All Black Men Are Not the Same: A Clinical Mental Health Counseling Perspective

Abstract “Don’t stay out too late. It’s not safe out there. As a Black male, you must be vigilant about your surroundings, even while driving.” Or we say, “Take off your hood,” “Do not get locs; people will judge you.” These are the types of statements that we tend to tell our Black boys and our Black men, with a fierce desperation to protect them from the harsh and complex world they have to navigate. Too often we hear similar statements or have said them ourselves. The author, as a parent of young Black males, has said these frequently—often from a place of love cocooned in fear. This body of work focuses on the counseling needs of Black men post the COVID-19 global pandemic. The goal is to explore and apply new, relevant, and multicultural considerations when addressing the mental health needs of Black men today, post the COVID-19 pandemic. Research conducted on the body of work created from 2020 to present concerning the diverse experiences of Black men in America will be explored. Clinical scenarios will be displayed that give examples of lived experiences of Black men. These clinical scenarios will be from the current writer’s clinical experience. Lastly, tips will be shared on how to address the clinical mental health needs of Black males from a clinical perspective using the Multicultural Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts et al., 2015) model, while informing current research, practice, and policy.