Racial Trauma, Illness & Radical Self-Care

Send us Fan MailRacial trauma is not just a social issue; it is a health issue that lives in the body across generations. In this episode of Love Letters 2 Our Bodies, host Gwen Mitchell sits down with Dr. Natalye Pearson, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in treating racial trauma, to explore how chronic racial stress shapes our mental, physical, and emotional health. Dr. Pearson shares her journey into psychology and explains why racial trauma is both intergenerational and ongoing. She unpacks how today’s political climate fuels anxiety, hypervigilance, fatigue, and workplace burnout, and how internalized oppression can quietly erode confidence and belonging. The conversation moves into radical self-care as resistance, from setting boundaries to resting without guilt. Dr. Pearson also offers practical tools, including grounding exercises and diaphragmatic breathing, to help listeners restore a sense of safety in the present moment. This is a powerful reminder that your experience is real and your healing matters. Listen in for insight, validation, and tools to support your well-being!Key Points From This Episode:•    Dr. Pearson’s journey into psychology through her sister’s mental illness.•    Centering Black identity and racial trauma in her academic work.•    Intergenerational trauma and its lasting biological impact.•    How today’s political climate is heightening anxiety, hypervigilance, and fatigue.•    Radical self-care as resistance and healing for Black and Brown bodies.•    Grounding practices to return to the present moment.•    Chronic racial stress and its link to hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.•    Navigating workplace isolation, imposter syndrome, and internalized oppression.•    Finding hope through joy, music, history, and global connection.Quotes: “In a lot of ways, we are still having to draw people's attention to [the effects of racial trauma and] that there is a certain type of PTSD that goes along with racism.” — Dr. Natalye Pearson [0:09:36]“I think racial trauma is a mix of intergenerational trauma, acute trauma, and chronic trauma.” — Dr. Natalye Pearson [0:11:26]“What makes [self-care] radical for Black and Brown bodies is that [it’s] just not allotted to us. You're supposed to be working, supposed to be in the fields, whatever those fields are.” — Dr. Natalye Pearson [0:15:48]“To be able to lean into your joy, [and] what helps you find respite during these times is so important. And to be able to discover that, that is a form of self-care, radical self-care.” — Dr. Natalye Pearson [0:19:14]“Radical self-care is a form of resistance. Joy is a form of resistance.” — Dr. Natalye Pearson [0:48:45]Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Dr. Natalye PearsonDr. Natalye Pearson on LinkedInEmail Dr. Natalye PearsonLove Letters 2 Our Bodies is sponsored by Moyo Institute, Inc and the Lloyd Symington FoundationGwendolyn Mitchell on LinkedInMOYO Institute, Incinstagram.com/moyoinstitute