Holistic Healing from Sexual Trauma for Black People
The experience of sexual trauma can harm our bodies, minds, souls, and spirits. In this podcast episode, Dr. Thema Bryant, a psychologist, minister, and artist, speaks with Dr. Shena Young, a licensed body-centered psychologist, healer, artist, and survivor. They discuss Dr. Young’s book, “Body Rites: A Holistic Healing and Embodiment Workbook for Black Survivors of Sexual Trauma.”
Dr. Young provides guidance on holistic healing that recognizes the effect of trauma on the body. Black people may struggle to be at home in our bodies because of experiences and histories of racism and white supremacy. Experiences of sexual and interpersonal violence can exacerbate this further. For BIPOC survivors, it can be easy to get “stuck in survival mode” where we struggle to move beyond the experience of trauma. Dr. Young addresses the ways that survivors can take their power back and move toward “healing mode.”
Dr. Young encourages us to decolonize our healing journeys. This entails moving beyond Western approaches of healing that center power and control. Black people must return to our ancestral healing ways. This includes repairing our relationship with the land, acknowledging indigenous wisdoms, and leaning into African spiritual traditions. It attends to our bodies, minds, souls, and spirits. Our decolonized healing journeys invite us to restore our relationships with our bodies and learn to trust our intuition again. They also encourage us to prioritize self-care. Holistic healing not only restores our relationships with our own bodies but our relationships with community.
Being victimized and violated, particularly in interpersonal traumas and sexual traumas, robs us of our power and choice and agency in the act of the violation. And also often in the experience of deciding if we want to seek help: who do we tell? And so oftentimes, people will keep it a secret. They may become suspended in the victimization, and you know, that makes sense… And so, I believe that owning the opportunity, the possibility, the responsibility of healing is a beautiful first step and intention and a beginning path to snatching back power, control, and choice so that we can be at home in our bodies.
SOURCE: The Homecoming Podcast with Dr. Thema • AUTHOR: Dr. Thema Bryant and Dr. Shena Young • LAST UPDATED: October 24, 2023
