TPC Journal-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 3 173 is important for counselors and counseling researchers to seek more information about the religious coping practices of individuals, such as African Americans, who are historically underrepresented in mental health research and central to the conversation on mental health and spirituality. African Americans’ Use of Religious Coping The Pew Research Center (2018) reported that African Americans are more likely to identify as Christian than other Americans in the United States. Eighty-three percent of African Americans believe in God with absolute certainty (Pew Research Center, 2018) and 75% consider religion to be important in their lives. Seventy-five percent of African Americans report that they pray daily (Pew Research Center, 2018). Given the salience of religion in the lives of African Americans, it is imperative for counselors to consider how these beliefs inform coping practices. Chatters, Taylor, Jackson, and Lincoln (2008) reported that African American and Black Caribbean women were more likely to use religious coping than men, and those who are married utilized religious coping more than those who are unmarried. Although African Americans have increased their proximity to mental health resources, preferences toward religiosity over formal help-seeking remain (Dempsey, Butler, & Gaither, 2016; Hardy, 2012). Hankerson, Watson, Lukachko, Fullilove, and Weissman (2013) conducted a series of focus groups with African American pastors of a predominantly Black megachurch in New York to learn more about individuals’ experiences with depression and the role and responsibilities of churches to respond to this diagnosis. Through consensual qualitative research, the scholars found that pastors prayed with members and provided them scripture-based guidance. The pastors also mentioned referring parishioners to more formal counseling services depending on the severity of the issue. However, the church remains an integral part of African Americans’ coping support systems (Campbell & Littleton, 2018). Similarly, Avent et al. (2015) found that Christian African Americans seek out religious supports for a diverse range of life circumstances, often going to their pastor for guidance rather than a professional counselor. These strong ties to faith communities and reliance on religious coping support warrant additional attention from counseling researchers and practitioners. The integration of an individual’s religious and spiritual background is not only culturally responsive, but it is considered ethically responsible in treatment (American Counseling Association, 2014; National Board for Certified Counselors, 2016). However, given the dearth of literature that exists that focuses explicitly on Christian African American experiences with religious coping, counselors may feel ill- prepared to have these critical conversations and unequipped to integrate these interventions and techniques in the therapeutic relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the religious coping practices of Christian African Americans. The research question that guided the study was, “What are the experiences of Christian African Americans who use religious coping practices?” Methods The purpose of phenomenology is to unearth the essence of individuals’ experiences with a particular phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994). This research approach assumes that multiple realities can co-exist simultaneously and juxtaposes more positivist, quantitative perspectives that suggest a certainty in knowledge (Hays & Singh, 2012; Hays & Wood, 2011), and participants can share their personal experiences with the phenomenon under investigation (Hays & Wood, 2011). In this case, this methodological approach seemed to be most appropriate to investigate the experience of African