Date
5-22-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
D. Kristen Small
Keywords
African Americans, Blacks, church, clergy, help-seeking, mental health care, pastors
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Evans, Penelope, "The African American Mental Health Dilemma: A Phenomenological Case Study on How Christian Clergy are Bridging the Gap" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5690.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5690
Abstract
The history of African Americans is composed of ongoing inhumane and normalized mistreatment that continues to generate widespread issues and challenges. African Americans’ current higher likelihood of exposure to one or more traumatic life events increases the possibility their emotional and mental well-being will be negatively impacted. The ethnic group’s development in historical trauma and abuse is being acknowledged as an underlying factor in the alarming increase in serious mental health conditions in African Americans. Continued racial and discriminative dynamics further increase African Americans’ susceptibility and risk for severe psychological illnesses in the United States. African Americans’ higher tendency not to seek mental health care from professional mental health care providers compounds the problem. Historically, their reluctance to seek professional mental health care is valid—based on mistreatment—as are African Americans’ tendency to turn to faith leaders for help with psychological and emotional distress. African American churches, which developed as a support system for the race through their oppressive history, emerged as the largest informally established institution to obtain their confidence while offering spiritual guidance and countless other resources. Today, faith leaders, along with mental health professionals, are confronted with a growing African American mental health dilemma. Greater awareness and understanding of the complex issues African Americans who seek mental health care face is needed to address the current crisis effectively. The purpose of this case study is to glean insight from the lived experiences of sought-after Christian clergy serving in the gap and assisting African Americans with mental health challenges.
