NAMI’s Ask the Expert Webinar: Impact of Racism and Trauma on Black Mental Health

Racism and anti-Black attitudes have been existent in this country for hundreds of years despite the ongoing efforts of Black people and allies to raise awareness of the determinantal impact that racism has had on society. The trauma that Black people have faced in this country has not only had adverse effects on their physical health but also their mental health.

During this webinar, Dr. Christine Crawford will review the historical context of individually mediated and systemic racism towards Black people and discuss the mental implications of racism and trauma on Black people within the United States.

Our Expert

Christine M. Crawford, MD, MPH is the Associate Director of Psychiatry Medical Student Education and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at BU School of Medicine. She completed her adult psychiatry residency as well as child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital. She received her MD from University of Connecticut and her Masters in Public Health at BU School of Public Health where she concentrated in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

During residency, she was the recipient of the MGH Laughlin Award and was selected by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as an APA/SAMHSA Minority Fellow which provided her funding to develop community based interventions to reduce mental health stigma within the Black community. She has been engaged in a number of community outreach initiatives through the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, NAACP and NAMI. She has authored multiple book chapters on mental health disparities, sociocultural issues in psychiatry as well as peer reviewed publications focusing on major depressive disorder. She has made appearances on PBS, WGBH TV programming as well as provides seminars on mental health and racism at various community based settings.

Read the Transcript

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