Resources / Minority Mental Health / Mental Health After Hate: Coping with Racial Trauma
10 min read
Last updated 6/20/25
By: Psych Hub
Clinical Reviewer: Jill Donelan, PsyD
Mental Health After Hate: Coping with Racial Trauma
Racial trauma is real — but healing is possible. Discover grounding techniques, community care resources, and ways to find identity-affirming support that honors your full experience.
The most recent report from the FBI on hate crimes found that there were nearly 12,000 documented cases in 2023, with race-based hate crimes accounting for nearly half of all incidents. Among that subset, nearly half of race-based hate crimes targeted African American or Black people.1 But the problem is still a significant issue for other groups like Asian Americans, Indigenous peoples, and Latinx individuals. The unfortunate reality is that these crimes are likely underreported across all groups and don’t begin to scratch the surface of the experiences of racism and racial discrimination that many communities of color endure every day.
After experiencing a hate crime or facing repeated exposure to systemic racism, BIPOC individuals may begin to feel a complicated mix of trauma symptoms that include grief, rage, or deep exhaustion. These reactions can be a sign that they are experiencing racial trauma — a real and valid response to chronic discrimination and violence. This guide explains what racial trauma is, how it can impact mental health, and how to find healing. From coping strategies to culturally competent therapy, we'll review practical ways to reclaim your peace and well-being and to overcome the effects of racism.
What is racial trauma?
Racial trauma, which can sometimes be called “race-based traumatic stress” or “racial battle fatigue,” refers to the mental and emotional harm that can result from experiencing different forms of racism and discrimination.2 There can be many catalysts for racial trauma, including:
- Direct experiences and acts of overt racism, such as hate crimes, verbal abuse, and racial profiling.
- Indirect experiences such as witnessing race-based aggression, media exposure to violence, or work with survivors of race-based discrimination
- Microaggressions that may appear to be benign incidents caused by unconscious racial bias, but have the danger of causing chronic stress over time as they accumulate.
- Historical and systemic mistreatment of minority groups, which can pass trauma down through generations, sometimes referred to as historical trauma.
Race continues to play a particularly important role in how individuals navigate daily life, influencing everything from how seriously medical professionals take patients’ concerns to whether neighborhoods have access to clean water. Racial trauma can therefore take many different shapes that overlap to create layered stress that isn’t so neatly tied to a specific incident. Likewise, intersectionality is also an important factor to consider, as an individual's other identities, such as gender, sexuality, disability status or class, have the potential to compound stress as well as discrimination and oppression.
How racial trauma shows up physically and emotionally
The word trauma can be used colloquially to refer to incidents that are frightening, unusual, or stressful. However, diagnosable trauma can have very serious effects on health outcomes, both mentally and physically.
Experiences of racial trauma can result in symptoms that mirror those of post-traumatic stress disorder. Like an individual with PTSD symptoms, someone traumatized from racism may continue to have recurring thoughts about a triggering incident, physical reactions like insomnia, and may experience hypervigilance.3 But again, this type of trauma is often complex, resulting from multiple factors. Therefore, its symptoms can be long term, affecting individuals throughout their lives.
Challenges related to race-based trauma can start in adolescents and children, affecting their development and resulting in depression, anxiety, and conduct problems. Individuals may develop self esteem issues and have difficulty forming healthy relationships. It can even impact a person’s ability to maintain employment.
However, the consequences of racial trauma extend beyond interpersonal issues. People living with racial trauma are at higher risk for physical health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, endocrine illness, and cardiovascular illness. Racial trauma is also a major risk factor for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and suicidal ideation.4
Grounding and healing practices for race-based stress
While more people are aware of the importance of mental health, there is still a stigma associated with seeking treatment. And, because racial trauma can be caused by compounding traumatic events rather than one single incident, it may be overlooked as something that requires direct attention.
It’s crucial to remember that if you are feeling physical or emotional symptoms, that is your body telling you that something is wrong and it may be time to seek out help. So, if you are at that stage, consider some of the following suggestions for what to do next.
1. Validate your experience
The first step in your healing journey may require you to simply acknowledge that you are, in fact, experiencing racial trauma. The impact of racism is real, and whether you have encountered explicit forms such as discrimination or more subtle expressions like microaggressions, you are justified in feeling emotional about these interactions. Remember: while these incidents are not your fault, you shouldn’t try to sweep your emotions under the rug, because they may eventually find their way out in less healthy expressions.
2. Ground yourself in the present
Grounding techniques refer to activities that you can do to redirect attention away from anxiety or intrusive thoughts and instead focus on the immediate environment around you.5 They can include relatively simple tasks that help increase mindfulness, like engaging in deep breathing or mediation, as well as activities that focus on your body like stretching. While many people feel a responsibility to constantly stay aware and informed about current events, which can contribute to trauma, it is OK to limit your media exposure and to take moments to unplug and focus on grounding.
3. Engage in identity affirmation
Responses to racial trauma can warp how you feel about yourself and your cultural roots. In cases where you may be experiencing self-esteem issues, it can be helpful to physically rewrite the internalized narratives that you carry.6 Consider journaling as a means of challenging negative thoughts and replacing them with more constructive statements. If you’re feeling burdened by negative experiences tied to your race or community, find events that celebrate racial and ethnic history and identity. These types of activities can provide the basis for developing a new framework for your thinking that centers racial pride.
4. Lean into self-care
When times get tough, it’s important to reconnect with the things in life that fill you with joy and provide you peace. Don’t underestimate the importance of getting the appropriate amount of rest. But also consider blocking out allotted time to participate in hobbies like art, music, dance, and writing, which can, in some instances, be used by mental health practitioners to help with processing racial trauma. Spiritual practices like meditation and prayer may also be avenues to calm anxieties, while engaging in activism may give you an outlet to support your community.
5. Build your support system
Community is important. And, others within your circle of friends and family may also struggle with similar challenges related to race-based traumatic stress. Lean on each other. It may require you to take the lead and to open the conversation, so learn how to comfortably broach the subject with people who might be hesitant to share their mental health challenges. Building out healing circles with people who you trust can amplify the impact of addressing racial trauma head on.
6. Find a culturally competent, trauma-informed therapist
Seeking out professional help through trauma-informed therapy can be a particularly effective way to alleviate the symptoms associated with racial stress. Therapists and other mental health professionals can validate your experiences, identify unhealthy coping mechanisms, work with you on processing triggering incidents, improve your self compassion, and help you build the skills you need to confront racism in the future. Treating this form of trauma requires a mental health clinician who has a deep understanding of the impact of racial trauma and has been specifically trained to provide care to culturally and racially diverse clients.7 Learn more about what culturally sensitive therapy looks like and why finding the right therapist matters in our complete guide.
Many people may also actively seek out therapists who share a similar culture, ethnicity or racial identity as them. With Psych Hub you can filter potential mental health practitioners based on:
- Treatment method: Culturally sensitive therapy and trauma informed care.
- Specialty: Gender identity, multicultural issues, and racism.
- Identity: Person of color, Black of African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Native American, and LGBTQ+.
- Gender: Non-binary and transgender.
You can also find therapists who speak various different language. So if you’re ready to start your search for mental health care, download our guide to understanding whether a therapist is the right fit for you, which includes questions to ask providers about cultural competence and trauma expertise. You can also access free crisis and trauma resources if you need immediate assistance.
How Psych Hub helps you find the right care
Experiences of racial discrimination or ethnic discrimination can understandably weigh heavy on anyone. While there is always hope that the future will bring a more racially just and equitable society, the world as it is today can force people of color to face daily stressors that make navigating life more difficult. The good news is that you do not have to navigate it alone. Whether you're seeking grounding practices, collective support, or culturally responsive therapy, Psych Hub can help you find the care that you deserve.
Start your healing journey today with us by taking our well-being assessment which will help to match you with the personalized care of mental health interventions that you may need. Our provider directly also allows you to easily explore therapists that are available for both virtual and in-person appointments.
Life can be hard enough, so let us make finding the right mental health provider easier.
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