Exploring the Relationship Between Religious Faith, Mental Health Help Seeking Attitudes, and Preferences for Counselor Characteristics Among Black American Churchgoers

Exploring the Relationship Between Religious Faith, Mental Health Help Seeking Attitudes, and Preferences for Counselor Characteristics Among Black American Churchgoers
Author: Darryl P. Plunkett
Publisher:
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2009
Genre: African American churches
ISBN:

Empirical data has shown that Black American churchgoers have generally higher baseline rates of religious involvement than the general U.S. population, as well as higher rates of religious involvement than most Black Americans (Chatters, Taylor & Lincoln, 1999). Researchers have noted the influence of religion on the help seeking attitudes of Black Americans (Abernethy, Houston, Mimms, & Boyd-Franklin, 2006) and have also identified counselor characteristics preferred by Black Americans when seeking help for mental health problems (Atkinson, Furlong, & Poston, 1986). However, Black American churchgoers are rarely identified as the target population in empirical studies and little is known about the relationships between their religious faith, help seeking attitudes and preferences for counselor characteristics. Researchers have called for expanded studies to examine both the role of religion and the potential of the Black Church to provide mental health services for Black American churchgoers. This study responds to this call by exploring the relationship between Black American churchgoers' religious faith, mental health help seeking attitudes and preferences for counselor characteristics. Participants were Black American churchgoers (N[equals]276) who attended Black churches in two Midwestern states. Participants completed a survey packet that consisted of four instruments: a demographic questionnaire, the Age-Universal Religious Orientation Scale (AUROS) (Gorsuch & Venable, 1983), Fischer and Turner's (1970) Attitude toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS), and a modified version of the Preferences for Counselor Characteristics Scale (Atkinson, Furlong & Poston, 1986). The Bradley-Terry-Luce (BTL) (as cited in McGuire & Davison, 1991) model of weighted least squares regression analysis was used to determine if differences existed in participants' preferences for the following characteristics of a counselor relative to the participants': similar religion, similar attitude and values, more educated, similar personality and older age. Results of the weighted least squares regression analysis indicated that the most salient characteristics of a counselor for participants in this study were similar religion, more educated and similar attitudes and values. Implications for the counseling profession and counselor education training are discussed.

The Black American Church

The Black American Church
Author: Dr. Khandicia N. Randolph
Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

The purpose of this book seeks to examine the leadership of the Black church through a critical and theoretical lens utilizing historical and anthropological foci to better identify and understand some of the challenges within the paramount institution and its attrition to the Black American community at large and provide appropriate suggestions and generating frameworks for addressing the challenges. The church has always played a pivotal role in Black American culture's identity, development, and progression. Leadership and organizational challenges within the church pervasively matriculate to other Black spaces, historically Black organizations, and a broader societal context. Due to the church's historical and ethnographic context for Blacks in America, many of the challenges faced in the church go unrecognized, unspoken, thus unattended. This manuscript endeavors to identify the challenges, and flaws through research and data, to provide solutions through practical and theoretical implementations to some shortcomings for the betterment of the church and culture. The interconnectedness of culture and religion for Blacks in America established a gargantuan impact factor on the church and its leaders. This manuscript examines the pervading effects of the influence through leadership dispensation. It also explores the understanding of leadership through the lens of Black Christianity, deriving that the foundation of leadership in the Black community was primarily circumscribed by the influence of the church as conglomerate collectivism of almost five hundred years of the history and culture of Africans, African descendants, and members of the African diaspora in what is now America who contributed to the ideal of the Black church. The critical analysis provided is not one of condemnation but likened to a vital performance review through member experiences barred against applicable leadership and organizational development barometers.

When Religion and Morals Become OCD

When Religion and Morals Become OCD
Author: Leslie J. Shapiro
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2023-07-27
Genre: Psychology
ISBN:

This essential resource brings recognition to scrupulosity and moral perfectionism, an often overlooked and misunderstood subtype of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Two to three percent of the global population suffer from OCD. Of that number, approximately five percent of OCD sufferers report having religious or moral obsessions. Scrupulosity, an often under-recognized subtype of OCD, leads those affected to mistake clinical OCD symptoms for committing sins, offending God, or being morally corrupt. Many people with scrupulosity or moral perfectionism turn to clergy for help rather than a mental health professional. This book, authored by a therapist among the most experienced in the world in dealing with this disorder, covers the symptoms, diagnosis, history, development, causes, and treatment of scrupulosity. Intended for students, mental health professionals, and clergy, this essential resource includes the latest theory, research, treatments, and case studies necessary to recognize and destigmatize scrupulosity as well as encourage optimal treatment outcomes and relapse prevention.

Soul Theology

Soul Theology
Author: Nicholas C. Cooper-Lewter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 176
Release: 1991
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780687391257

Soul Theology distills the core beliefs that have provided and sustained a healing and balancing force in the black community throughout its history in North American.

Handbook of Religion and Health

Handbook of Religion and Health
Author: Harold G. Koenig
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 1113
Release: 2023-05-12
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0190088850

"The 2001 edition (1st) was a comprehensive review of history, research, and discussions on religion and health through the year 2000. The Appendix listed 1,200 separate quantitative studies on religion and health each rated in quality on 0-10 scale, followed by about 2,000 references and an extensive index for rapid topic identification. The 2012 edition (2nd) of the Handbook systematically updated the research from 2000 to 2010, with the number of quantitative studies then reaching the thousands. This 2022 edition (3rd) is the most scientifically rigorous addition to date, covering the best research published through 2021 with an emphasis on prospective studies and randomized controlled trials. Beginning with a Foreword by Dr. Howard K. Koh, former US Assistant Secretary for Health for the Department of Health and Human Services, this nearly 600,000-word volume examines almost every aspect of health, reviewing past and more recent research on the relationship between religion and health outcomes. Furthermore, nearly all of its 34 chapters conclude with clinical and community applications making this text relevant to both health care professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, counsellors, psychologists, sociologists, etc.) and clergy (community clergy, chaplains, pastoral counsellors, etc.). The book's extensive Appendix focuses on the best studies, describing each study in a single line, allowing researchers to quickly locate the existing research. It should not be surprising that for Handbook for the past two decades has been the most cited of all references on religion and health"--

Older Mexican Americans

Older Mexican Americans
Author: Kyriakos S. Markides
Publisher: Center for Mexican American Studies
Total Pages: 170
Release: 1983
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Religion in the Lives of African Americans

Religion in the Lives of African Americans
Author: Robert Joseph Taylor
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2004
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0761917098

Religion in the Lives of African Americans: Social, Psychological, and Health Perspectives examines many broad issues including the structure and sociodemographic patterns of religious involvement; the relationship between religion and physical and mental health and well-being; the impact of church support and the use of ministers for personal issues; and the role of religion within specific subgroups of the African American population such as women and the elderly. Authors Robert Joseph Taylor, Linda M. Chatters, and Jeff Levin reflect upon current empirical research and derive conclusions from several wide-ranging national surveys, as well as a focus group study of religion and coping. Recommended for students taking courses in racial and ethnic studies, multicultural and minority studies, black studies, religious studies, psychology, sociology, human development and family studies, gerontology, social work, public health, and nursing.

Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health

Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health
Author: Carol S. Aneshensel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 627
Release: 2006-11-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0387362231

This handbook describes ways in which society shapes the mental health of its members, and shapes the lives of those who have been identified as mentally ill. The text explores the social conditions that lead to behaviors defined as mental illness, and the ways in which the concept of mental illness is socially constructed around those behaviors. The book also reviews research that examines socially conditioned responses to mental illness on the part of individuals and institutions, and ways in which these responses affect persons with mental illness. It evaluates where the field has been, identifies its current location and plots a course for the future.

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die
Author: Sarah J. Robinson
Publisher: WaterBrook
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2021-05-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0593193539

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 583
Release: 2017-04-27
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309452961

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.