This book is a practical and biblical guide for all who engage in counseling African-Americans. Its purpose is to set forth the issues, principles, and interventions of counseling, especially in terms of marriage counseling and family therapy. Clarence Walker provides a framework for the book in the biblical story of the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian charioteer as recounted in the book of Acts. In Walker's view this story involves the same issues that confront African-Americans today. Specifically, in Part 1 Walker sees seven challenges that Philip faces as a "Christian counselor": - Ethnicity . . . - Socio-economics - Gender . . .- Environment - Sexuality . . . - Religion - Power -- Part 2 builds on this foundation to develop ten biblical principles for an effective therapeutic process -- all recognizable in the interaction between Philip and the Ethiopian. These include -- - Directive engaging . . . - Explorative questioning - Affective joining . . . - Positive terminating - Active listening . . . - Cooperative involving -- Part 3 explains biblical techniques for treatment. Five approaches are offered to use with couples, and three are presented for counseling individuals.
