Session Summary

First generation Americans of Caribbean and African descent share many similarities within their culture and upbringing. There are common themes when we are uncovering/identifying trauma within the work, that often tie back to their culture. To have so many cultural norms also be identified as being traumatic, have been life-changing for many. The work then becomes reconciling some of the unresolved feelings, addressing guilt, promoting forgiveness and then promoting communication in order to NORMALIZE these conversations within our families. We hope to increase mindfulness around these traumatic experiences and continue the conversations in order to break these generational cycles. We work to empower folks to be able to choose which aspects of their culture they would like to continue to push forward and be able to create new ones in addition. There are many issues that come up within this work: identity struggles and self-esteem, internal conflicts with their culture, ongoing relational struggles with family members which can lead to various mental health struggles/symptoms. This session is about how to extend culturally responsive care to this population.