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On-Demand
Treating Racial Trauma

Module 5: Empowerment through Racial Trauma

Monnica T. Williams, PhD, ABPP
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Recorded

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Apply strategies to help clients practice assertive communication and boundary-setting to address racism safely and effectively in daily life.

  • Utilize skills to challenge microaggressions and systemic racism in a way that promotes personal agency.

  • Apply techniques such as storytelling, creative expression, and connecting with supportive communities to help clients achieve posttraumatic growth

  • Identify avenues for creating change through social action and activism that align with personal values and strengths while avoiding burnout.

  • Develop a comprehensive racial wellness plan to sustain self-care, resilience, and continued healing beyond therapy.

Educational Goal

This module emphasizes the empowerment of clients to actively confront racism, reclaim their voices, and foster posttraumatic growth.

Description

In the final phase of treatment, clients move from internal processing to external action, building on the insights, coping tools, and support systems they have developed. This module emphasizes the empowerment of clients to actively confront racism, reclaim their voices, and foster posttraumatic growth. Clients practice assertive communication, boundary-setting, and advocacy skills to address microaggressions and systemic racism in ways that align with their safety and values. Guided discussions and exercises help clients identify strategies to channel adversity into growth, such as creative expression, self-reflection, and storytelling, while deepening connections with their communities. Clients also explore avenues for improving their environments through social action and activism, identifying meaningful ways to contribute to systemic change and racial justice. This module culminates in a structured conclusion, affirming the client’s accomplishments, celebrating their resilience, and preparing them to move forward with greater confidence, agency, and purpose. Throughout this phase, clients are encouraged to balance assertiveness with self-compassion, ensuring sustainable engagement with the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Presenters

Monnica T. Williams, PhD, ABPP
Dr. Monnica T. Williams is a board-certified Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Professor at the University of Ottawa, in the School of Psychology, where she is the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities. She is also the Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinics in Connecticut and Ottawa, where she provides supervision and training to clinicians for empirically-supported treatments. Prior to her move to Canada, Dr. Williams was on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School (2007-2011), the University of Louisville in Psychological and Brain Sciences (2011-2016), where she served as the Director of the Center for Mental Health Disparities, and the University of Connecticut (2016-2019), where she had appointments in both Psychological Science and Psychiatry. Dr. Williams' research focuses on BIPOC mental health, culture, and psychopathology, and she has published over 200 scientific articles on these topics. Current projects include the treatment of racial trauma, improving cultural competence in the delivery of mental health care services, and addressing structural racism. She gives diversity trainings nationally for academic programs, scientific conferences, and organizations. Through the Kentucky Psychological Association (KPA), Dr. Williams served as the diversity delegate to Washington DC for the American Psychological Association (APA) State Leadership Conference for two consecutive years. She has served as the African American SIG leader for Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and recently served as Chair of their Academic Training & Education Standards (ATES) Committee. She serves as an Associate Editor of Behavior Therapy and the Behavior Therapist. She also serves on the editorial board of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Canadian Psychology, International Journal of Mental Health, the Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders, and the Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation, and co-founded their Diversity Council. Her work has been featured in all major US and Canadian media outlets, including NPR, CBS, CTV, CBC, Huffington Post, and the New York Times.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Collectively Rooted