Utilizing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a Framework for Addressing Cultural Trauma in African American Children and Adolescents: A Proposal

Abstract

A gap exists in the counseling profession between research and practice. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is one approach that could reduce this gap. The CBPR framework can serve as an additional tool for translating research findings into practical interventions for communities and counseling practitioners. Stronger community partnerships between researchers and practitioners will further improve treatment for our clients. The purpose of this study was to develop competencies that would provide the foundations for a training guideline in CBPR. Using the Delphi method, an expert panel achieved consensus on 153 competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes, activities). Competencies are significant for the profession because they establish best practice, guidelines of service, and professional training.

Healing Interpersonal and Racial Trauma: Integrating Racial Socialization Into Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for African American Youth

“…TF-CBT is a short-term, evidence-based child and family treatment that has effectively reduced a variety of trauma-related symptoms (Cohen et al, 2016; Weiner et al, 2009). However, it neither adequately addresses racial trauma as an impetus for treatment nor does it address cultural factors (e.g., religiosity, beliefs about corporal punishment, stigma associated with seeking mental health care) that may influence whether African American families engage in trauma therapies (Coard et al, 2004; Phipps & Thorne, 2019). Given that some of these cultural factors are promotive or protective (e.g., religious beliefs) and others are more associated with risk for a limited engagement in therapy (e.g., historical trauma), such cultural obtuseness by existing treatments not only reifies racial disconnectivity but also excludes cultural strengths important in the healing process (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019).…”

“…Given that some of these cultural factors are promotive or protective (e.g., religious beliefs) and others are more associated with risk for a limited engagement in therapy (e.g., historical trauma), such cultural obtuseness by existing treatments not only reifies racial disconnectivity but also excludes cultural strengths important in the healing process (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019). An exception is a recent article by Phipps and Thorne (2019) in which the authors propose a framework for utilizing TF-CBT to address racial or “cultural” trauma in African American children and youth utilizing a community-based group application of TF-CBT through adaptations such as increasing active listening on the part of program leaders and altering the environment in which treatment is provided so that it is not a reminder of the school environment. This framework, however, does not address the intersection of interpersonal trauma and racial trauma nor does it integrate promotive cultural factors such as RS that may be utilized by caregivers in individual child and family therapy.…”

Addressing intergenerational trauma in Black families: Trauma‐informed socioculturally attuned family therapy

“…MHPs are encouraged to explore culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy (CA-CBT), which is an empirically supported approach (see Hinton et al, 2004Hinton et al, , 2005Hinton et al, , 2011 to treat PTSD among refugees and ethnic minorities. MHPs can also explore TF-CBT, which is a culturally responsive systemsoriented, evidence-based approach to addressing trauma experienced by children and adolescents (Cohen et al, 2006;Hinton et al, 2012;R. Phipps & Thorne, 2019).…”

A phenomenological inquiry into the influence of crucible experiences on the leadership development of Black women in higher education senior leadership

“…Based on the cultural context, the Black American experience differs from that of the experiences of any other American (DeGruy, 2005; Phipps and Thorne, 2019). Black Americans have had to specifically overcome years of multigenerational traumas stemming from centuries of slavery, violence, and rape, followed by systemic institutional and structural discrimination, racism, and oppression, including but not limited to lynching, Jim Crow laws based in segregation and violence, fights for civil rights, voter suppression, mass incarceration, and police brutality.…”