, trauma-informed strategies to strengthen trust, communication, psychological safety, and therapeutic or professional engagement with Black individuals and families.
  4. 4 Evaluate the role of family relationships, community support systems, and culturally relevant protective factors in promoting resilience and healing among Black individuals and families.

Ashu, A. N. T. (2026). Stigma, culture, and mental health help-seeking among Black African immigrants in the United States: an integrative literature review. Cogent Mental Health, 5(1), 2686466. https://doi.org/10.1080/28324765.2026.2686466

Devonport, T. J., Ward, G., Morrissey, H., Burt, C., Harris, J., Burt, S., ... & Nicholls, W. (2023). A systematic review of inequalities in the mental health experiences of Black African, Black Caribbean and Black-mixed UK populations: Implications for action. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 10(4), 1669-1681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01352-0

Fields-Oriogun, D., Foley-Nicpon, M., & Thornburg-Suresh, M. (2024). Mental health stigma and service use among Black American youth: A systematic review. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 94(6), 655. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000749

LaFave, S. E., Suen, J. J., Seau, Q., Bergman, A., Fisher, M. C., Thorpe Jr, R. J., & Szanton, S. L. (2022). Racism and Older Black Americans’ Health: a Systematic Review: LaFave et al. Journal of Urban Health, 99(1), 28-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00591-6

Roach, E. L., Haft, S. L., Huang, J., & Zhou, Q. (2023). Systematic review: The association between race-related stress and trauma and emotion dysregulation in youth of color. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 62(2), 190-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2022.04.013

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The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

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Faculty

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

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Eligible until Jan 5th, 2027
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AddictionCounselorCE is an approved provider of the Missouri Substance Abuse Professional Credentialing Board (Provider #101). AddictionCounselorCE maintains responsibility for this course and its contents.
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New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy (NYSEDCAT)

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New York State Education Department's State Board for Physical Therapy

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New York State Education Department's State Board for Occupational Therapy (NYSED BOT)

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Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners

3 CE credit hours
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This activity has been approved by the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners for 3 CCUs for PTs and PTAs. APS # 2805075TX. Accreditation Period: 6/1/25-5/31/28
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Event Agenda

Agenda times are listed in US Eastern Time. That is 3 hours later than US Pacific Time. The event starts at 9:00am US Pacific Time.

12:00–12:20 PM: Welcome, Learning Objectives, Cultural Humility, and Reflection

12:20–12:45 PM: Understanding Trauma Through Historical, Cultural, and Systemic Contexts

12:45–1:15 PM: Racial, Intergenerational, Financial, Religious, and Resource-Related Trauma

1:15–1:35 PM: Trauma Responses, Family Systems, and Barriers to Engagement

1:35–1:50 PM: Break

1:50–2:20 PM: Introducing and Applying the GUIDE Framework

2:20–2:45 PM: Case-Based Application: Culturally Responsive Engagement and Care

2:45–3:05 PM: Healing-Centered Strategies, Collaboration, and Professional Action Planning

3:05–3:15 PM: Knowledge Check and Closing

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