The ROAR (Reframing Outcomes through Afrocentric Research) lab conducts research which is centered around improving the mental health outcomes for Black communities, specifically women, teens and families.
The lab is led by Ebony White, PhD, and research focuses broadly on advocacy and social justice within the African American community. Specifically, she is interested in the impact of individual and systemic trauma on the development and functioning of individuals, families and communities within the African diaspora nationally and globally. Current research projects include understanding the impact of controlling images on the experiences of African American women, examining the impact of a mindfulness based intervention on racial trauma in individuals with OUD and introducing anti-racist practice in curriculum and pedagogy.
Principal Investigator
Ebony White, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS
Associate Clinical Professor - Counseling and Family Therapy
Health Sciences Building, 11th Floor, Room 11W07
60 N 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 267.359.5526
Email: eew54@drexel.edu
Seeking Ubuntu: Connecting the Mental Health of Black People Nationally and Globally
Within the mental health field, indigenous cultural mental health practices have been pathologized due to white supremacy. This ultimately has affected Black people and their perceptions of mental health. Seeking Ubuntu strives to identify culturally rooted mental health practices and models that are most effective for Black people. The goals of this study are to better understand the experience of Black people globally in the mental health system and to explore the perceptions and beliefs of mental health and mental health systems amongst individuals within the Black Diaspora. We also seek to determine the strategies that have been employed to support healthy overall wellness globally.
Implementing Social Justice Strategies Across Core Curriculum in CACREP Programs
Within the counseling profession, inequities are apparent with individuals of color being underrepresented at all levels (faculty, students, counselors and clients) (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 2015; Hammett-Webb, 2015). Furthermore, CACREP only requires one multicultural class for accreditation with little accountability regarding the content or method of instruction. In this grant funded research study, we seek to identify strategies that current faculty in CACREP programs use to incorporate multicultural and social justice into their teaching across the core curriculum. We hope to provide specific recommendations for faculty teaching in CACREP programs to embed multicultural and social justice practice into their teaching.
Examining Whiteness
An internal grant was received from Drexel University to develop a curriculum for faculty and staff that focuses on multicultural development and competence. The purpose of this curriculum is to address issues of multiculturalism by directing the examination of whiteness. Immersive learning strategies, such as live participation or using technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), however, have been shown to be effective in reducing implicit bias by increasing embodiment, empathy and engagement.
The VR experience enables the user to take part in two different ways. In the first scenario, the user will simply be an observer to how bias plays out in various situations and data will be captured regarding your reactions. The second will allow the user to experience the VR scene as one of the characters, accelerating understanding and empathy for how bias affects different demographics. By combining a fully immersive VR environment and data capture tool, a powerful experience is created that will help not only identify implicit bias, but also recognize one’s own bias in action.
Controlling Images for Black Women
This research examines the impact of socially constructed controlling images of Black women on their lived experiences. Using a codebook developed by Ebony White, PhD, we examine the type of incidents and internal and external responses of Black women to these incidents. We also seek to identify culturally competent strategies to support Black women in counseling and education.
Mindful MAT Adherence: Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) to improve extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) adherence and drug-use outcomes for opioid use disorder (OUD)
This is a grant funded project in partnership with Mike Gawrysiak, PhD (PI) and Stevie Grasetti, PhD (CO-I). The broad long-term objectives of this project are to investigate how integrative pharmacological and behavioral treatments improve OUD treatment outcomes. The aim of this Administrative Supplement to Existing NIH-NIDA Grants proposal is to enhance the focus on racial health equity issues within the context of the randomized clinical trial (RCT) parent-study. The primary study aim is to determine whether MBRP, compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU), delivered to Black OUD patients receiving MAT through enrollment in a residential addiction treatment facility, results in (1) improved MAT adherence, and reduced drug-use following residential discharge and (2) reduced race-based trauma symptoms. As race-based trauma symptoms are understood to associate with SUD severity, A second study aim will test the extent to which exposure to racial discrimination and severity of race-based trauma symptoms predict pre-treatment (1) OUD severity and (2) poorer treatment adherence and increased drug-use measured following residential discharge for Black TAU participants (but not Black MBRP participants). As prior trauma exposure is observed to undermine treatment efforts for SUDs a third exploratory study aim will determine the extent to which reductions in race-based trauma symptoms (pre-to-post MBRP) mediate beneficial outcomes for Black MBRP participants. Expected outcomes are that Black MBRP participants will demonstrate (1) increased MAT adherence and reduced drug-use monitored across three-months post-treatment, (2) that reduced race-based trauma symptoms will partially mediate these outcomes, and (3) that prior racial discrimination and race-based trauma symptoms will moderate outcomes for TAU, but not for MBRP participants.
Staff
Doctoral Students
Students
Internal Collaborators
- Kimberly McClellan, CNHP
- Arun Ramakrishnan, CNHP
- Marisol Norris, CNHP
- Triana Martinez, CNHP
External Collaborators
- Candice Crawford, Molloy College
- Alfonso Ferguson
- Michael Gawrysiak, West Chester University
- Stevie Grassetti, West Chester University
- Tyce Nadrich, Molloy College
- Sailume Walo-Roberts, Montclair State University