TPC Journal-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 3 179 did not state that God was their only source of sustainment, they did seem to suggest that it was the most vital. Although the counseling research about African Americans’ perspectives of God is more limited, this finding is consistent with research in other professions. For instance, Woodward and Sowell (2001) conducted a qualitative investigation of women diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The participants in that study emphasized that “God is in control” as a means of coping and alluding to the involvement of God in their personal lives (p. 240). Similarly, the participants in our study found solace in trusting the sovereignty of God. Participants in our study spoke about positive and negative religious coping strategies. It is important to note that all the participants in our sample were women, which could explain the centrality of religious coping, as Chatters et al. (2008) found that African American women were more likely to engage in religious coping practices than African American men. The participants used religious coping as a support but also as a way to make meaning, particularly in stressful situations. Although much of the literature on the intersections of faith and mental health focuses on the influence on help-seeking, the responses from these participants also provide insight into meaning-making, which is important for counselors to understand as they work with this population. Although the focus of this current study was on religious coping, our participants spoke a great deal about faith development. Many of the insights shared aligned with popular faith development models, such as Fowler’s (1981) Stages of Faith. Thus, one can assume that a particular stage of faith may inform the type of religious coping strategy utilized. Moreover, the participants seemed to suggest that higher-order stages of faith (i.e., those stages that involve more self-reflection, awareness, openness, and the ability to acknowledge the existence of multiple truths) aligned with more positive religious coping strategies. Although an in-depth description and analysis of Fowler’s Stages of Faith is outside the scope of our study, it is important to discuss to offer some additional context for this particular theme and as a way for counselors to deepen their client conceptualizations and inform their therapeutic interventions (Parker, 2011). The emphasis on the Bible as a coping mechanism is consistent with data from the Pew Research Center that reports that 54% of African American adults read scripture at least once per week and 51% support a literal interpretation of scripture. Thus, African Americans may be inclined to endorse scripture texts that identify suffering as a means of entry into heaven. For instance, 1 Peter 5:10 (New International Version) states: “And the God of all grace, after you have suffered for a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” The ideas of suffering are extraordinarily nuanced for African Americans, as religion became a way to cope with and understand oppression. Some Black Church theologies consider suffering as a means to the desired reward in heaven (Avent & Cashwell, 2015). These theological underpinnings and understandings of scripture have an essential influence on African Americans’ preference for religious coping and under-utilization of counseling services (Avent & Cashwell, 2015). Overall, the findings that emerged support longstanding notions that mental health stigma is prevalent in African American communities and that religion and spirituality are critical components of coping responses and understanding help-seeking patterns (Avent Harris & Wong, 2018). It is noteworthy that participants in our study were generally supportive of participating in counseling; three of the participants had participated in secular counseling. Therefore, the current findings suggest that even when negative attitudes are absent, it still might not result in help-seeking. Thus, it is time to move beyond seeking to solely understand attitudes toward help-seeking and learn more about actual coping behaviors.