Biblical Counseling with African-Americans

This book is a practical and biblical guide for all who engage in counseling African-Americans. Its purpose is to set forth the issues, principles, and interventions of counseling, especially in terms of marriage counseling and family therapy. Clarence Walker provides a framework for the book in the biblical story of the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian charioteer as recounted in the book of Acts. In Walker's view this story involves the same issues that confront African-Americans today. Specifically, in Part 1 Walker sees seven challenges that Philip faces as a 'Christian counselor': - Ethnicity . . . - Socio-economics - Gender . . .- Environment - Sexuality . . . - Religion - Power — Part 2 builds on this foundation to develop ten biblical principles for an effective therapeutic process — all recognizable in the interaction between Philip and the Ethiopian. These include — - Directive engaging . . . - Explorative questioning - Affective joining . . . - Positive terminating - Active listening . . . - Cooperative involving — Part 3 explains biblical techniques for treatment. Five approaches are offered to use with couples, and three are presented for counseling individuals.

This book fills a long-existing need for a guide to Biblical counseling with African Americans that is written by one who lives and understands the black experience. Walker uses the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8 as a model for outlining the principles and issues that arise in counseling African Americans.

Taking the apostle Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch as a springboard, the author sets forth the challenges and techniques employed by the apostle as principles still useful for those who counsel black Americans today.

Clarence Walker is a licensed marriage and family couselor who holds a PhD in counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary and an MSW from Temple University. He is an ordained minister and the founder-director, with his wife Ja'ola, of Clarence Walker Ministries, a preaching, teaching, and music ministry in Philadelphia.