"It's Not in Our Head"... and yet Pain is in Our Brain: Why Racialized Exclusion Hurts And How We Can Remain Resilient by Dr. Karen T. Craddock

The article explains that racialized exclusion and discrimination are not just emotionally painful—they literally register as pain in the brain. Drawing on relational neuroscience and social pain research, it shows that everyday racial marginalization—from overt harassment to subtle exclusion—activates the same neural pathways as physical pain, affecting both psychological and physiological well-being. Dr. Craddock highlights how this lived pain accumulates across generations and is compounded by societal reactions like the “racial empathy gap,” where the pain of racially marginalized people is minimized or misunderstood, even in clinical settings.

To counter these harms, the article offers a resilience model called S.T.O.P.—See, Talk, Open, Partner, and Produce—which encourages recognizing exclusionary experiences, speaking about them, fostering connection, building supportive relationships, and collaboratively creating inclusive spaces. It stresses the importance of culturally responsive environments for children and communities to support emotional health and well-being and to transform exclusion into belonging and collective strength.

Here is the link to the direct article: https://www.embracerace.org/resources/its-not-in-our-head-and-yet-pain-is-in-our-brain-why-racialized-exclusion-hurts-and-how-we-can-remain-resilient