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Healing Bias: Your Guide to Individual, Interpersonal, and Institutional Change
Blends CBT and interpersonal therapy principles for implementable actions to reduce bias.
Everyone has biases, yet most people are unable to discuss them openly without feelings of shame, stigma, and defensiveness. Although perceived as flaws or a question of one’s character, these biases should be viewed as socially constructed coping mechanisms shaped by trauma, stress, and the need to survive. Only when redefined will we be able to have honest conversations about and reductions in bias, race, and prejudice.
Dana Crawford’s Crawford Bias Reduction Theory & Training (CBRT) invites readers on a transformative journey to understand, research, and reduce bias at the internal, relational, and systemic levels. Her three-pronged approach starts with the awareness phase which focuses on self-reflection and group interaction through empathy, compassion, and accountability. The investigation phase will help readers recognize and dissect bias within themselves, with others, and in society. Lastly, the reduction phase further develops skills to confront and mitigate bias with exercises like role-play and real-play scenarios.
With reflection prompts, personal stories, actionable advice, and examples inspired by actual events, Healing Bias translates complex ideas into relatable, empowering solutions that can be used on your own or in group settings.
This guide can be used with the Racial Awareness Conversations for Everyone (R. A. C. E.) card deck to enhance self-reflection and group discussion with questions based on the CBRT model.
Everyone has biases, yet most people are unable to discuss them openly without feelings of shame, stigma, and defensiveness. Although perceived as flaws or a question of one’s character, these biases should be viewed as socially constructed coping mechanisms shaped by trauma, stress, and the need to survive. Only when redefined will we be able to have honest conversations about and reductions in bias, race, and prejudice.
Dana Crawford’s Crawford Bias Reduction Theory & Training (CBRT) invites readers on a transformative journey to understand, research, and reduce bias at the internal, relational, and systemic levels. Her three-pronged approach starts with the awareness phase which focuses on self-reflection and group interaction through empathy, compassion, and accountability. The investigation phase will help readers recognize and dissect bias within themselves, with others, and in society. Lastly, the reduction phase further develops skills to confront and mitigate bias with exercises like role-play and real-play scenarios.
With reflection prompts, personal stories, actionable advice, and examples inspired by actual events, Healing Bias translates complex ideas into relatable, empowering solutions that can be used on your own or in group settings.
This guide can be used with the Racial Awareness Conversations for Everyone (R. A. C. E.) card deck to enhance self-reflection and group discussion with questions based on the CBRT model.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 9, 2025
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1583 people want to read
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June 27, 2025
Book Review: Healing Bias: Your Guide to Individual, Interpersonal, and Institutional Change by Dana E. Crawford, PhD
Dana E. Crawford’s Healing Bias is a groundbreaking and compassionate framework for confronting one of society’s most pervasive challenges: systemic and internalized bias. As a woman and academic, I found Crawford’s approach—which reframes bias as a socially constructed coping mechanism rather than a moral failing—to be both revolutionary and deeply humane. Her Crawford Bias Reduction Theory & Training (CBRT) model offers a structured yet flexible pathway for individuals and institutions to engage in meaningful change, blending cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) principles with interpersonal dynamics in a way that feels both scholarly and accessible.
What struck me most was Crawford’s emphasis on self-compassion as a cornerstone of bias reduction. Too often, discussions about bias devolve into performative guilt or defensiveness, but Crawford’s three-phase model (awareness, investigation, and reduction) creates space for growth without shame. The reflection prompts and real-world scenarios resonated with me personally, particularly the exercises designed to uncover implicit biases in everyday interactions. As someone who has navigated institutional spaces where bias often operates invisibly, I appreciated Crawford’s insistence that systemic change begins with individual accountability—but never ends there.
However, the book’s strength—its focus on actionable steps—sometimes comes at the expense of deeper structural analysis. While Crawford provides excellent tools for interpersonal and organizational bias reduction, I wished for a more intersectional exploration of how race, gender, class, and disability intersect in systemic oppression. For example, how might CBRT apply differently to a Black woman in corporate leadership versus a white woman in academia? Additionally, though the R.A.C.E. card deck is a valuable companion, its integration into the main text could have been more seamless for readers without access to supplementary materials.
Strengths:
-Empowering Framework: CBRT’s phased approach makes bias reduction feel achievable rather than overwhelming.
-Practical Tools: Role-play exercises and reflection prompts translate theory into daily practice.
-Trauma-Informed Lens: Crawford’s background in psychology shines through in her nuanced understanding of bias as a survival mechanism.
Critiques:
-Intersectional Gaps: A deeper dive into overlapping identities would strengthen the model’s applicability.
-Institutional Depth: While the book excels at individual/interpersonal levels, systemic strategies could be expanded.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) – A vital, user-friendly guide that demystifies bias reduction, though its structural analysis occasionally lags behind its psychological insights.
Thank you to W. W. Norton and Edelweiss for providing a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Final Thought: Crawford’s work is a beacon for anyone ready to move beyond performative allyship into tangible transformation. By centering empathy and accountability, Healing Bias doesn’t just diagnose the problem—it equips us with the tools to rebuild.
Dana E. Crawford’s Healing Bias is a groundbreaking and compassionate framework for confronting one of society’s most pervasive challenges: systemic and internalized bias. As a woman and academic, I found Crawford’s approach—which reframes bias as a socially constructed coping mechanism rather than a moral failing—to be both revolutionary and deeply humane. Her Crawford Bias Reduction Theory & Training (CBRT) model offers a structured yet flexible pathway for individuals and institutions to engage in meaningful change, blending cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) principles with interpersonal dynamics in a way that feels both scholarly and accessible.
What struck me most was Crawford’s emphasis on self-compassion as a cornerstone of bias reduction. Too often, discussions about bias devolve into performative guilt or defensiveness, but Crawford’s three-phase model (awareness, investigation, and reduction) creates space for growth without shame. The reflection prompts and real-world scenarios resonated with me personally, particularly the exercises designed to uncover implicit biases in everyday interactions. As someone who has navigated institutional spaces where bias often operates invisibly, I appreciated Crawford’s insistence that systemic change begins with individual accountability—but never ends there.
However, the book’s strength—its focus on actionable steps—sometimes comes at the expense of deeper structural analysis. While Crawford provides excellent tools for interpersonal and organizational bias reduction, I wished for a more intersectional exploration of how race, gender, class, and disability intersect in systemic oppression. For example, how might CBRT apply differently to a Black woman in corporate leadership versus a white woman in academia? Additionally, though the R.A.C.E. card deck is a valuable companion, its integration into the main text could have been more seamless for readers without access to supplementary materials.
Strengths:
-Empowering Framework: CBRT’s phased approach makes bias reduction feel achievable rather than overwhelming.
-Practical Tools: Role-play exercises and reflection prompts translate theory into daily practice.
-Trauma-Informed Lens: Crawford’s background in psychology shines through in her nuanced understanding of bias as a survival mechanism.
Critiques:
-Intersectional Gaps: A deeper dive into overlapping identities would strengthen the model’s applicability.
-Institutional Depth: While the book excels at individual/interpersonal levels, systemic strategies could be expanded.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5) – A vital, user-friendly guide that demystifies bias reduction, though its structural analysis occasionally lags behind its psychological insights.
Thank you to W. W. Norton and Edelweiss for providing a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Final Thought: Crawford’s work is a beacon for anyone ready to move beyond performative allyship into tangible transformation. By centering empathy and accountability, Healing Bias doesn’t just diagnose the problem—it equips us with the tools to rebuild.
Displaying 1 of 1 review