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Dr. Benson George Cooke is a Professor of Counseling and Psychology at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), in Washington, DC. He is an author and speaker who has addressed diverse audiences at national and international conferences, symposiums, workshops, professional institutes, and local and national radio cable network and television programs. He is an author of numerous journal articles, magazine articles, and book chapters, including five textbooks.
He is the recipient of the 2022 UDC Dr. Marjorie Holloman Parker Distinguished Educator’s Award, and the 2020 UDC awardee for Faculty Excellence in Teaching presented by the UDC President’s Executive Cabinet. He is the past national president of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) and recipient of numerous national community-service, educational/faculty excellence, scholarship, and professional service awards. Dr. Cooke is an ABPsi Distinguished Psychologist, acknowledged for career contributions to the discipline and the literature and practice of psychology that has supported culturally salient mental health treatment for the African American community.
Dr. Cooke’s clinical specialty is Major Depressive Disorders and Mental Health Cultural Competence Strategies as he organized national guidelines for culturally competent therapeutic responses to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He earned his degrees at Morehouse College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
VIRTUAL PRESENTATION: The Transhistorical and Transgenerational Impact of Trauma Epigenomically and Neuropsychologically
Longstanding mental health inequity and persistent systemic and institutional racism continues
disproportionally in predominately Black communities in the United States of America. Consequently,
the Pandemic of COVID-19 has only increased the gap resulting from longstanding health disparities that
disproportionately impact the wellness of the Black community in managing mental illnesses like Major
Depressive Disorders. This presentation also examines key issues and challenges that must be overcome
to effectively navigate the transhistorical and transgenerational impact of trauma epigenomically and
neuropsychologically.
Target Audience: Mental health professionals/paraprofessionals and university students.
Anticipated Outcomes of Session:
- Participants will learn about the role of Epigenomics on Major Depressive Disorders.
- Participants will be able to identify the following reactions to Trauma:
- Immediate and Delayed Emotional Reactions,
- Immediate and Delayed Physical Reactions,
- Immediate and Delayed Cognitive Reactions,
- Immediate and Delayed Behavioral Reactions, and
- Immediate and Delayed Existential Reactions.
- Participants will learn about the impact of family histories for epigenomic patterns that impact
the transhistorical and transgenerational sources of trauma.