Krolikowski Chair Using Video to Combat Trauma from Racism
Dr. Matt Miller, the newly named recipient of the Father Walter P. Krolikowski, S.J., Endowed Chair, has a deep passion for making mental health services relevant and accessible, and an equal passion for addressing the impact of racism on People of Color. When Miller received the news about the Krolikowski chair, he knew it was his chance to try something truly innovative鈥�producing videos to document people鈥檚 experiences with racism and providing therapeutic tools and a framework for processing those experiences.
鈥淧eople watch videos all the time on their phones; YouTube is one of the most popular sites around. It鈥檚 a commonly accepted way of getting information. The average person just isn鈥檛 going to read an academic journal. We academics write those for each other, and that鈥檚 not who I want to engage. After 10 or 15 years, I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檝e gotten the information to the people who need it, and that鈥檚 especially true in the Twitter world we鈥檙e living in,鈥� said Miller. His vision is to create a series of short-form videos featuring people talking about their real-life experiences surrounding race, and then filming a discussion that walks them through ways of coping and gives them tools to address racism. 鈥淯sing this delivery platform increases access to evidence-based mental health content. There are so many who can鈥檛 or won鈥檛 go to therapy, and this gets therapeutic benefits in the hands of literally everyone who watches. It鈥檚 an effective way to make people feel validated, and ultimately less likely to feel negative mental health effects from racism when given the proper tools.鈥� Miller acknowledges the importance of traditional therapy models, but at the same time sees evolving technology as an opportunity for mental health professionals to innovate.
Miller鈥檚 passion for helping others doesn鈥檛 stop with the end user, either. 鈥淎 big part of the chair is to provide research mentoring and opportunities for master鈥�s and doctoral students in the counseling program. They鈥檒l be an integral part of larger scale experiments to see if the videos get us to the desired outcomes.鈥�
To see the videos Miller has not only conceived, but also filmed and produced, click here