Social Injustice and the Power of Somatic Therapy

"... to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” - James Baldwin

Social injustice and oppression are experienced by people in their bodies, minds, and spirits. This can lead to mental health challenges, such as oppressive trauma. Somatic therapy--a holistic form of body-centered therapy--provides strategies to heal populations that have been oppressed as well as those who oppress.

In this 2-hour experiential continuing education presentation, Dr. Glenda Clare will define and explain the impacts of social injustice and historical oppression on mental health in the Black African American community in the United States. This will include a vivid description of the slave experience in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Dr. Clare will then provide an overview of somatic therapy and outline somatic therapy strategies clinicians can use in therapy to address and heal oppressive trauma. She will also share reading resources for clinicians interested in learning more about the topics covered.

This introductory continuing education webinar is designed to help mental health clinicians:

1. Define social injustice and its relationship to discrimination, prejudice, and racism.
2. Describe the experience of historical oppression and associated trauma among Black African Americans in the United States.
3. Explain the science of epigenetics and its impacts on Black African Americans across generations.
4. Identify behavior associated with historical oppression that impacts mental health.
5. Discuss how somatic therapy can be used to heal oppressive trauma.

Statement of program material's accuracy, utility, and risks: The presenter indicates the materials presented in this course are accurate and pose minimal risks to participants. Please note that the webinar slides for this presentation contain disturbing historical images.

Declaration identifying any potential conflict of interest and/or commercial support: The presenter indicates materials included in this course have been presented within other courses, conferences, or consulting jobs. There are no known conflicts of interest.

If you have any questions or would like information regarding disability accommodations, please contact us here.

Continuing Education (CE) Information

2 CE contact hours will be provided by GoodTherapy for attending this web conference in its entirety. To receive CE credit hours for an archived recording, you will need to complete a survey as well as a 15-question exam, verifying that you listened to or watched the event in its entirety. Archived CE events are generally considered "homestudy" by licensing boards.

GoodTherapy is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements.

GoodTherapy.org, provider #1352, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. GoodTherapy.org maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 3/30/2022 – 3/30/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 2 continuing education credits.

GoodTherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. GoodTherapy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

GoodTherapy, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0395. GoodTherapy, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0022 and for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0031.

To receive CE credit hours for an archived event, you will need to complete a survey as well as a 12 or 15-question exam, verifying that you listened to or watched the event in its entirety. Archived CE events generally are considered "homestudy" by licensing boards.

Registration Information

Premium and Pro Membership with GoodTherapy includes access to this web conference at no additional cost, as well as other member benefits such as a profile listing in GoodTherapy's Therapist Directory. Not yet a member? Sign up for a Premium or Pro Membership, here.

Just want CE credits? Sign up for a monthly or annual CE Subscription with GoodTherapy to get unlimited access to our CE Program, including this event, other live CE web conferences, and hundreds of hours of homestudy courses.

Mental health professionals who are not members can access the homestudy recording for $15.50. Sign up here to purchase this CE course and earn a CE certificate.

If the event is canceled by GoodTherapy, registrants who purchased the event will be notified and the charge for the event will be refunded

If you have any questions or would like information regarding disability accommodations, please contact us.

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