Chapter 5: Trauma-Sensitive, Culturally Sustaining, Compassion-Based Well-Being Practices for Graduate Students of Minoritized Identities

The period of higher education can be a stressful developmental stage riddled with moments of discomfort, challenges, and stressful events that can cause emotional distress. Stressors and demands on students who identify with minoritized identities can be compounded, complex, and rife with challenges, including discrimination, marginalization, oppression, and microaggressions. Developing greater self-compassion may enhance emotional well-being, flourishing, and resilience. Research studies positive emotional well-being associated with self-compassion in adult populations. Compassion-based training programs for college students of minoritized identities within school-based settings could be of value in increasing self-compassion and self-regulation and decreasing emotional distress, fostering emotional well-being. I describe several sample activities with scripts to use with small groups of college students.