PASTORAL COUNSELING WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN

Pastoral counseling with African American men focuses on a holistic un derstanding of manhood that is rooted in the deepest inner feelings, v alues, and intentions emerging from a man's life. Through pastoral cou nseling, the African American male discovers his unique self, his true emotions and feelings, his meaning and purpose for life, and his uniq ue contribution and vocation to the world. He is able to engage in all aspects of life, including the formation of close and intimate relati onships with significant others, while taking full responsibility for his own growth and development. Pastoral counseling identifies the sou rces of his manhood as including his African heritage, the African Ame rican tradition of equalitarian relationships and androgenous roles, t he penchant for oral styles of communication, the use of Bible stories and characters, arid the capacity to be empathic with African America n women.