Historical Trauma and Its Impact on Black Americans Use of Journaling to Cope, Heal, and Thrive

Date of Award

Summer 8-23-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Kathryn Barrs

Second Advisor

Breigh Jones-Coplin

Third Advisor

Apryl Alexander

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Historical trauma, Racial stress, Identity development, Journaling

Abstract

Historical Trauma (HT) is described as the cumulative psychological wounds that result from historic and traumatic experiences, such as colonization, genocide, slavery, dislocation, and other related trauma (Duran, 2006, as cited in Comas Díaz et al., 2019). In terms of Black Americans living in the United States, historical trauma (HT) can be attributed to the 400-plus years of chattel slavery in which many African individuals were stripped of their own culture, separated from their families, and forced to serve White individuals and the U.S. capitalistic economy. Previous research outlines both the physiological, spiritual, community, and psychological impacts of trauma as it is passed intergenerationally. More specifically, the high prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms, depression, and susceptibility to medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Efforts have been made to better understand and address these impacts, but this paper aims to emphasize the impact HT has on Black American identity development and concepts such as sense of self and self-esteem. Moreover, this paper attempts to zoom out on how transatlantic slavery and hundreds of years of constant re-exposure of racism and how it impacts the way Black individuals relate to themselves and the world today. This paper highlights the importance of understanding historical trauma, discusses Black American identity, and proposes a coping tool to process and cope with experiences of ongoing systemic racism while encouraging self-expression and identity exploration in Black Americans.

Copyright Date

7-1-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Rights Holder

Alexandria Ventress-Taylor

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

52 pgs

File Size

3.5 MB

Supplementary File Description

Journal

File Format: application/pdf
Language: English (eng)
Extent: 60 pgs
File Size: 14.0 MB

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