The Pain We Carry: Healing from Complex PTSD for People of Color (2023) by Natalie Y. Gutiérrez, LMFT
Natalie Y. Gutiérrez, LMFT highlights the unique experience of trauma for people of color, often multi-faceted and layered in accumulated experiences of threat and disconnection within the context of current social and environmental oppression, inter-generational legacy burdens, and other experiences of intersectional marginalization. Through the integration of evidenced based trauma research, Gutiérrez provides a concrete voice and explanation to many of the lived experiences of daily survival and recognition/re-framing of many of these experiences as symptoms of trauma. Gutiérrez goes on to provide a framework for healing from this complex experience, the Cultural Empowerment Approach to healing provides four empowerment steps and coordinated practices that promotes freedom across mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual realms to encourage a shift from survival to healing to allow folks to show up as their truest Self.
How was this book recommended to me? It was cited in Jennifer Mullan’s Decolonizing Therapy
Would I recommend this to my colleagues? Yes
Would I recommend this to my clients? Yes
How do I apply this content to my work: A unique aspect about my approach and the way I tailored my academic trajectory is by integrating the direct experience within the larger context. And so, when I treat someone’s symptoms of anxiety or depression, for example, I’m always taking into consideration the bigger picture. And, as is mentioned in this book, I am often able to trace these symptoms back to trauma. Additionally, I find the evidenced based research cited in this book to be useful in providing a framework for my work with clients, such as Polyvagal Theory and IFS (though I am not formally trained in IFS). And my training as a social worker has guided me to navigate assessment of my clients via the person-in-context model of the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual format. That being said, something that I have personally been exploring for myself and will eventually integrate into my practice with clients is this notion of exploring inter-generational trauma and ancestral work in more depth than just understanding and appreciating concepts like epigenetics (as also previously referenced in some of the other books I’ve read). I’ve been inspired to engage in this more in-depth exploration of my ancestry as an additional layer to connect with my core sense of Self by increasing my awareness of my origin story as referenced in Jennifer Mullan’s Decolonizing Therapy, Becca Piastrelli’s Root & Ritual, and with this book.
If you live in WA state and feel like you would be comfortable processing accumulated trauma with a female-identified therapist in a white body to help transition from surviving to thriving as your truest Self contact me. Let’s schedule a free 15-minute consultation and see if we might be a good fit to work together.
