Main description:

Addressing the social problems associated with trauma and mental health amongst African Americans in urban environments, this book uses an African-centered lens to critique the most common practice models and interventions currently employed by social workers in the field.

Divided into four parts and grounded in traditional African cultural values, it argues that basic key values in a new clinical model for mental health diagnosis are:

A spiritual component
Collective/group approach
Focus on wholeness
Oneness with Nature
Emphasis on truth, justice, balance, harmony, reciprocity, righteousness, and order

Being free from racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression, this African-centered approach is crucial for working with people of African origin who experience daily "trauma" through adverse living conditions.

This book will be key reading on any practice and direct service course at both BSW and MSW level and will be a useful supplement on clinical courses as well as those aimed at working with diverse populations and those living in urban environments.

Contents:

Part 1: Introduction: Rethinking Trauma and Mental Health for People of African Ancestry. 1. Reclaiming Our Right to Wholeness and Wellness. Part 2: Conceptualizing Urban Practice and Mental Health. 2. Living While Black: The Psychophysiological Health Implications of Vicarious Racial Trauma. 3. Sacred Spaces: Spirituality as a Healing-Centered Modality for Trauma in Urban Communities. 4. Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and Brainspotting: An African-Centered Critique. 5. Culturally Relevant, Trauma-Responsive, and Healing-Centered Social Work Supervision. Part 3: Trauma and the Legacy of the Black Experience. 6. Encapsulating our Truths: An Afrocentric Approach to Addressing Trauma in African American Culture. 7. Intimate Partner Violence, Trauma and Mental Health. 8. #IAmMeToo: Considering African-Centered Strategies for Sexual Assault Survivors. 9. The Fingerprint of Trauma on Black Youth: A critical Analysis of Eurocentric Social Work Models with Adolescents and the Shift Toward the Afrocentric Paradigm. 10. Cocoa Butter: How Black Mothers Prevent, Protect and Heal Their Daughters from Racialized-Gender Trauma. Part 4: In the Trenches: Community Advocacy. 11. Being an Informal Caregiver:A Multigenerational Issue Across The Life Span. 12. Addressing Trauma and Toxicity Among Black Male Youth: Exploring African-Centered Rites of Passage Programming as a Protective Factor. 13. Uponyaji: Restoring the Spirits Of Foster Care and Adopted Children Who Have Experienced Loss. 14. Addressing Substance use through African-Centered Practice Approaches. 15. Addressing HIV/AIDS in the Black Community: Examining Culturally Responsive Approaches. 16. Incarceration: The New Slavery.