--This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Webinar Series--
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This dynamic presentation will explore cumulative, cultural and collective forms of trauma for Latinx people and communities, their relationship to risk for substance use, and briefly introduce ways we as helping professionals can support continued healing, resilience and resistance among the people and communities we serve. Participants will end this workshop with a clear framework for understanding the roles oppression-based trauma and culturally-centered resilience play in the lives of Latinx who are impacted by substance use.
Spanning two decades of research, trauma-informed (T-I) practice is seen as a new frontier in behavioral health and social services (National Council for Behavioral Health, n.d.). Where trauma analysis regularly attends to impact of emotional trauma on individuals and its correlation with risk for substance use, less is understood regarding cumulative, cultural, and collective forms of trauma on Latinx individuals and communities, including immigration and acculturation traumas. These gaps are worthy of exploration given an emerging body of knowledge which evidences microaggressions (Nadal, 2018), racism (Williams, Metzger, Leins,& DeLapp, 2018), sexism (Kucharska, 2018), and homophobia (Goodwin, 2014) as correlated with risk for emotional trauma. Finally, culturally-rooted resilience and resistance are vital in the process of healing from substance use and are rarely addressed.
Anna Nelson, LCSWAn educator for the previous decade and helping professional since 1996, Anna Nelson, LCSW, is a College Assistant Professor with NMSU School of Social Work and a Ph.D. Candidate in Educational Leadership and Administration. Ms. Nelson employs mixed-methods participatory action research grounded in Critical Race and Intersectionality theories to understand cultural, cumulative and collective trauma and its impact on communities with a strong focus on identity-driven resilience and resistance. From 2010- 2016, she served as Executive Director of the New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community, a statewide network intermediary that promoted racial, health, academic and economic justice for all youth statewide. Her professional practice emphases are youth, family and community engagement, violence prevention, trauma/healing informed culturally sustaining service systems development, and policy transformation, particularly for child welfare and juvenile justice systems.