Racial Trauma - The Impact of Racism on Mental Health with Ashley McGirt Adair

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2026

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This conversation with Ashley McGirt-Adair explores the profound impact of racism and racial trauma on mental health, physical health, and overall well-being. We discuss systemic issues, personal stories, and actionable steps for healing and advocacy. Sign up for my free Grounding Skills course https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/grounding-skills-for-anxiety-stress-and-ptsd You can find more information about my guest on this episode at: https://www.ashleymcgirt.com Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell FREE Mental Health Resources: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com/free-resources Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today I have a very special guest. It's Ashley McGirt Adair. She's the founder-president of the
0:05.5	Therapy Fund, which helps people who are traditionally marginalized gain access to therapy. She's
0:12.0	a therapist, a TEDx speaker, and an author of two books. Today we're going to be talking about
0:17.5	the impact of racial trauma and racism on mental health.
0:21.5	And it's such an important conversation, so I'm very grateful for Ashley giving us some of her valuable time to be here today.
0:29.3	Let's jump in.
0:30.0	Welcome to the Therapy in a Natchel podcast. I'm Emma McAdam, a licensed therapist.
0:34.6	I make mental health skills more accessible so that you can get better at feeling.
0:39.0	Just a reminder, this is education, not therapy. If you'd like to learn more free mental health
0:43.6	skills, check out our free courses at TherapyInan-a-Nutcheel.com. All right, Ashley, thank you so much for being here.
0:50.5	Really excited to talk about this with you. Super excited to be here with you. And I guess
0:55.2	I shouldn't even say excited. It's unfortunate that we need to talk about this, but it's so important
0:59.6	that we talk about the impact of racism on people's mental health. So grateful for your time,
1:04.8	grateful for your work in this area, and I'm excited to highlight that on our channel. Can you just
1:10.3	start us off? Like, how does racism
1:12.6	impacts mental health? Give us a big picture idea. Big picture in a short amount of time.
1:19.2	Racism impacts mental health at literally every aspect from mental health to physical health when we're looking at how it shapes whether
1:30.4	people even seek help at all because of the stigma and because of the harm that has been done
1:36.5	within the medical system overall on black and brown bodies. You know, when we look at the
1:41.9	medical apartheid lobotomies that were perfective
1:45.5	on native and indigenous communities, misdiagnosis, overdiagnosis of black folks, the way in which
1:53.5	black men will go into a room with the same signs and symptoms of bipolar that's expressed
	...

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