Future 4 Teens: A Community-Based Therapeutic Model for African American Youth

ABSTRACT

Culturally grounded therapeutic services orchestrated to meet the needs of African American youth remain sparse. The authors address this gap in the areas of scholarship and clinical practice by detailing Future 4 Teens (F4T), an integrated community therapy and education service model targeting African American youth ages 12– 21 years old. Based on interview data from former F4T participants (n = 8; M_age = 21.62 years), the authors also highlight salient components of the interventions contributing to its effectiveness and subsequent impact on African American youth’s psychosocial functioning and academic engagement.

KEYWORDS:

• Community mental health model
• African American adolescents
• multicultural counseling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandi Pritchett-Johnson

Brandi Pritchett-Johnson is a Licensed Psychologist, Assistant Professor, and Director of Clinical Training for the Counseling Psychology program at Wayne State University, located in Detroit, Michigan. Her research, teaching, and practice focus on culturally responsive practice and clinical supervision.

Martinque K. Jones

Martinque K. Jones is a Licensed Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas.  Parts of this research were conducted during a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan. Her research centers on applying an intersectional paradigm to the study of Black women's identity, mental health, and counseling processes.