Racial Trauma and ISTDP Therapy

My macro-level understanding of racial trauma and structural oppression in general integrates well with my micro-level understanding of the ISTDP approach because the modality revolves around the client’s experience of emotion as the mechanism of change, drawing a direct line between experiences of structural oppression and suffering, with the understanding that unprocessed emotions are the primary issue manifesting in all manner of discharging internal and external behaviours.
 
How a person responds to structural oppression could very well be determined by how they respond to difficult emotional states, something that would have roots in how their attachment system developed, and how they learned to relate to themselves as a result.
 
A potential outcome for working with this issue using this approach could include a greater freedom to experience your own emotions in your own body and therefore to fully experience your grief and rage about the moments of transgression you encounter, allowing you to better understand and communicate your boundaries, and your needs, in such moments in future.