Most trauma therapy was not built with Black people and people of African descent in mind. The frameworks, the language, and the assumptions embedded in standard approaches to trauma treatment reflect the experiences and worldviews of the populations in which they were developed — and those populations were largely not us.

If you have heard the term EMDR and are not sure what it means — you are not alone. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is one of the most thoroughly researched trauma treatment approaches available, and it remains one of the most misunderstood.

The world sees the performance. It does not always see what it takes to get there — or what it costs.

Racial trauma is not a metaphor. It is a clinical reality — a documented psychological response to race-based stress, discrimination, and violence that produces symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder.

From the outside, everything looks fine. The titles are impressive. The LinkedIn profile is polished. The family is proud.

There is no shortage of conversation about mental health these days — but very little of it speaks directly to Black men.