Raising Mental Health Awareness in the African American Community:

A Collaborative Approach Help bring awareness to African American mental health during mental health month with Dr. Robinson, who has conducted extensive research and workshops in mental health theology formation, biblical counseling, and paradigms for healthy partnerships between pastoral and mental health professionals.

In the United States, approximately one in five adults live with a mental illness. People of color in general and the African American community in particular are disproportionately affected by undiagnosed and untreated mental health concerns (National Institutes of Health, 2022). The reasons for this disparity are socioeconomic, systemic, cultural, and personal. This proposal presents four critical areas and ways to raise mental health awareness and normalize the use of mental health services within the African American community: (1) Faith-based institutions, (2) Social advocacy organizations, (3) Celebrity culture, and (4) Social enclaves. Ways in which each of these critical areas can collaborate with the mental health community will be presented and discussed.