Blog Week #5 "Young black men prefer black counselors."

(A) Giving that only 2% of psychologists are African-American, it concerns me that this number is so low when black men prefer a black counselor. The first question I asked myself is, Why is this number so low? I feel like many problems that men deal with stem from the issues that began in slavery. I feel as if they have a lot of anger and animosity built up and I feel like its GREAT that black men are seeking help to deal with their hidden issues. I feel that since this number is so low, black men will began to turn away from counseling. I hope that there is an increase in this number because the reality counseling seems to be beneficial to black men and talking to someone that they can relate to helps them to be honest with themselves and uncover things that they never paid any attention to. I really hope this number goes up becaue this is may help black men to progress and create some sense of brotherhood.
(B) Some major areas of concerns for black men were anger over racism. This feeling is common in most African-Americans and is usually silent. This can be dealt with inwardly or outwardly and may be expressed in the emotion of depression. This is linked to racism with is linked to internalized self-hatred. Feelings of invisiblility is a major issue for black men because they experience an inner struggle and their abilities and what they have to offer seems to go unnoticed. When personal identity is lost, individuality is lost. I feel as if this explains why black men are lacking in many aspects of their lives. Counseling is a huge step for any person to take because thats the point where people admit to themselves that there is a problem. The other major issuses addressed in the articles are: Addressing the Racial Difference, Therapeutic Approach, Considerations Concerning the Perception of Racism, Employment Issues, Group Counseling Issues, Issues Associated with Masculine Role Strain, and Educational Issues. It makes me happy that these problems are being addressed in the black community because it gives me hope for the African Americans to unify and uplift each other to overcome all of slavery's setbacks.