Summer of 2020 is seeing “pandemics” centered in the public eye -- a coronavirus and structural racism pervading life and politics in the US. The impacts of structural dynamics such as racism, sexism, and poverty are repetitive and ongoing, while crises caused by illness and natural hazards can be more acute. Meghan O'Connor, therapist and Professor of Counseling Psychology, joins to discuss differences and similarities of trauma caused by these different impacts, and healing from both systemic and acute crises.

These crises present opportunities to question the approach of pathologizing people separate from the systems they are in. Instead of asking, what’s wrong with this person? We can ask, what’s wrong with this “normal”?

Technical Level: 3/5 

Fear Factor: 3/5

*This episode contains some swear words*