Addressing Race-based Stress & Suicide Behaviours Among Minoritised Populations

In this course, Dr. Cirecie West-Olatunji, Ph.D., CRESTSprogram, LLC, acknowledges that, while evidence-based interventions and research into structural racism are only several decades old, clients want to talk about how race-based stress exacerbates their other issues; clinicians need to be ready to talk with them. Outlining the health effects of race-based stress and the accelerating rates of youth suicides in the U.S. and Australia, Dr. West-Olatunji explains the effects of historical trauma and the accompanying manifestations of grief. She shares areas of gaps in conventional counselling training, including the lack of culture-centred assessments and interventions. Dr. West-Olatunji advocates clinicians proactively incorporating these into their practices and suggests several culture-centred assessments to use.