BLACK WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH (SUNY Press, 2017)

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES / WOMEN’S STUDIES / PSYCHOLOGY

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Creates a new framework for approaching Black women’s wellness, by merging theory and practice with both personal narratives and public policy.
 
This book offers a unique, interdisciplinary, and thoughtful look at the challenges and potency of Black women’s struggle for inner peace and mental stability. It brings together contributors from psychology, sociology, law, and medicine, as well as the humanities, to discuss issues ranging from stress, sexual assault, healing, self-care, and contemplative practice to health-policy considerations and parenting. Merging theory and practice with personal narratives and public policy, the book develops a new framework for approaching Black women’s wellness in order to provide tangible solutions. The collection reflects feminist praxis and defines womanist peace in terms that reject both “superwoman” stereotypes and “victim” caricatures. Also included for health professionals are concrete recommendations for understanding and treating Black women.

“…this book speaks not only to Black women but also educates a broader audience of policymakers and therapists about the complex and multilayered realities that we must navigate and the protests we must mount on our journey to find inner peace and optimal health.” — from the Foreword by Linda Goler Blount
July 2017 / 256 pages  |  Illustrated: 4 tables  |  $85.00 hardcover  | $ 25.95 paperback

FEATURE REVIEW OF

BLACK WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH

Book Descriptions 

CONTENTS

Research Collective


Foreword by Linda Blount, Director of Black Women’s Health Imperative
Introduction. Learning to BREATHE: Toward a Balanced Model of Black Women's Mental Health
               Evans, Bell, Burton         

Part I     BALANCING VULNERABILITY
Sisters on Sisters: Inner Peace from the Black Woman Mental Health Professional Perspective
               Kanika Bell 

When the Bough Breaks: The StrongBlackWoman and the Embodiment of Stress  
               Chanequa Walker-Barnes      
       
Representations of Black Women’s Mental Illness in HTGAWM and Being Mary Jane
               Nsenga Burton

Selfies, Subtweets, & Suicide: Social Media as Mediator and Agitator of Mental Health for Black Women
              Joy Harden Bradford

Part II    BALANCING STRENGTH                   
From Worthless to Wellness: Self-Worth, Power, and Creative Survival in Memoirs of Sexual Assault 
               Stephanie Evans

Travel Diaries: Excursions for Balance, Reflection, Healing, and Empowerment
               Kami Anderson

My Body is a Vehicle: Narratives of Black Women Holistic Leaders on Spiritual Development, Mental Healing and Body Nurturing
               Rachel Panton   

Black Women's Sexuality and Relationships: Embracing Self-Love through BREATHE-ing 
               Qiana Cutts

African American Mothers’ Parenting in the Midst of Violence and Fear: Finding Meaning and Transcendence
               Ruby Mendenhall, Loren Henderson, and Barbara M. Scott
 
Part III   STRATEGIES FOR BALANCE
Black Feminist Therapy as a Wellness Tool
               Lani V. Jones and Beverly Guy-Sheftall

Looking Through the Window: Black Women’s Perspectives on Mental Health and Self Care
               Maudry-Beverley Lashley, Vanessa Marshall, and Tywanda McLaurin-Jones

Don’t Go Back to Sleep: Increasing Well-Being through Contemplative Practice
               Veta Goler

Love Lessons: Black Women Teaching Black Girls to Love
               Sheila Flemming-Hunter, Ayo Afejuku, and Alero Afejuku 

Transformative Mental Health for African American Women: Health Policy Considerations
               Daniel Dawes and Kisha Holden

Afterword by Diane R. Brown & Verna M. Keith, authors of In and Out of Our Right Minds
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