Self of the Therapist: Dealing with Our Own Racial Trauma

Clinicians of Color are often faced with the challenges of dealing with the pain of holding the visible and invisible racial trauma wounds of their clients, while simultaneously experiencing racial assaults and sufferings in their own lives. In this training, Clinicians of Color will explore ways to identify and assess racial trauma in their work with clients. Additionally, this training will focus on the importance of Self-of-the-Therapist work that Clinicians of Color must engage in order to be aware of and effectively address the wounds of racial trauma in their therapeutic work.

Presenter: Dr. Christiana Awosan, LMFT

Dr. Christiana Ibilola Awosan is an Assistant Professor at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, in the Marriage and Family Therapy program and an Associate Faculty with the Eikenberg Academy of Social Justice. She’s also the Founder and Director of Ibisanmi Relational Health.

Dr. Awosan conducts national and international trainings and seminars on issues of related to understanding sociocultural trauma such as racial trauma on the mental, emotional, and relational lives of People of Color. Her research focuses on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. She has published several book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, including “Therapy with heterosexual Black couples through a racial lens” (2019, New York, NY: The Guilford Press) and “Emotionally Focused Therapy: A culturally sensitive approach for African American heterosexual couples” (2019, Journal of Family Psychotherapy).