“Black Women Saved my Life”: A Case Study on Healing Intersectional Racial Trauma

The painful consequences of intersectional racial trauma on the mental health of Black women have been examined in the existing literature. However, limited research explicates how to assess, conceptualize, and treat intersectional racial trauma in clinical practice. Practicing psychologists seeking to integrate science and practice for mental health and social justice breakthroughs desire innovative clinical models to facilitate this work. This paper presents a case study of a week-long, intensive teletherapy retreat to treat the intersectional racial trauma of a queer, middle-aged, Black cisgender woman. We detail theories and research regarding racial trauma and intersectionality and present the integrated How to Love a Human model. Then, we describe the client’s presenting concerns and how to assess and conceptualize intersectional racial trauma to inform a multifaceted, collectivistic treatment approach. Last, we chronologically overview each day of the retreat and address how our healing approach can serve as a research framework and clinical example to treat intersectional racial trauma among Black women.