TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 1

42 The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 1 According to Chaplin (2015), gender differences exist in how humans express emotions, best explained through a combination of biological, psychosocial developmental, and social constructionist factors. For example, adolescent girls are thought to experience symptoms of depression significantly more often than adolescent boys (Hankin & Abramson, 2001). Along racial lines, there are differences according to gender in how African Americans typically respond to the systemic oppression and discrimination associated with cultural trauma (Vontress et al., 2007). African American boys may suppress anger and dissatisfaction with school incidents, particularly those involving microaggressive behaviors targeting them or more blatant forms of discrimination (Thomas & Stevenson, 2009). Likewise, suppressed anger may be redirected into other expressions, such as hypermasculinity, which may be interpreted by instructors and school administrators as unfounded defiance. Role play is effective in helping participants reflect upon how they express emotions and how emotional expression influences the identities that they are striving to form (Brown, 2003). Schonert- Reichl and Lawlor (2010) documented the effectiveness of a mindfulness education program in helping fourth to seventh graders develop emotional competence and in fostering positive emotions. Both mindfulness exercises and role play can be used to help participants broaden their emotional vocabulary, experiment with various methods of controlling emotional expression, and practice new ways of communicating emotions honestly and productively. Anderson and Stevenson (2019) highlighted reactions that parents of children and adolescents of color may have when they find out their sons or daughters have been exposed to discriminatory racial encounters, one of which is described as “preparation for bias.” This includes pointed conversations about how to handle potentially dangerous encounters such as racial profiling, with opportunities to allow young people to rehearse how they will respond to situations that may generate panic in the moment. Role play in this proposed program affords the opportunity for candid preparation of participants for life incidents that may be fueled by racial discrimination. Cognitive Restructuring. Black identity development models, such as the Cross model, underscore that the beginning of racial identity development in people of color is often characterized by positive beliefs about the dominant group and negative beliefs about their own cultural group (Cross, Parham, & Helms, 1991). In the case of African American middle school students, such negative self-beliefs may present in such subtle manners that program participants are not aware and may even deny. One approach to engaging participants in cognitive restructuring of distorted cognitions about race, self-image, and privilege and power dynamics involves teaching young people about microaggressions directed toward African Americans. Role play is beneficial in creating a space for participants to reflect upon microaggressive behaviors and to correct the stereotypes upon which they are based. C ó rdova and Cervantes (2010) documented the experience of within-group discrimination among Latino youth based on English proficiency, documentation status, and generational status. In both African American and Latino American communities, within-group skin tone stratification, often referred to as colorism, perpetuates internalized racism, creating a preference for skin tones seen as lighter and more European (Hunter, 2016; Maxwell, Brevard, Abrams, & Belgrave, 2015). Reflection upon within-group microaggressions and internalized racism is utilized to foster participants filtering out negative self- images that they have incorporated based on the manner in which oppressive systems have depicted African Americans as well as individuals from other racial/ethnic groups. Trauma Narrative. As an important component of the TF-CBT model, trauma narration creates the space for deconstruction and reconstruction of the young person’s understanding of the traumatic experience (Cohen et al., 2006). The clinician monitors for cognitive distortions that might suggest the