Counseling Black Men and Boys with Excellence: Exploring Career, Clinical, and School Contexts is a groundbreaking and urgently needed contribution to the fields of counseling, education, and mental health. As a scholar who investigates the intersections of race, structural racism, and well-being in STEM, I recognize the profound importance of this volume in addressing the systemic inequities that Black males face across their lifespans. The editors and contributors powerfully dismantle deficit narratives and instead center Black fathers, sons, and communities through frameworks of resistance, cultural affirmation, and liberation.

The book’s emphasis on culturally relevant theories—such as Black Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Optimal Conceptual Theory—resonates deeply with my own work on equity ethics and the mental health toll of racialized stress. The chapters on Black fatherhood, career development, and school readiness offer actionable insights for practitioners, while challenging policymakers and researchers to reimagine systems that too often fail Black boys and men.

This volume is not just a resource; it is a call to action. It equips counselors, educators, and advocates with the tools to foster healing, empowerment, and joy in Black male clients. As someone committed to dismantling structural barriers in STEM and beyond, I celebrate this book as a vital blueprint for transformative practice. It is essential reading for anyone dedicated to ensuring that Black males thrive—academically, professionally, and holistically.

Erik M. Hines is a professor of counseling in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, and Educational Sciences within the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. His research agenda focuses on the postsecondary readiness and career development of Black men and boys across various contexts (P-12, community college, 4- year college/university) and critically examines how high impact programming shape their educational and career outcomes and experiences.

Sammy Steen is a professor, licensed Professional School Counselor, and Director of the Diversity Research Action Consortium within the Department of Counseling, Leadership, and Educational Sciences at George Mason University. Dr. Steen specializes in school counseling, group counseling and cultivating Black students’ academic identity development through research and practice.

James L. Moore III is the EHE Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and a professor of counselor education at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on school counseling, urban education, gifted education, STEM education, higher education, and multicultural counseling and education.

Introduction to Edited Volume; Erik M. Hines, Sammy Steen, and James L. Moore III
Section One. Career Counseling Context
Chapter 1. Considerations for Counselors Working with Black Males in Career Development; Delila Owens, Tanya J. Middleton, and Devon Carter
Chapter 2. Using Group Counseling as a Gateway to Improve Career Development through Mathematics for Black Males; Sammy Steen, Justin Ridgell, Erik M. Hines, Zikun Li, and James L. Moore III
Chapter 3. Black Males and Career Development; Diandra J. Prescod
Chapter 4. Creating Strength-Based Routes for Black Males to Survive and Thrive in Counselor Education Spaces; Michael Brooks, Micah Wyatt, Joshua Simpson, Desmond C. Rowe, Reginald Moore, S. Kent Butler, and Forrest Foster
Chapter 5. Promoting Belonging and Happiness for Black Male Faculty and Staff at a Predominantly White Institution; Philip Wilkerson, Sammy Steen, Hung-ling (Stella) Liu, and Zikun Li
Section Two. Clinical Mental Health Counseling Context
Chapter 6. Affirming the Ethic of Care: Considerations for Counseling Black Father Clients; Michael D. Hannon and Marcus Jasmin
Chapter 7. Reducing Suicidality among Black Boys Using Cultural and Environmentally-Based Mental Health Counseling Interventions; Mark A. Bolden, Otis Williams III, Marja Humphrey, and Erynne C. Dixon
Chapter 8. All Black Men are Not the Same: A Clinical Mental Health Counseling Perspective; Joanne Frederick
Chapter 9. The Role of Mental Health Counselors in Protecting Black Boyhood; Ebony White, Linzy Andre, and Sailume Walo-Roberts
Chapter 10. Healing Centered Approaches to Sustain Resilience in Black Men; Regine M. Talleyrand, Rachael D. Goodman, and Stephanie F. Dailey
Chapter 11. Enhancing Counseling Services for Black Men Collegians: A Culturally Engaging Counseling Approach; Derrick R. Brooms
Section Three. School Counseling Context
Chapter 12. Feeds, Screens, and Streams: An Exploration of Social Media's Influence on the Socialization of Black Boys and Implications for School Counseling Practice; Janice A. Byrd-Badjie, Nakisha Whittington, Jesse Okoth Onyango-Opiyo, Deepika Raju Nantha Kumar, and Clyde D. Johnson II
Chapter 13. “I just knew too much…does that make me crazy?!”: Interrogating How School Counseling Theory and Practice Encroaches on the Existential Realities and Imagination of Black Boys; Ahmad R. Washington
Chapter 14. School Counseling from a Stance of Black Male Liberation; Jordan Shannon
Chapter 15. Broaching the Subjects of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture with African American Males: Implications for School Counselors; Norma L. Day-Vines and Dantavious Hicks
Chapter 16. Changing the Game: Introducing Creative and Culturally Responsive School Counseling Approaches to Support Black Male Youth; Jacoby Loury, James Norris, and Ian Levy
Chapter 17. Counseling Excellence: Leveraging Otherfathering to Address the Academic Success and Well-Being of Young Black Males Through School Counselor-Community Collaborations; Diane Reese
Chapter 18. Tending to the Whole Child: Humanizing Black Boys and Young Men through An Abolitionist Approach to #BlackBoyJoy and Wellness; Renae D. Mayes, Riley Drake, Carla B Cheatham, Katharine Mitchell-Dodge, and Mandy K. Dhahan