ABSTRACT
Strategies for therapeutic success with African American males William D. Allen Healing Bonds Minneapolis, Minnesota
J. Phillip Rosier, Jr., and Larry G. Tucker Kente Circle Minneapolis, Minnesota
Introduction In this chapter, the authors discuss strategies and resources available to clinicians seeking to improve their effectiveness when working with African American males across the life span. Throughout their lives, African American males interact with others in relationships that range from casual to intimate, and whose duration can span from minutes to decades. As is the case for males in other ethnic groups, these relationships are shaped by both internal and external factors. Examples of internal factors include these males’ psychological and physical health, as well as their intelligence, skills, and resiliency. External factors include material resources (e.g., wealth), social influences (e.g., institutional racism or the local economy), and environmental influences (e.g., neighborhood health or weather). When these factors cause Black men and boys to struggle in their relationships, counseling or psychotherapy can help increase insight about problems and solutions, provide emotional relief from the distress the problems cause, and provide a path back to individual and relational well-being (Boyd-Franklin, 1989; Franklin, 1992).
