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Unpacking the Embodied Plantation Backpack: The White Body’s Burden

By Resmaa Menakem — 2021

Soon after an American baby is born, they are put into a cute little onesie. But at the same time, they also get fitted with a heavy, invisible backpack. This backpack burdens them and restricts their movements, usually for many years—until they recognize that they are carrying it and choose to do something embodied about it. Because we Americans typically carry this backpack from our earliest days, most of us don't even realize it's there. It seems normal, standard, and natural to us. Many of us carry it to our graves. This backpack is metaphorical, of course. Yet it causes very real constriction, fear, and weariness in the bodies of hundreds of millions of Americans.

Read on www.psychologytoday.com

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Can Traumatic Experiences Make You More Creative?

Can increased creativity be a coping strategy for dealing with trauma?

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A Haven From Trauma’s Cruel Grip

After losing her son to random gun violence, one mother felt suicidal enough to commit herself to a local hospital. However, she quickly determined that, “a psych ward is not a place for grief.”

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Post-Traumatic Growth: What It Takes to Heal from Trauma

It’s no easy road, but experts say trauma can lead to new beginnings.

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There Is Always Trauma in the Room

I’ve done a little bit of work with soldiers returning from Iraq and have worked with domestic violence shelter workers on issues of vicarious trauma.

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EXPLORE TOPIC

Racial Healing