Colorism and Historical Trauma: Barriers and Stepping Stones for Healing within Clinical Social Work Education

ABSTRACT Colorism and historical trauma are part of the lived experiences of many racialized and marginalized groups. However, few studies have examined the meaning and function of colorism and historical trauma among clinical social workers and how prepared they feel to support healing from these experiences in their practice and lives. To address this gap, 42 clinicians of diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and regional identities from the United States were surveyed, of which 35 were interviewed, to explore their experiences of colorism, historical trauma, healing, and clinical social work education. Key themes will be presented: 1) Invisibilized healing & wounds: Black, Asian, mixed race, Latine, and people of color (POC) clinicians identified a need to heal personally from intrafamilial and societal experiences of historical trauma and colorist microaggressions, 2) Closing the gaps in clinical education, and 3) Clinical supervision as a compounded barrier or stepping stone. Implications for decolonial clinical social work education and practice will be discussed.