Racial Trauma, Resiliency, and Ally Resources
Racial Trauma, Resiliency, and Ally Resources
Racial trauma affects mental and emotional well-being in profound ways. This page offers guidance and resources to support healing, resilience, and allyship during times of collective stress and injustice. You’ll find self-care practices, strategies for setting boundaries, ways to stay informed without becoming overwhelmed, and opportunities to connect with supportive communities and take meaningful action.
These resources are intended to affirm lived experiences, promote well-being, and encourage care for yourself and others.
Stay Aware of Your Mental and Emotional Health.Exposure to graphic images and hateful speech deeply impacts all of us, especially communities of color who live with these aggressions every day. Make time to reflect, breathe, journal, or other ways to check in with how you are really doing. |
Allow Yourself to Feel Your Feelings
It is normal to experience a range of emotions right now, most of which are very uncomfortable. Resist the urge to rush through or numb your feelings, without understanding what they may be saying to you. Use these emotions to consider opportunities for solidarity, learning, and action.
Practice Self-CarePractice self-care in the midst of whatever engagement, activism, or caretaking you take on. Honor your needs, and prioritize your own well-being. This can be as basic as making sure you are drinking water, eating regular meals, and getting enough sleep. It may also mean cultivating ongoing practices of creative expression, mindfulness, or spiritual reflection - whatever keeps you grounded and accessing hope. |
Moderate Your Intake of News and Social Media
It can be damaging to constantly expose ourselves to violent images, or people whose views threaten our welfare. Think about how your media intake is affecting you. Determine what information you need to know because it is actionable, and be aware that taking in too much may be harmful. Make sure that your media diet includes positive individuals and organizations, and sources of reputable information.
Find Your Supportive CommunityConnect with people who understand how you are feeling because they are going through it, too. Seek support from elders or mentors who can remind you of the ongoing history of struggle and resistance in which you are taking part. |
Set Boundaries
For people of color, it can be exhausting to educate others about racism and how it impacts their communities. Allow yourself to choose what conversations you take on, and where you draw limits. For allies, seek out ways to educate yourself that do not require this emotional labor from people of color.
Take ActionThink about how you can affect positive change, however small it might feel. This might mean participating in a protest, writing a letter, donating to a cause you believe in, educating yourself, or having a conversation in your circle of influence. |
Give Yourself Breaks
The work of engagement and activism is exhausting. Allow yourself to choose the times you step in, and to also give yourself permission to say no when you need to. The burden of challenging injustice does not rest on your shoulders alone. It is especially important for people of color to remember that their identities encompass more than trauma - connect with your joy, strengths, hope, and passions.
Source: Much of the above content was duplicated from the CSU – East Bay Counseling Centers and SF State Counseling & Psychological Services. Foothill Psychological Services expresses gratitude for their support.
Further Resources
Learn more about Equity at Foothill College.
Calamansi Counseling Support
More information: Instagram
Website: calamansicounseling.com/activists
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students
Charles Bauman Discovery Counseling Center
Phone: (831) 431-0346
Website: mydiscoverycc.com
Telehealth only
Sliding fee scale for students
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students, Jewish and Israeli Students
Jennifer Jaber, LMFT
Phone: (510) 698-1807
Email: jennifer@jenniferjabermft.com
Website: Psychology Today
Fee: $10 per session
Specialty: anxiety, depression, loss of identity
Availability: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 AM to 2 PM
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students
Jewish Family and Children’s Services
Website: jfcs.org
Specialty community: Jewish and Israeli Students
Amy Markoff Johnson, MA, AMFT (she/her)
Phone: (408) 412-2707
Email: amymjtherapy@gmail.com
Website: amymjtherapy.com
Low fee for students
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students, Jewish and Israeli Students
Laura Johnson, AMFT
Low Cost by On My Mind Foundation: onmymindfoundation.org
Phone: (650) 880-2804
Website: laurajohnstonamft.com
Sliding fee scale for students
Specialty community: Jewish and Israeli Students
Sarah Lesko, LMFT (she/her)
Phone: (916) 934-2636
Email: SarahLeskoLMFT@gmail.com
Website: TherapywithSarah.org
Telehealth only
Sliding fee scale for students
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students, Jewish and Israeli Students
Katarina Pogosov
Email: firepoppytherapy@gmail.com
Website: firepoppytherapy.com
Fee: $80 per session (normally $190)
Specialty community: Muslim and Palestinian Students
Dr. Tanya Shtutman
Website: Psychology Today
Sliding fee scale for students
Specialty community: Jewish and Israeli Students
More Resources
- A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement
- Talking About Race
- Psychological Toll of Racism
- Coping While Black: A Season of Traumatic News Takes a Psychological Toll
- Lessons on Cultural Trauma from the Emmett Till Verdict
- Privileged Self vs. Subjugated Self
- Ken Hardy on the Untold Story of Black America
- Ken Hardy on the Assaulted Sense of Self
- Guide to Allyship
- Understand your own biases by taking an implicit bias test. Dialogue about your results with someone you care about and can encourage you to challenge these biases: implicit.harvard.edu
- Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism
- Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies
- How Latinx People can Fight Anti-Black Racism in our Own Culture
- Teaching Tolerance
- How You Can Support Marginalized Communities
- Ken Hardy on Making Talking About Race Our Work
- Black Virtual Therapist Network
- Association for Black Therapists
- The Loveland Foundation — healing support for women of color, especially Black women and girls
- Therapy for Black Girls
- The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation — eradicating stigma around mental health in the African American community
- Free and Low-Cost Mental Health Resources
Source: Much of the above content was duplicated from CSU – San Marcos, University of Kentucky, and SF State Counseling Center websites. Foothill Psychological Services expresses gratitude to those Centers for their leadership and support.
Contact UsMental Health & Wellness CenterBuilding 2100, Office 2120 Campus Center, Lower Level (next to Health Center)(650) 949-7910 fhmhwc@foothill.edu Office Hours |
