Church Members Counsel the Bereaved

From left:  Quiana Golphin, Channing Moreland, Laura Dietz, Khavah Murray

To help address racial disparities in mental health care, Pitt researchers in the Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, are collaborating with leaders of Black churches in several Pittsburgh neighborhoods to create a program to provide counseling skills and create new entry points for residents to access services. The program, called TRIBUTE—Training Religious Leaders in Bereavement Counseling to Upskill Treatment Experiences—is based on the premise that relying on ordained and lay church leaders in Black communities will reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment and normalize conversations about mental health.

TRIBUTE also addresses the significant shortage of mental health clinicians of color, say Associate Professor Laura Dietz and Assistant Professor Quiana Golphin. While clergy and paraprofessionals, such as nursing assistants and health care aides, provide support for grieving individuals in communities of color, most do not have formal mental health training. Graduates of this training, called community support advocates, implement the program in their congregations under the supervision of licensed mental health providers on the TRIBUTE leadership team.