Empower Yourself Against Racial and Cultural Stress Using Skills from the REACH Program to Cope, Heal, and Thrive

Who am I? This is such a simple yet challenging question for many teens and young adults to answer. And for teens and young adults of color, your journey of self-discovery likely includes moments of being judged, mistreated, or denied important opportunities because of your racial and cultural background. Psychologist Ryan C. T. DeLapp has devoted his career to understanding these experiences of racial and cultural stress--and helping people build skills to heal from and cope with them. This inviting book presents step-by-step strategies and downloadable worksheets for implementing Dr. DeLapp's innovative REACH program, whether on your own or with a group. Follow the stories of three fictional navigators--Greg, Amia, and Jamal--as you choose your own path to:

• Identify your own cultural stressors.
• Cope with big and uncomfortable emotions caused by cultural stress.
• Stand up to injustice and find ways to change or improve culturally stressful environments.
• Grow and protect your self-love, self-confidence, and cultural pride.
• Spark meaningful conversations about racial and cultural stress with people you trust.
• Explore who you truly want to be, and how to overcome obstacles to getting there.

Ryan C. T. DeLapp, PhD, is a psychologist who works with children, adolescents, and adults in New York City and the Washington, D.C., area. He is the founding director of the Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Healing (REACH) Program at the Ross Center. Dr. DeLapp publishes and presents widely on topics related to healing from cultural stress and empowering individuals of color.

Introduction: Welcome to This Workbook
I. Getting Started
1. What Does Being a Person of Color Mean to Me?
2. Have I Experienced Cultural Stress?
3. How Have I Been Impacted by Cultural Stress?
II. How to Heal and Cope with Emotional Stress
4. Noticing Emotional Stress
5. How Can I Show Kindness and Understanding toward My Emotional Stress?
6. My Emotional Stress Coping Assessment
7. How Can I Make Helpful Decisions in the Moment When Emotionally Stressed?
8. How Can I Soothe My Emotional Stress?
9. How Can I Make Healthy Decisions over Time as I Heal from Emotional Stress?
Part II Summary and Takeaways
III. How to Boost Your Sense of Agency and Control
10. Noticing When I Experience Agency Stress
11. How Can I Show Kindness and Understanding toward My Agency Stress?
12. My Agency Stress Coping Assessment
13. How Can I Change or Improve Stressful Surroundings?
14. How Can I Maintain Progress toward My Goals in Stressful Surroundings?
Part III Summary and Takeaways
IV. How to Cope with Identity Stress
15. Noticing Identity Stress
16. How Can I Show Kindness and Understanding toward My Identity Stress?
17. My Identity Stress Coping Assessment
18. How Can I Grow My Self-Love and Appreciation with Identity Exploration?
19. How Can I Grow My Self-Love and Appreciation with Identity Expression?
20. How Can I Protect the Self-Love and Appreciation I Am Building?
Part IV Summary and Takeaways
V. Putting the Pieces of Empowered Coping Together!
21. How Do I Remember Everything I’ve Learned?
22. How Can I Use My Cultural Stress Coping Cards to Practice Empowered Coping? 
Conclusion: Continuing Your Empowered Coping Journey
Therapy Resources
Scholarly Inspirations
Index