THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD - BLACK-WOMEN AND THE BLACK CHURCH AS AGENTS OF A THERAPEUTIC-COMMUNITY

The purpose of this essay is to contribute to the understanding that m ental health problems are often endemic to the life experiences of Bla ck women, and that the ways of womanists within the context of therape utic Black churches can offer healing responses to problems that are o ccasioned primarily by the oppressive social infrastructures of racism , sexism, and classism. This paper will attempt to draw connections be tween the political, social, and economic contexts of Black women's li ves and ''dis-eased'' states, and to promote an integrated understandi ng of the life and mental health experiences of ''churched'' African A merican womanists.