Culturally Competent Counseling for Religious and Spiritual African American Adolescents

Religion and spirituality are deeply rooted in traditional African American culture. Data suggest that African American adolescents maintain higher baseline rates of religious activities and beliefs than their peers (Bachman, Johnston, & O'Malley, 2005; Smith, Faris, Denton, & Regnerus, 2003). Recognizing these data, this article examines strategies for helping school counselors enhance their multicultural counseling competence through the integration of African American adolescents' value orientations and belief systems in counseling aimed to maximize academic, career, and personal/social development.