As far-right and anti-immigration movements gain traction globally, people of colour are increasingly struggling to find safe spaces. Racist voices, once marginal, are now moving into the mainstream, leading to a resurgence of racial trauma among those who have previously experienced such harm.
Every migrant or person of colour has a different relationship with race, but common themes include 'othering', discrimination, stereotyping, and outright abuse. Aisha, a young Pakistani-origin woman, experienced a racially charged assault in adolescence. Now, amid rising anti-migrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric, she finds herself hypervigilant and anxious about another attack.
Aisha works as a nurse and faces racism from clients, colleagues, and management. Her usual coping mechanism of smiling and ignoring is no longer working; she is so angry that she clenches her teeth at night and has been diagnosed with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ). In therapy, the first task was to understand her culture without assumptions and to validate her distress rather than offering glib interventions.
Her therapist noted that Aisha's threat perception was heightened, a typical trauma response. They worked on controlling what she could and letting go of the rest, while acknowledging that such techniques can feel like 'slapping a Band-Aid on a broken leg' when structural harms are involved. Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) was used to reduce anxiety about the assault, alongside lifestyle interventions to build mental health foundations.
Learning to respond assertively to racist comments was also crucial. Aisha identified that racism from colleagues was worse than from patients, though the latter was more overt. The therapy aimed to empower her while recognising the broader context of discrimination and colonialism.
