Date of Award
Spring 3-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
D.S.W. Social work
Department
Social Work
First Advisor
Dr. Stephen W. Stoeffler
Abstract
The African-American pastor is a trusted provider of leadership and counseling within the Black church and community. Pastors and ministry leaders are often the first responders of mental health issues faced by their congregants and community members. As a trusted and sought-after source for counseling, the African-American Pastor is a mental health provider to a community who often does not pursue professional mental health counseling. Although the community is susceptible to the same mental illness as other ethnic groups, there is mistrust for the medical and mental health community and inequality in the available resources. This study 1) examined what the research literature says about African American Pastors’ knowledge of mental health literacy 2) how the domains of mental health literacy were integrated into the African-American Pastor’s roles of leader and counselor. A systematic review was conducted and fifteen research articles met the criteria for the systematic review. Results suggest African-American pastors and ministry leaders who provide counseling services have knowledge of mental health literacy and have used it to provide appropriate counseling programming or have referred to mental health professionals. African-American pastors and ministry leaders who werenot identified as having education in mental health literacy have a low or not applicable response on the mental health literacy domains. In conclusion, the knowledge of mental health literacy is necessary tool to provide appropriate counseling intervention and referrals to mental health professionals.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Townsend, Michelle A., "African-American Pastors' Mental Health Literacy, Leadership and Counsel: A Systematic Review" (2022). Social Work Doctoral Dissertations. 23.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/socialworkdissertations/23
Included in
Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Counseling Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Practical Theology Commons, Social Work Commons
