Black Fathering and Mental Health

This edited volume is the first work purposefully designed to amplify the voices of Black men in communicating their mental health needs and challenges while fathering in their families and communities. Dr. Michael Hannon has convened a group of Black fathers and aspiring fathers, who are also professional counselors, and they offer unique and untapped perspectives about the needs, challenges, and victories of Black fathering across the family life cycle in the context of an anti-Black world. In each chapter, the contributors offer counselors and other mental health professionals a resource to assist them in providing culturally relevant and responsive support to Black fathers at various points across the family life cycle and more comprehensively understand the circumstances that might prompt—and prevent—Black fathers to seek counseling support. "Dr. Michael Hannon and his colleagues have broken new ground with a unique and timely contribution to the literature of Black fathering and anti-racism. Through their lived experience as sons and fathers, combined with their education and experience as mental health counselors, they are transparent, vulnerable, proud, reflective, articulate, committed, engaged Black men who thoroughly disrupt the racist trope of the absent Black father. Their lived experiences are diverse and reflective of the broad spectrum of family constellations in our society. I read this manuscript as an Arab American, having raised two Biracial Black children with special needs. The fears expressed about their children experiencing the dangers of racism and white supremacy resonated deeply in my heart from when I held my children for the first time. Each contributor includes reflections on how counseling helped or could have helped their fathering. Hannon’s concluding chapter is actionable recommendations for counselors and other mental health professionals for working with Black fathers. In sum, this book will instruct and inspire the reader with the resilience and determination of Black men and fathers." —Robert Naseef, PhD, Alternative Choices, Psychologist, Author of Autism in the Family: Caring and Coping Together and Special Children, Challenged Parents: The Struggles and Rewards of Raising a Child with a Disability "Black Fathering and Mental Health is a rich, nuanced account of the reality of Black fathering in the context of their families, neighborhoods, villages, and larger society. While reading, you feel like you are sitting next to these men as they share their innermost thoughts and feelings, and their lessons learned, about the strengths, challenges, and triumphs of Black fatherhood. As a counseling psychologist, I see this book as an inspiring look inwards into one’s own community, telling the story as only insiders can. It is an essential text for counselors and any mental health professional working to understand and support Black fathers or fathers-to-be. In fact, I would argue that it is a must read for anyone who has Black men and boys in their lives." —Muninder Kaur Ahluwalia, PhD, Professor, Montclair State University, Author of Taking Action: Creating Social Change through Strength, Solidarity, Strategy, and Sustainability "Rarely have the voices of African Americans fathers been recognized. This text highlights the lived experiences of courageous African American men. Each chapter provides a window into the inner lives of African American fathers in ways that help professional counselors directly meet their mental health needs. This needs to be a required text for practicum and internship counseling courses." —Carla Adkison-Johnson, PhD, LPC, Department Chair and Professor, Western Michigan University and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development "This beautiful book makes me want to be somebody’s father. It overflows with love, impressive vulnerability, inspiring examples, and useful guidance. It is a must-read for every Black man who is or aspires to be a father, as well as everyone who aims to effectively support them." —Shaun Harper, PhD, Clifford and Betty Allen Professor, University of Southern California, Author of College Men and Masculinities: Theories, Research and Implications for Practice and Advancing Black Male Student Success from Preschool Through PhD