Richard Rowe is a Project Consultant for the Black Mental Health Alliance for Education and Consultation, Inc. (BMHA). He has worked at BMHA for over 30 years. He is an experienced trainer, and he has provided training and technical assistance in the areas of family strengthening, cultural enrichment, historical & contemporary trauma, and effective Black parenting to numerous public & private schools, community organizations, and public& private agencies. Richard enjoys reading, listening to jazz music, visiting African American museums, and writing essays, Op-Ed articles, and poetry and enjoys spending time with his family.

In the interview below Rowe shares his expertise on the different types of trauma, the symptoms, treatment options, and advice to young people experiencing this struggle.

The interview was edited for length and clarity

There are different types of trauma. Can you explain them?

When I explain different types of trauma, I am usually talking about historical trauma, that results from historical incidences like slavery, mass incarceration that impacts black people in particular who were, traumatized as a result of being kidnapped from the continent of Africa and then placed in slave Dungeons for months on end and then put in, ships in the bowels of slave ships, and then, you know, set sail from Africa to different parts of the world and dropped off and forced to engage in, you know, unpaid labor for hundreds of years.

And then there are contemporary trauma medic experiences that result from police brutality resolved from institutions that basically harm black people by discriminating against them or doing harm to them, in other ways not giving them a fair shake on employment opportunities, discriminate against them in terms of housing opportunities and so forth and so on.

There is trauma that’s transmitted from one generation to another, as a result of being brutalized or being treated unfairly, there’s trauma that can happen at home as a result of what they call adverse childhood experiences, where a child may experience trauma or an adult may experience violence as a result of violence in the homes, spankings, and spousal abuse.

How would someone recognize that they are experiencing trauma?

It varies. It could show up in terms of feeling hopeless. It could cause depression, it could cause anxiety, stress, it could cause a person to self-medicate to drugs or alcohol abuse. It could show up In terms of isolation, sleeplessness, not eating, a lot of different ways we can really show up or it manifests itself in different ways. And it shows up in different ways for different people. People can sometimes be suicidal and so they’re suicidal behaviors and they call it suicidal ideations where sometimes the person might think about ending their lives as a result of a traumatic experience.

How can someone heal from trauma? 

Primarily folks can heal by acknowledging any kind of traumatic experience. There has to be acknowledgment and recognition that I have been harmed, that something happened to me. The first step is acknowledging that something happened to you. Something happened to us as a people. So if you have been wrongly charged for a crime, you didn’t commit, you have seen a lot of violence in your community, you have seen the George Floyd murder, you have seen the Breonna Taylor murder, you have seen trails and trails of those kinds of constraints over and over again, via television, social media platforms, et cetera.

And then, you know, the healing process has to take place and the healing process can vary, but generally, it’s an attempt to really have you talk about what you have experienced. You talk about how it’s affecting you. You basically are in a safe place where you’re not judged because you are behaving in a certain way as a result of the trauma. So you have to basically acknowledge and then you have to address the trauma. I also highly recommend taking care of yourself and that shows up and looks like a number of different things that you have to do and be about. You have to call out for help. You have to not be afraid to ask for help.

Healing circles. I highly recommend that folks who have experienced trauma, find healing circles, and find individuals who may have suffered like them like safe places to share so that you don’t feel like you’re the only one going through the traumatic experiences.

What would you say to a young person that is experiencing trauma and doesn’t know what to do?

I would say talk to a person that you trust, that could be in their home, that could be outside their home. Sometimes people don’t trust their parents. They don’t trust their siblings. So they have to find a person that they feel they can trust. And speak up, speak out, talk, open up, don’t hold it in. Don’t suppress the feelings. They’ve got to sit down with somebody, who’s got to look in the mirror and say, I need help. They’ve got to do that. They must do that. And then once they do that, then help will be offered. If not the first time, just don’t give up. Just keep asking. Keep basically trying to reach out to a friend.

Do your homework. Look out because so many young people are on social media and they can Google to learn more about what they might be experiencing in a good way. I don’t want to put young people on social media, it can be so bad for them as well. But on social media, if you’re Googling, trying to do a little research, you can find out why am I feeling this way? Where can I go for help?