African American Single Mothers Raising Sons: Implications for Family Therapy

The Use of Spirituality and Kinship as Contributors to Successful Therapy Outcomes with African American Families

“…At other times, churches served as places of education, political grounds, or places offering social, emotional, or financial welfare to its community (Chaney, 2008). In addition, parents relied on the church to help them provide their children with a solid moral foundation (Gantt & Greif, 2009). Finally, through the religious lens of the worship experience and relationships along with the Bible, Koran, or other written scriptures, the Black church provided people with the opportunity to examine existential questions on the meaning and purpose of their lives (Chatters & Taylor, 1998).…”

“…The multisystems model (Boyd-Franklin, 2003) allows therapists to view the clients' presenting problem at multiple levels, to include significant extended family and nonfamily members in the therapy process or as sources of support, and to utilize the resource of a spiritual or "church family" (2003, p. 247). As clinicians identify core beliefs of African American families, they may uncover positive spiritual viewpoints that are therapeutically efficacious when utilized carefully and sensitively in the reframing process (Boyd-Franklin & Lockwood (as cited in Walsh, 1999); Gantt & Greif, 2009). Greene and Jones (2006) recommended the inclusion of family members who serve as caregivers of older adults or disabled individuals into the assessment process to determine the caregiver's risk and quality of well-being.…”