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Being Examples to the Flock: The Role of Church Leaders and African American Families Seeking Mental Health Care Services

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Abstract

Within the context of Black churches, African American clergy have a significant role in the delivery of mental health care services for parishioners and their families. Working toward better linkages between faith-based communities and more formal mental health care could help to provide more culturally sensitive and timely mental health care for African American families. Using a salient part of an integrative model (Davey and Watson in Contemp Fam Ther 30:31–47, 2008), the roles Black church leaders have historically played for African American families seeking outside mental health care services are considered. We additionally provide an example of a recent collaborative partnership with a Black church that points toward some promising directions for future research and clinical collaborations between the field of couple and family therapy and the Black church community.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programs in Couple and Family Therapy, Drexel University, Mail Stop 905, 1505 Race Street, Suite 403, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, USA

    Argie J. Allen & Maureen P. Davey

  2. Department of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Adam Davey

Authors
  1. Argie J. Allen
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  2. Maureen P. Davey
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  3. Adam Davey
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Correspondence to Maureen P. Davey.

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Allen, A.J., Davey, M.P. & Davey, A. Being Examples to the Flock: The Role of Church Leaders and African American Families Seeking Mental Health Care Services. Contemp Fam Ther 32, 117–134 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-009-9108-4

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