The Impact of a Race-Based Stress Reduction Intervention

RiSE provides participants with a platform to share the emotional impact of race-based stress and to offer supportive listening to their peers. Participants explicitly discuss the experiences they have as African American women, taking into account the ways which the interaction between their racial and gender identities shapes their experiences. Facilitators review difficulties associated with addressing racism and unique experiences of Black women at interpersonal and structural levels, and provide evidence of strategies to promote effective communication and internal emotional regulation regarding experiences of racism. Facilitators provide psychoeducation on intersectionality, structural racism, overt racism, microaggressions, and internalized racism. Following this education, facilitators help participants utilize cognitive-behavioral strategies to understand consequent thoughts, feelings, and actions associated with such experiences.

The HEP group will consist of classes focusing on wellness promotion. Expert speakers provide the HEP classes (e.g dietician, pharmacist).