LEX18 interviewed Candice Hargons, Ph.D., a professor of counseling psychology in the University of Kentucky College of Education Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, about healing the mental health impact of racist attacks.
The interview was in response to the May 14 shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store that killed 10 people. It was described by authorities as “racially motivated violent extremism.”
“The vicarious racist stressors, the ones people might experience by hearing or seeing a racist assault happen to someone of their racial group can cause race-based stress reactions, things like increased heart rate, tension, shaking, anger, fear, sometimes even a sense of apathy. These are all things that I’ve experienced and help people work through,” Hargons told LEX18.
Watch the interview on the LEX18 website.
Hargons is among faculty at UK leading The Neighborhood Healers Project, which aims to reduce an equity gap by addressing stigma and helping Black Lexingtonians access mental health services.