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"A Womanist Wellness Intervention for Black Women: A Pilot Study"

As counseling and other helping professions have both overpathologized and underserved Black women, this multi-method research study pilots a non-clinical intervention on mental health and wellness for Black women. Despite a growing body of research on distinctive stressors for Black women and racially gendered expectations of strength that impact mental health, there are few intervention studies in the counseling field. Informed by a womanist framework and an evidence-based wellness model, the pilot study involves the development, implementation, and evaluation of a culturally relevant psychoeducational group that embraces the complexity of Black women’s strength and supports mental health and holistic wellness. Using a pretest-posttest survey design and focus group, the research has two central goals: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot, and (b) to elicit participant perspectives and recommendations for culturally relevant counseling outreach and other services.