Trauma and Racism and the Power of the Healing Trauma Narrative

Presentation Description: The African American experience is often isolated from the experiences of other traumatized communities. This discussion attempts to shift the conversations around health issues in the black community from a focus on 'blackness or African American-ness' to the global impactors of health such as trauma, acculturation stress,  and complex post traumatic stress. This talk will also discuss the impact of these issues on the individual, family and community, with a view to improving our understanding of our own trauma response, as well as the multilayered struggles of our African American patients.  Lastly this talk will discuss trauma narrative therapy and it's important role in healing us as a community. At the end of the talk it is my hope that we will be better able to understand and accept our need for mental health care and to be able to discuss these issues in ways that are helpful in reducing stigma for our patients.

Dr Karen Abdool is a  passionate and empathetic psychiatrist, keynote speaker, and community educator. Her mission is to support communities of color to achieve wholeness and health.

Dr Abdool has created a unique approach to healthcare for African American communities utilizing her competency in refugee health, and her understanding of human physiology and immunology. She has learned from her work with the Harvard program in refugee trauma that mental wellness is whole body wellness. Thus she incorporates methods such as trauma narrative therapy, oral history taking, nutrition counseling, and health education into patient care.

Dr. Abdool received her medical degree from Howard University in Washington DC where she also received her PhD in Microbiology with an emphasis in immunology. She completed her medical residency training in Psychiatry at the Brigham and Women’s, Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Residency Program. She went on to complete certification in the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and Global Mental Health.

Dr Abdool founded Beryllium Psychiatric Services upon the premise that healing must occur in the individual, the family and the community. Her services therefore include education, and support for groups and community organizations in addition to patient care. Her goal is to empower communities of color to increase mental health awareness and to ultimately improve healthcare outcomes.