What My UNESCO Task Force Experience Revealed About Family Patterns

History, Healing, and Your Future

In 2018, I was an invited member of a UNESCO task force that was focused on the Residual Effects of Slavery. UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). This agency sets global standards for education and human rights. My work with them was focused on bridging the gap between global history and clinical experiences.

The UN recently declared that the Transatlantic Slave Trade was the greatest human rights violation in history. Clinicians, like me, know that a violation of that magnitude doesn’t disappear in time and that it leaves a psychological imprint on society.

Additionally, I’ve spent 20 years exploring how historical trauma translates into individual struggle. My clients and I often have therapeutic conversations when we discuss how the residual effects of slavery have led to different roles that we take on for survival, including but not limited to masking pain, hyper-independence, and disconnection from many of our emotional experiences.

My work with UNESCO helped me further explore the impact of these patterns; my clinical experience allows me to help you break them. The world finally admits this was the greatest human rights violation. Rest assured that you aren’t crazy for feeling its effects.