Question

Various sources state that religion and spirituality play an important role for African-Americans (Sue & Sue, 2012) and that a “strong spiritual base can enhance personal resilience” (Hines & Boyd-Franklin, 2005, p. 93). In addition, there are “spiritual forces as meaningful phenomena in the life realm and decision-making processes” for African-Americans (Toldson, 2008, p. 173). Considering the information from your text and other sources, imagine that an African-American male named Jay has had some negative and disappointing experiences with the church he attends. He attends a prominent African-American church that has various outreach programs and strong community connections; however, Jay feels he’s been neglected by his church as none of the elders, deacons/deaconesses, or ministers have followed-up with him about problems he has shared with an elder or two about his past substance abuse.

He struggles with the shame and guilt of past use and he is disappointed that no one in the church seems to care. At times he feels more connected and more at home with his substance abuse support group that meets at the local county health department rather than his church. In addition, he feels he’s been “bossed around” by an elder who oversees the ministry that Jay serves in. He’s seen this same elder and other elders exhibit similar behavior with being “bossy” or putting down someone’s suggestion in front of others. He has made several attempts to meet with the pastor but either no one calls back or that the earliest available appointment is a few weeks out.

With these and other experiences, he is struggling spiritually and feels like he’s having a “crisis of faith” regarding his personal relationship with Christ. (Crisis of faith can be defined as one having serious questions and/or doubts about faith but is not limited to this definition.) He still loves God but is questioning the meaning of his walk due to his church experiences. Because of these experiences, he feels the temptation to use again to relieve his distress.

As a human service professional working with Jay, what would you do to address his problems and concerns, and what areas might be important to consider when working with him? Would you incorporate aspects of your faith to help him address his crisis of faith, and if so, how? (As you answer the spiritual part of the question (“aspects of your faith”), keep in mind to answer in a way that does not impose upon Jay.).

Please provide an answer with references

Answer 1

Ans) When working with Jay it’s important to understand what he believes in, and what is the nature of his problem. As per my understanding Jay knows that his issue of substance abuse is wrong and want to move away from it, he believes that by talking to people from his religious community would help him abstain from substance abuse, and it would also help him integrate and be accepted by the community. But we see that his attempts to seek help have failed leading to disappointments and feeling of doubt on the faith of the community.

It’s important to note that Jay wants to move away from substance abuse and his faith in God is intact, only his faith in his religious community has been impacted. I would speak to him using reference from the Bible since he is a Christian, and talk to him about first changing his own personality, and that he should keep a positive approach when dealing with people and not get disappointed by what people say or do. I would advise him that God would take care of you, but he has to take care of himself first. Would urge him to take up a new hobby like reading the Bible daily and making new friends and discuss what he has learnt, this would help him overcome feeling of guilt since he would be doing something acceptable in line with the requirements of his religious community. I would state to him the parable of Jesus in Luke Ch11:11-27 of the bible which talks of the prodigal son and how God as a father would accept and forgive his wrongdoing if one is genuinely repentant. Would also suggest he pray to God daily and connect with him. Since he believes in God this would help him stay focused on solving his problem of substance abuse, but will also keep him feel guilt free, knowing that he is doing the right thing acceptable by God.