When we think of trauma, we often picture sirens, catastrophes, and crises—but what if trauma wears a blazer, earns a degree, and smiles through the pain? Mental health struggles don’t always scream; sometimes they whisper beneath the surface of high achievement. In a world that applauds resilience but punishes vulnerability—especially for Black professionals—unhealed wounds can quietly shape our success, relationships, and health.
BlackDoctor.org spoke with Dr. Tavari Brown, Ph.D., LPC, MPH, CPCS, a Georgia-based licensed professional counselor, to uncover what PTSD really looks like behind polished resumes and relentless excellence—and why true healing starts with seeing trauma for what it is, not just how it appears.
Trauma Doesn’t Always Look Like Trauma
One of Dr. Brown’s key insights is this: trauma doesn’t have to be catastrophic to be real.
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“We talk about Big T trauma—abuse, violence, war—but there’s also ‘little t’ trauma,” she says. “Losing a job, the end of a relationship, the loss of an identity you thought you’d always have—like motherhood in the face of infertility—that’s trauma too.”
In therapy, she asks, “Where did I touch you that made you say ‘ouch’?” That question opens the door to those deeply personal wounds that may not make the headlines, but still shape how someone moves through life.
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Misdiagnosis, Medical Mistrust, and the Importance of Context
Black patients are often misdiagnosed—labeled with conduct disorders or anger issues when they’re actually experiencing PTSD. Their distress is dismissed as an attitude rather than understood as self-protection.
Dr. Brown emphasizes that healing must begin with context. “We’re not just asking what happened to you. We’re asking what hasn’t been named.” Trauma often hides behind physical symptoms—GI issues, insomnia, chronic fatigue—and it takes cultural humility to connect the dots.
Too often, traditional care misses that nuance. Instead of applying textbook labels, Dr. Brown uses her patients’ own language. If someone doesn’t resonate with “PTSD,” she talks about burnout, stress, or worry. “Language matters,” she says. “Especially in communities that don’t always trust the system.”
The Power of Collaboration and Cultural Competence
Healing, Dr. Brown reminds us, doesn’t happen in isolation. No one provider can do it all—and that’s okay. What’s critical is building a circle of care: referrals to trauma specialists, somatic therapists, music or dance therapy, and clinicians trained in EMDR or CPT.
“The body remembers,” she says. “But the brain is also incredibly resilient. Neuroplasticity means we can rewire how we think and feel.” For patients reliving trauma through senses—smells, sounds, even the sight of something seemingly ordinary—learning grounding techniques can reconnect them to safety in the present.
And for clinicians, it means recognizing when a patient’s pain is surfacing through behavior. “Sometimes when someone is rude, they’re not angry at you—they’re in pain,” Dr. Brown says. “I’ve learned to meet that with compassion.”
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Healing as Liberation
For Dr. Brown, healing isn’t just about symptom reduction—it’s about liberation.
“Healing means living fully and wholly in our bodies and lives. Reclaiming our voice, our safety, and our agency when the world tries to take all three,” she explains. In a system that too often dehumanizes Black patients, this framing is not just powerful—it’s necessary.
That liberation includes giving and receiving grace, especially within the Black community. Grace for ourselves when we falter. Grace for our clients when they struggle. Grace, even when someone’s pain shows up as hostility.
Pouring from the Overflow
Dr. Brown’s final reminder is for providers, especially Black ones: you can’t pour from an empty cup.
“There’s a myth that our value is in what we do for others. But we have to fill our own cups first. We have to protect our joy, seek rest, and honor our needs,” she says. “Only then can we love others from the overflow—not the scraps.”
Final Words
Dr. Brown challenges the assumptions we make about what trauma looks like, who deserves healing, and how that healing should happen. Her call is not just for cultural competence, but for cultural compassion.
Healing, she says, starts when we stop trying to fix and start listening. It grows when we affirm, not just diagnose. And it becomes liberation when we reclaim the grace and humanity that’s always been ours.
