Raising Resilient Black Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children Cope with Racial Stress, Manage Emotions, and Thrive

A powerful, step-by-step guide to help your child foster strength and resilience when faced with racial stress.

Has your child experienced racial aggression, bullying, or harassment? Have they been discriminated against in the classroom, in extracurricular activities, or amongst peers? Have they ever asked you why they are treated differently? If so, you are not alone. Discrimination and racism in society are a constant stressor and painful topic of conversation for many Black families. As a parent, you want to protect your child from these injustices; but the truth is that the best way to protect them is by giving them the tools needed to build resilience, and by instilling unshakable pride in who they are.

In this much-needed resource for parents of Black children, race and mental health expert Erlanger Turner combines evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills with mindfulness and liberation psychology to help your kids cope with race-based stress, challenge systemic oppression and marginalization, and thrive. Using the author’s innovative HEAL method (Healing Emotions and Anxiety through Liberation), you can help your kids:

• Better understand what causes racial stress and how to navigate it
• Take charge of their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors
• Feel empowered and prepared to cope with in-the-moment racism
• Build resilience, soulfulness, and joy
• Cultivate racial literacy and become advocates for change

Although some children may not experience racism or discrimination directly, their emotional health and wellness may still be negatively impacted. Using the HEAL approach in this workbook, you’ll know what to say to your child who has experienced or witnessed racism, when to say it, and how to help them heal and flourish.

Erlanger (Earl) Turner, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, and associate professor of psychology at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, CA. As a nationally and internationally recognized expert in mental health, he has been featured on television, radio, and in print media outlets including CNN, USA Today, The New York Times, Essence, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and the Dr. Phil Show. He is former president of the Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, and has served as a consultant for Sesame Street, Instagram, and other organizations on racial justice initiatives. Turner is also founder of Therapy for Black Kids whose mission is to help promote resilience and healthy emotional development among Black youth. You can find out more about Turner at www.drerlangerturner.com.