skip to main content

Culturally Informed Trauma and Grief Recovery Toolkit

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.
—Maya Angelou

As diverse people with multiple experiences of oppression, the burdens we bear are great. But our will to thrive is so often stronger. Even still, the trauma and grief we experience creates lots of harm and loss. The trauma and grief we endure can make it challenging to catch our breath, to resist, and to heal. We, a group of psychologists and mental health professionals from diverse marginalized communities, created this Culturally Informed Trauma and Grief Recovery Toolkit (PDF, 520KB)opens in new window. Our hope is that this toolkit builds upon our communities’ inherent resourcefulness, resilience, and strength.

The intended audience for this toolkit is diverse people who have been marginalized, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, people in the LGBT+ community, people from lower income, people whose native country is not the U.S., ciswomen, older adults, people who are religious (e.g., Hindu, Muslim, Christian), and/or people with disabilities. Our purpose in creating this toolkit is to educate, share tools and resources, uplift, and affirm the experiences of members of our communities who have experienced trauma and loss. In addition to being used by individuals, it is our hope that the toolkit and resources can be used by groups to support community dialogue and healing. Specifically, we hope this toolkit will empower communities to mobilize their strengths and utilize their community resources and cultural practices to heal, resist, and thrive despite facing multiple types of discrimination. Therapists can also share this toolkit with their clients.

The toolkit includes written documents and short videos. The written documents are each two pages and have been written by a group of diverse psychologists from marginalized communities. The videos are each approximately five minutes long and were created by various members of the psychology community. We have also created a resource page (PDF, 171KB)opens in new window for people who would like to learn more about the topics found in the toolkit.

There are three categories of written documents:

Overviews

In these documents, we explain what interpersonal trauma (PDF, 97KB)opens in new window is, what collective trauma (PDF, 88KB)opens in new window is, and what grief (PDF, 101KB)opens in new window is. Each of these documents has definitions, common experiences, and typical ways people are impacted.

Healing and coping strategies

In these documents, you will find information on reaching out for help (PDF, 100KB)opens in new window, responding supportively (PDF, 106KB)opens in new window to someone else, using the will to exist and live (PDF, 103KB)opens in new window, engaging in religious and spiritual coping (PDF, 96KB)opens in new window, and healing through dance and the arts (PDF, 101KB)opens in new window.

Cultural considerations

In these documents, we explore special cultural considerations for trauma, grief, coping, and healing for people with:

Toolkit videos

These short videos build on the topics we cover in the written documents.

Though created by psychologists, this toolkit is not therapy. Instead, we hope that this toolkit provides easy-to-understand information about interpersonal trauma, collective trauma, grief, coping, and healing that uplifts our communities, while reminding us all of the strength and wisdom we inherently possess. Let’s begin!

Taskforce members

Special thanks to the APA Presidential Task Force for Culturally Informed Trauma and Grief Recovery Toolkit. Task Force members included:

  • APA 2023 President: Thema Bryant, PhD
  • Sawssan Ahmed, PhD
  • Jude Bergkamp, PsyD
  • Mohamed M. Elnakib, PsyD
  • Kelechi C. Fluitt, PhD 
  • Robyn L. Gobin, PhD
  • Jennifer M. Gómez, PhD
  • Julii Green, PhD 
  • Ibrahim Kira, PhD
  • Daniel Jacobson López, PhD 
  • Amir H. Maghsoodi, MS 
  • Vickie M. Mays, PhD, MSPH 
  • Ilene Serlin, PhD 
  • Timothy Stewart, BS 
  • Kee Straits, PhD
  • Melissa Tehee, JD, PhD
  • Pratyusha Tummala-Narra, PhD
  • Rick Williamson, PhD
  • LaTonya Wood, PhD 
  • Manual X. Zamarripa, PhD
Last updated: January 2024Date created: November 2023

Contact APA