RATIONALE

Steps have been taken at several colleges to address racial battle fatigue, which is accumulative
stress from facing microaggressions on a regular basis that can result in psychosomatic
symptoms (Smith, Yozzo, & Solórzano, 2006). Research is emerging around racial battle fatigue
on college campuses, and people are taking steps to address racial battle fatigue. To address
racial battle fatigue a student at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) started “The Black
Minds Matter Project” to discuss mental health needs in the black community, and Colorado
State University hired a mental health professional to specifically work with people of color who
might be struggling with racial battle fatigue (Caruso, 2017; Gockowski, 2016).

I will be interning at Salem College next year. Salem is a diverse, women’s college; a large
percentage of the students are women of color. This past academic year, the students have been
protesting the institution regarding discrimination among other things, so racial battle fatigue is
likely present. Even though the students are the ones protesting publicly, faculty members of
color may also be experiencing discrimination and racial battle fatigue, so this workshop could
be conducted for both students and faculty members of color. An outgrowth that could be
encouraged from this workshop could be the establishment of mentoring relationships between
faculty and students and/or peer mentoring between faculty and between students within the
institution.

Given the nature of discrimination and racial battle fatigue, a secondary/tertiary prevention
intervention is appropriate. Similar to the two-pronged approach to multicultural competence
education (multicultural knowledge and multicultural awareness), a two-pronged approach of
psychoeducation and interpersonal work will be used for this workshop along with some stress
management strategies. We would start each session with mindfulness to get focused for the
session and to present a stress management strategy that participants can utilize in their own
lives. This workshop would occur over a minimum of two days particularly due to the time
requirement and taxing nature of Session 2.
 RESOURCES

NCORE Conference (for Faculty)

https://www.ncore.ou.edu/en/
NCORE is a national forum on race and ethnicity in American higher education. It focuses on
improving racial and ethnic relations on campuses through institutional change as well as
expanding educational access to underrepresented populations.

Mindful
https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
This page has a good overview of what mindfulness is, how to do it, its benefits, some
misconceptions, and some common questions. It also has embedded videos and audio to guide
you through some different kinds of mindfulness exercises.

Stress Diary
http://www.mindtools.com/rs/StressDiary
This site provides some background information on stress diaries, their purpose, and their
benefits. It also has a link to download a stress diary template. This stress diary could be used for
stress in general or more particularly to try to help you notice the race related events that might
be causing stress. By noticing and documenting these events more regularly, racial battle fatigue
could mitigated because the stress is not being allowed to compound.

Coping with Race-Related Stress (Brown University)

https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/counseling-and-psychological-
services/index.php?q=coping-race-related-stress
Brown University’s Counseling and Psychological Services website includes a section on coping
with race-related stress. It defines some terms and describes the ways race-related stress can
manifest before outlining some ways to cope with such stress.

Jigsaw Classroom (for Faculty)

https://www.jigsaw.org/
The Jigsaw Classroom is a cooperative learning technique that reduces racial conflict while also
having other educational benefits. It is free to implement, and information on implementation is
on the website.
 WORKSHOP PLAN

Session 1
Goal:
Educate participants on discrimination and microaggressions
Objectives:
Participants will be able to define the terms discrimination, microaggression, and racial
battle fatigue
Participants will be able to give examples of discrimination, microaggression, and racial
battle fatigue manifesting in their own lives
Activity:
Write or print the terms “discrimination,” “microaggression,” and “racial battle fatigue”
on 3 pieces of paper. Place the papers in front of the group. Have participants
individually or in pairs write defining or associated words or phrases on slips of paper for
each of the 3 main terms. It is okay if participants take guesses if they are not familiar
with the terms. Have participants discuss the words/phrases they wrote down for each
term. Did several people write the same word/phrase? Are there words/phrases that
people do not understand or that seem out of place? Could we make a singular definition
with the words/phrases from the group? After discussing, provide definitions of all 3
terms, making sure to define “microinsult,” “microinvalidation,” and “microassault”
within the definition of “microaggression.” You can use a regular dictionary as well as
the following resources to provide definitions:
● Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torina, G. C., Bucceri, J. M, Holder, A. M. B.,
Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life:
Implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62, 271-286.
● Wagstaff, G. (2005). Understanding prejudice. Psychology review, 11(4), 20-23.
● Smith, W.A., Yozzo, T. J., & Solórzano, D. G. (2006). Challenging racial battle
fatigue on historically white campuses: A critical race examination of race-related
stress. In C. A. Stanley (Ed.), Faculty of color: Teaching in predominantly white
colleges and universities (299-327). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.
● https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/counseling-and-psychological-
services/index.php?q=coping-race-related-stress
Based on these definitions, have participants write down ways they have experienced
discrimination, microaggressions, and racial battle fatigue manifesting in their own lives.
To close, have participants write down positive experiences they have had in relation to
their race.
Session 2
Goal:
Insight into the power and benefits of narratives and storytelling as minorities
Objectives:
Participants will be able to articulate how sharing their stories and listening to others’
stories can be transformational
Activity:
Using the experiences from the end of last session as needed, have participants write
down a somewhat brief narrative of their racial development, using the experiences they
wrote down at the end of last session as needed and centered on the following prompts:
● How did you first become cognizant of your race?
● What have been some of your most profound memories (both positive and
negative) with regard to race?
● How have those experiences shaped your beliefs and worldview?
Have each participant share their narrative. After each narrative is shared, process the
experience with questions like:
● What was it like to share your story with the group?
● What was it like to listen to this person’s story?
● What feelings came up for you as you shared/listened?
● What has it been like to hear these reactions to your story?
After all the participants have shared, process the entire experience by asking:
● What differences do you notice in the group as a whole after this experience?
● What are the benefits/downsides of such an experience?
● What are you taking away from this experience?
Session 3
Goal:
Stress relief through laughter and assessment of how laughter might be used to manage
stress
Objectives:
Participants will be able to articulate how laughter can be part of their stress management
routine
Activity:
Participants will be told to bring with them something that makes them laugh. It can be a
video, a joke, a meme, a comic strip, a photo, a greeting card, etc. People can also bring
an embarrassing story or a story about the funniest thing that’s happened to them. Have
each participant share their item. Allow the group to benefit from each member’s laughter
by joining in or by intentionally appreciating and taking in the joy that the person is
experiencing. After each participant has shared, process the activity using questions such
as:
● When was the last time you laughed really hard/this hard?
● What feelings came up for you during and after the moments of laughter today?
● How has laughter been a stress reliever for you in the past?
● How might you use laughter for stress management in the future?
Session 4
Goal:
Equip participants with stress management techniques to deal with racial battle fatigue
symptoms
Objectives:
Participants will create a personalized stress toolkit that they can reference in the future
Activity:
Small boxes and a variety of objects will be provided that participants can directly use to
de-stress or that serve as reminders of ways to de-stress. These objects can include:
● Names of mindfulness/meditation apps
● Resources used for the mindfulness exercises done at the start of each session
● Stress balls (to squeeze or to use as a reminder of resilience because it retains its
shape and bounces back)
● Hershey Kisses (reminder to spread love and affection and to care for others)
● Bandaids (reminder to heal the hurts of others and ease relational stress by
listening to others’ stories, making amends and apologizing, for example)
● Post-It notes (to write encouraging messages on)
● Comics clipping (to laugh and as a reminder to laugh)
● Crayons/Markers/Colored pencils/Paintbrush (to do art)
● Small journals (to write their stories in and to remind them of the transformational
power of sharing/listening to stories)
● Smiley stickers (reminder that positives exist even in the midst of stress and to
look for them)
● Bubbles (to blow and to use with deep breathing)
● Small play dough/putty (to shape and mold freely while engaging the senses)
● Lavender sachets (relaxing scent)
● Activity books/Games (alternative activities to engage the brain)
● Glitter calming jars/Snow globes (to shake and watch settle)
● Mandalas (to color)
● Index cards for people to write down other things they do not currently have that
they might want to add to their box (e.g. personal photos, a favorite book, etc.)
Have participants discuss what they put in their boxes and how they think they might use
the items in their boxes.
 REFERENCES

Caruso, J. (2017, Mar 20). Virginia college students complain of ‘racial battle fatigue’ due to

traumatic microaggressions. The Daily Caller. Retrieved from

http://dailycaller.com/2017/03/20/virginia-college-students-complain-of-racial-battle-

fatigue-due-to-traumatic-microaggressions/

Gockowski, A. (2016, Dec 20). CSU hires counselor to deal with ‘racial battle fatigue.’ Campus

Reform. Retrieved from https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8555

Hunn, V., Harley, D., Elliot, W., & Canfield, J. P. (2015). Microaggression and the mitigation of

psychological harm: Four social workers’ exposition for care of clients, students, and

faculty who suffer ‘a thousand little cuts.’ The Journal of Pan African Studies 7(9): 41-

54. Retrieved from http://www.morganbeardsman.com/references/microaggression-and-

the-mitigation-of-psychological-harm.pdf

Smith, W.A., Yozzo, T. J., & Solórzano, D. G. (2006). Challenging racial battle fatigue on

historically white campuses: A critical race examination of race-related stress. In C. A.

Stanley (Ed.), Faculty of color: Teaching in predominantly white colleges and

universities (299-327). Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.

Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torina, G. C., Bucceri, J. M, Holder, A. M. B., Nadal, K. L., &

Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical

practice. American Psychologist, 62, 271-286.

Wagstaff, G. (2005). Understanding prejudice. Psychology review, 11(4), 20-23.