Abstract
African Americans face disproportionate exposure to psychosocial stressors—such as systemic racism, poverty, and neighborhood disadvantage—that adversely impact mental health. Despite these exposures, they remain significantly less likely than White Americans to seek formal mental health services, often turning instead to faith leaders and church communities for support. In response, this article describes Renew Your Mind (RYM), a culturally tailored, spiritually integrated mental health training for African American clergy, co-developed through the CHURCH (Congregations as Healers, Uniting to Restore Community Health) Project, a community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) initiative. Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles, RYM integrates evidence-based mental health strategies with Black church traditions and theological frameworks to enhance faith leaders’ ability to provide informal psychosocial support. Although designed for clergy, RYM first invites leaders to experience its benefits before adapting and modeling it within their ministries. The study is presented using Provus’s program evaluation framework, with emphasis on the first two. A brief overview of evaluation plans and preliminary findings is included, with detailed results forthcoming. RYM represents a novel, community-grounded model that bridges formal and informal care systems, addressing long-standing mental health disparities through faith-based, culturally congruent approaches.
Keywords
Each year, an estimated one in five Americans experiences a mental illness (SAMHSA, 2021). Relative to their non-Hispanic White counterparts, African Americans are disproportionately exposed to key risk factors (e.g., poverty, neighborhood disadvantage, and racial discrimination) that adversely impact their mental health (Cogburn et al., 2024; Hankerson et al., 2022; Pederson, 2023). Despite greater exposure to these risk factors, however, African Americans’ prevalence of mental illness is roughly comparable to (and on some metrics, lower than) that of Whites (Hays & Aranda, 2015; Hays & Gilreath, 2017). In addition, despite a similar prevalence of mental illness, African Americans are only half as likely as their White counterparts to seek professional mental health services (Hays & Aranda, 2015; Lukachko et al., 2015; McGregor, 2020). Rather than seeking help from psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, or other mental health providers, clergy are often the first, preferred, and only source of mental health services that many African Americans pursue (Bolger & Prickett, 2021; Scribner et al., 2020).
According to the Pew Research Center, three-quarters of African Americans (compared to 49% of Whites) say religion is essential in their lives, 73% report praying daily, and nearly half (47%) attend religious services at least once a week (Mohamed et al., 2021). In light of these data, it is not surprising that African Americans are also more likely than Whites to turn to their faith, their churches, and their clergy (versus other mental health systems or providers), during times of distress (Hays, 2015; Richardson et al., 2024). Given this reality, Hays and Aranda (2015), in their systematic review, concluded, Social workers and mental health practitioners would be wise to collaborate with local congregations that serve African Americans, as this may help to bridge the gap between formal and informal support for mental problems among African Americans and other groups challenged by mental health disparities. (p. 786)
Other scholars made a similar recommendation that faith communities are strategically engaged in the effort to promote mental health among African American populations (Lukachko et al., 2015; Smith-Woods & Diggs II, 2024).
Despite the importance of clergy and faith communities to African Americans, surprisingly little research and few mental health interventions explicitly incorporate clergy or faith into their designs. Furthermore, few interventions seek to equip clergy or congregations to assist their members with stress, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, or other behavioral health challenges, whether it be through individual counseling, support groups, or referral to trained mental health providers (for an exception, see Williams et al., 2014).
A community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) project (Jones et al., 2009), known as the CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health) Project was developed to address the aforementioned gaps (Moon, 2026). The CHURCH project team developed Renew Your Mind (RYM), a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based and spiritually integrated mental health training to enhance the capacity of Black church leaders to provide informal mental health support for congregational members. Recent literature highlights the promise of culturally adapted CBT in improving engagement and therapeutic outcomes among racially and ethnically diverse communities (Huey et al., 2023; Nobre et al., 2021). Building on this growing evidence, faith-based adaptations represent an important and underutilized approach for cultural adaptation.
In the context of this article, the term Black church refers to predominantly African American Christian congregations that have served as the spiritual, cultural, and social foundation of Black communities across the United States (Lincoln & Mamiya, 1990). Reflecting recent trends in how Black churches are defined (Barna Group, 2021), this article identifies a Black church based on the self-identified racial composition of the senior pastor and the majority of congregational members, rather than by denominational affiliations.
The primary purpose of this article is to introduce and explicate a model for integrating evidence-based mental health intervention (e.g., CBT) with Scripture, illustrated through a detailed description of RYM (pronounced “Rhyme”) program. The article also details the development of the CHURCH project, highlighting how a church-academic partnership served as the foundation for collaboratively designing of RYM. Finally, the article presents a brief overview of the evaluation plan and preliminary findings from a recent pilot study, which will be reported in greater detail in a forthcoming publication.
The CHURCH (Congregations as Healers Uniting to Restore Community Health) Project
The CHURCH project was launched in 2019 shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Consistent with the conclusion of Lukachko et al. (2015), the CHURCH project was built on the belief that, “[g]iven the central role of clergy, investigators should test the feasibility and acceptability of training African American clergy in brief, evidence-based mental health interventions” (p.6). To achieve this goal, the CHURCH project partnered African American clergy with an experienced team of academic researchers and practitioners to build a new CPPR collaboration to develop and pilot a culturally tailored, CBT-based, and spiritually integrated mental health training program to be embedded in African American churches.
Specific aims of the study were to (1) design and launch a new academic–community partnership in collaboration with a neighborhood-based ministerium in Pittsburgh, PA—Homewood Community Ministry; (2) to jointly develop a culturally tailored mental health training program (i.e., RYM) designed to equip African American faith leaders with evidence-based resources and tools (CBT) to manage mental distress; (3) to examine implementation outcomes including acceptability, appropriateness (perceptions of the fit), and feasibility of disseminating CBT knowledge and skills through Black churches; and (4) to examine the effects of the training on faith leaders’ knowledge of core CBT principles and skills, attitudes toward CBT, and confidence in providing informal mental health support.
Evaluation Framework and Developmental Phases
The CHURCH project’s developmental trajectory aligns closely with the stages articulated in Provus’s Discrepancy Evaluation Model (1969): definition, installation, process, and product. Similarly, the project embodies principles emphasized in participatory evaluation approaches (Fitzpatrick et al., 2011), such as shared decision-making, cultural relevance, and community ownership of outcomes. Viewing the CHURCH project through this lens helps situate the program within a broader life cycle of development and implementation. This article primarily focuses on the first two stages—definition and installation—by describing in detail the formation of the CHURCH project and the development of the RYM intervention. The subsequent stages, process and product, are briefly summarized to illustrate ongoing implementation and early outcomes, which will be reported in greater detail in a forthcoming manuscript. Table 1 summarizes the alignment of the study aims with Provus’s (1969) evaluation stages.
Alignment of the CHURCH Study Aims With Provus’s Program Evaluation Stages.
Definition: Designing a CPPR team
The project began by identifying the priority dimensions of mental health-related issues among African American communities and identifying potential solutions to address those issues. These tasks were carried out through regular in-person and online project meetings among the members of the project team, an interdisciplinary academic-faith community partnership between the University of Pittsburgh and Homewood Community Ministries (HCM). HCM is a faith-based nonprofit organization comprising 13 member churches in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Homewood is a predominantly African American community, located on the east end of the city, characterized by decades of disinvestment, high rates of residential and economic segregation, and their sequalae (e.g., poverty, vacant and abandoned properties, crime, unemployment, and single-parent households) relative to the rest of the City of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania.
Despite the neighborhood’s challenges, resilience is a strong trait in the community, often undergirded by faith, and led by churches that are a part of HCM. HCM has been a beacon of hope in the neighborhood over the years by working to address gun violence, food insecurity, health disparities, and other issues plaguing the neighborhood. HCM has led food distributions, Christmas toy giveaways, and organized a Community Problem-Solving Walk. HCM has partnered with the City of Pittsburgh, the Zone 5 Police Department, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Public Schools, and other organizations to offer viable solutions to the community’s challenges.
The CHURCH project began with three senior pastors from African American churches in Homewood and four faculty members of color at the University of Pittsburgh. One of the senior pastors, who is also a professor at Pitt, reached out to his pastor colleagues in the community and his professor colleagues at the university with a vision to harness the power of Black churches and the demonstrated effectiveness of CBT to impact the mental health of African Americans positively. The team collectively possessed expertise in pastoral care and spiritual counseling in Black churches as well as music therapy, CBT, health disparities research, implementation science, and community-engaged research. Such diversity of background and expertise was necessary to develop the type of mental health training program to be implemented and sustained in African American churches, such as RYM.
The CHURCH project employed a CPPR design. CPPR combines health services research with community-based knowledge and practices (Jones et al., 2009), grounded in five core values: respect for diversity, openness, equality, empowerment (redirected power), and an asset-based approach to work (Jones et al., 2009). CPPR upholds the 12 fundamental principles that are essential to preserve its original intent, which are summarized in Table 2 (Jones et al., 2009).
The 12 Principles of Community-Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR).
Following the core principles of CPPR, community partners have been fully participating in all aspects of research, including research design, data collection and analyses, and dissemination activities. During the first year of the partnership development, each member of the project team, including researchers, students, and community partners, had an opportunity to share their motivation and goals, and how they uniquely contribute to the team’s collective vision. In addition, all members participated in learning collaboratives, which entailed reading and discussing relevant articles. First, all members learned the principles of CPPR and discussed how to apply those principles to our team processes, which led to the development of the CHURCH project collaborative principles, adapting the original 12 principles of CPPR by integrating Scripture (Table 3).
The 11 Principles of CHURCH Collaboratives.
After establishing the guiding principles of participation, members took turns leading sessions according to their substantive areas of expertise to educate other members, ensuring that all members developed a basic understanding of how each person would contribute to the team’s goals.
During this stage, several challenges emerged in working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. First, differences in language, priorities, and expectations between academic and church partners required intentional effort to establish shared understanding of the intervention’s purpose and scope. In particular, church partners varied in their familiarity with mental health concepts and evidence-based intervention terminology, and some initially understood RYM as a clinical or therapeutic service rather than a preventive, faith-integrated mental health promotion program. Researchers also had to learn how to effectively translate technical research and clinical terminology into language that was accessible and meaningful to community partners.
Even within the academic partnership, differences emerged between tenure-stream faculty whose primary responsibilities centered on research and teaching and administrative faculty with more limited exposure to research processes, requiring additional time to clarify roles, timelines, and expectations. Similarly, the interdisciplinary research team encountered variation in authorship norms, organizational culture, and communication styles, which were addressed through explicit discussion, transparent decision-making, and ongoing relationship-building. In addition, students’ need to navigate inevitable hierarchical relationships with faculty at times created challenges in establishing clear boundaries and expectations within collaborative partnerships. To address these challenges, the team engaged in ongoing assessment of the team dynamics and collaboration processes through surveys and reflective conversations on topics related to their positionality, power dynamics, and decision-making
Investment in team building at the initial forming stage was central to establishing a sustainable partnership. Sustaining the collaboration over time involved ongoing dialogue, mutual learning, and intentional relational repair, informed by shared faith commitments that reinforced grace, forgiveness, and continued commitment to the shared purpose that is larger than any individual perspectives and priorities.
Installation: Development and pilot implementation of RYM
Building upon the solid partnership established through CPPR approaches, the CHURCH project team co-developed RYM, a culturally tailored and spiritually integrated mental health training curriculum grounded in the core concepts and principles of CBT. RYM aims to enhance the capacity of African American churches to serve as informal mental health support systems. Although RYM primarily focuses on training faith leaders, it is designed to first engage them as if they were congregational members. This experiential approach allows pastors and lay leaders to personally experience the benefits of the program and deepen their self-awareness regarding mental health topics. Faith leaders are then encouraged to model, adapt, and teach these principles within their own congregations. Significant efforts have been made to fully integrate evidence-based clinical mental health interventions (e.g., CBT) with spiritual teachings typically delivered within Black churches. Furthermore, the team carefully designed its implementation strategies, considering the unique context of African American churches to increase buy-in and sustainability, which will be described in greater detail later.
Overall structure
RYM is comprised of four modules, including (1) orientation to the training, (2) automatic thoughts (ATs), (3) intermediate beliefs (IBs), and (4) core beliefs (CBs). ATs, IBs, and CBs represent three distinct levels of human cognition that are targeted in cognitive restructuring processes in CBT. Sessions 2 through 4 consist of the four sections: (1) CBT didactic components that introduces core concepts of CBT, (2) experiential learning activities that translate theoretical concepts of CBT into actionable practices, (3) biblical integration that reframes CBT concepts and skills from a spiritual perspective, and (4) music and prayer designed to integrate and deepen the understanding of all session materials through the spiritual experiences.
The first two sections are intended to be presented by CBT experts, preferably clinicians of color or those with a deep understanding of the African American culture. The third and final sections will be delivered by clergy, mirroring the traditional experiences of the Black church during Sunday worship services, which include sermon-style speech, praise and worship segment, and group prayer. Clergy leading these sections are encouraged to integrate call-and-response, invitations for group singing and meditation, group prayers, all of which enrich the typical Black church experience.
Session 1: Orientation
The orientation session introduces participants to the RYM program. It begins with a brief background of the CHURCH project, highlighting its nature as a community participatory study and the collaborative processes involved in developing the program. In addition, the study aims are clearly discussed, which is to promote positive mental health among African American communities amid their unique challenges in accessing quality mental health care. The orientation session also includes a brief overview of Mental Health in Contemporary Society, presented by an experienced psychiatrist, to normalize mental health topics. In this section, mental health is introduced as a cornerstone of overall well-being, enabling individuals to manage stress effectively and engage positively within their communities. This is contrasted with mental illness, which is a diagnosable clinical condition that affects one is functioning in mood, thinking, and/or behavior. The importance of de-stigmatizing mental illness is highlighted by the facts that it represents organ dysfunction (e.g., the brain), like diabetes (i.e., the pancreas) or hypertension (i.e., the heart and blood vessels), and that it can, similarly, be treated. Factors that influence mental health, including genetic predispositions and life experiences (such as adverse childhood experiences [ACEs]), are described. Finally, safe and nurturing relationships are noted to be key protective factors that build resilience and reduce the risk that life’s challenges will lead to mental illness in the future.
CBT introduction
Since RYM is grounded in the principles and concepts of CBT, the orientation session includes a brief overview of its underlying theories of change and the history of its development. CBT focuses on changing negative thought patterns to more helpful and adaptive ones through cognitive restructuring, which leads to positive changes in emotions and behaviors. Recognizing that individuals may respond differently to the same event, that is, triggering events, CBT treatment seeks to identify these individual patterns of thinking, which are shaped based on significant life events such as early childhood experiences or trauma. The session highlights the connections between these core principles and concepts of CBT and Scripture, underscoring the importance of cultivating a sound mind, as referenced in Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This Scripture served as an inspiration for the program’s development and established the theological foundation for the entire RYM program.
CBT has evolved significantly since Albert Ellis introduced Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in the 1950s, followed by the rise of behavioral therapy in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Aaron T. Beck discovered negative thinking patterns related to self, others, and the world, known as the negative triad, as a central feature of depression, which led to the development of CBT through multiple clinical trials. By the 1980s, extensive research and testing solidified its effectiveness, leading to its widespread adoption as a gold standard treatment modality for many mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders, PTSD, suicidality, and others. RYM training highlights recent efforts to overcome the limitations of traditional CBT, in particular, the effort to align treatment approaches with cultural values of minority communities and considering the systemic challenges like childhood racial trauma and oppression. These contemporary developments in CBT foster strength and coping skills, promote nonjudgmental and collaborative problem-solving, and integrate creative outlets such as art, music, theater, dance, and drama to align with cultural values and promote healing.
Along with a brief introduction to CBT, ground rules are discussed to optimize the training experiences and protect participants from potential harm. For example, RYM Agreement (Supplemental Appendix I) is introduced, which emphasizes that (1) the training is not a replacement for professional treatment, (2) the training teaches self-help skills to address mental health challenges, and (3) the training endorses partnership approaches, including an individual, faith leaders, and other church family. Basic expectations of participation are discussed, and the confidentiality rules are highlighted to maintain the privacy of the attendees except in situations that present danger to attendees or others. Information and resources are shared with those who have professional treatment needs.
Mental Health in the Bible: “God’s antidote for Mental Health Issues: A Sound Mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) The orientation session also introduces Scripture deals with mental health topics. The session begins with articulating God’s vision for the mental health of humanity, which is to maintain a sound mind. Then, it discusses well-known biblical figures such as Naomi, Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, Jonah, the Disciples, and Martha, who struggled with mental health issues such as bitterness, depression, fear, grief, panic attacks, and anxiety. The goal is to highlight how the Scripture is not silent about mental health topics, and therefore, how mental health is relevant to all believers.
Then, mental health challenges are discussed as three broad categories: Emotional imbalance (inorganic), chemical imbalance (organic), and demonic influence, illustrating a connection or progression among them. For example, emotional issues can turn into mental health problems when a sound mind is absent, marked by (1) diminished capacity for reasoning, (2) a detachment from reality, and (3) uncontrollable emotions. When left unaddressed, these issues can disrupt daily life and lead to obsessive behaviors, prolonged struggles, and substance dependency, ultimately escalating into more severe mental health challenges.
In contrast, “a sound mind” is devoted, delivered, disciplined, dominated, and discipled. The Scripture teaches that a delivered mind is reconciled to God. A devoted mind aligns with the teachings of Jesus, who said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37). This means dedicating every part of your being—your emotions, spirit, and intellect—to loving and honoring God. A discipled mind seeks growth through learning and understanding God’s truth (2 Timothy 2:15). A dominated mind is guided by godly principles, focusing on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and virtuous (Philippians 4:8). Finally, a disciplined mind is one that is focused, self-controlled, and steadfast in hope. As 1 Peter 1:13 instructs, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” This means preparing one’s mind for action, staying spiritually alert, and keeping your thoughts aligned with God’s promises and hope.
Therapeutic effects of music
The orientation session also introduces therapeutic effects of music based on the science of music therapy to provide a rationale for integrating Black church music into RYM. Historical evidence supports that the use of music for healing was a common practice in ancient times across diverse geographic regions. For instance, drumming and dance were frequently employed in African tribal healing rituals. Similarly, sound bowls in Ancient Egypt and bamboo flutes in traditional Chinese medicine serve as additional examples (Keyes, 1973; Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, 2016). Moreover, the well-known story of David, whose harp playing alleviated Saul’s mental distress, further illustrates the therapeutic power of music.
It was not until World War II that modern medicine rediscovered the therapeutic effects of music. Musicians were invited to perform in the hospital ward, singing and playing instruments to aid in the recovery of wounded soldiers, because as it was written: it [music] is one of the most effective vehicles for bringing a group together, for releasing emotions, and for creating a spirit of fellowship and esprit de corps . . . If he simply listens to music, his interests are broadened and his sense of well-being is generally increased. (Hattaway, 2022, p. 18)
People soon realized the importance of providing basic medical training to these musicians, ensuring they would not inadvertently exacerbate the patients’ conditions due to their lack of medical knowledge. This marked the birth of music therapy as a distinct healthcare profession. Today, music therapists are employed in a wide range of healthcare settings, including hospitals, mental health clinics, rehabilitation centers, special education facilities, hospices, and other healthcare institutions. Research has shown benefits of music therapy in promoting emotional well-being, facilitating social connections and communication, inducing relaxation and better sleep, enhancing concentration and memory, accelerating neurological rehabilitation, and promoting spiritual experiences.
The RYM training emphasizes how these benefits can be experienced in group musical experiences, such as in Black church music, and encourages the intentional use of worship music to promote healing and positive mental health, particularly, the significance of Black church music within Black communities throughout their history of slavery, through modern days.
Then, the presenter describes how each musical piece in the RYM training was carefully selected in consultation with professional local Black church musicians to represent the core message in each session while honoring the preferences and music traditions in Black churches. Participants are encouraged to immerse themselves in music during the training, referencing various verses from both the Old and New Testaments that advocate for the use of praise to enhance spirituality: Shout for joy to the LORD . . . burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn (Psalm 98: 4-7)
. . . be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord . . . (Ephesians 5: 18-20).
Music and prayer
The orientation session concludes with a musical segment led by a clergy member who will also lead the audience into meditation and prayer, accompanied by group singing. The central tenet of the RYM program is reinforced alongside the theme Bible verse (Romans 12:2). Popular traditional hymn, Sanctuary, was selected for this session to reinforce the concept of ongoing renewal of the mind until the believers are sanctified and their minds are transformed into a Christ-like mindset (Church Project 2019, 2024c).
Session 2: Automatic thoughts
CBT didactics
Session 2 focuses on ATs, which are the most superficial level of human cognitions that quickly and spontaneously arise in response to a situation. They are often rapid, brief, and accepted without logic but can powerfully influence people’s emotional, physiological, and behavioral reactions to triggering situations. Individuals possess unique schemas often developed from childhood events in response to current triggering situations, and people with depression or other affective disorders tend to exhibit exaggerated negative responses, which contribute to maintaining mental health symptoms. Thus, CBT aims to enhance clients’ awareness of their ATs by identifying triggering situations, recognizing patterns of ATs, and understanding their consequences. The goal is to help them replace these thought patterns with more helpful and adaptive thinking.
Experiential learning
To help attendees apply the concepts of ATs to their efforts to manage positive mental health, participants are encouraged to create a list of Bible verses that help interrupt negative ATs and share it with other participants. Then, an ATs handout (Supplemental Appendix II) is introduced where they can write down triggering events and their negative ATs in response to the identified triggering situations where they felt intensive negative emotions or engaged in unhelpful behaviors. Then, participants are encouraged to replace the negative ATs with biblically inspired thoughts and identify the Bible verses that they found helpful. They are encouraged to keep the list of Bible verses for future reference and also to share with other members of the church to help with the process of evaluating the validity and utility of their ATs.
By altering negative thought patterns into more positive ones rooted in faith and belief, new emotions—centered on peace—can emerge, leading to healthier and more beneficial behaviors. The processes described above represent the most fundamental processes of cognitive restructuring that take place in CBT, which help people challenge and reframe unhelpful thinking patterns.
Spiritual integration
A clergy begins the biblical integration section by summarizing the core concepts introduced in the CBT didactic section, subsequently highlighting the parallel processes of thought examination encouraged in the Bible: We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4c-5).
Believers are encouraged to engage in spiritual warfare that begins in the mind, where arguments, obstacles, and thoughts are addressed with spiritual mechanisms rather than worldly means. Scripture challenges unhealthy ATs and calls believers to align their minds with Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform their thinking and guide their entire being. Philippians 4:8 provides a framework for controlling ATs, urging believers to focus on what is true (in alignment with biblical reality), honorable (lifting the mind for things above the world), just (right for all parties involved), pure (leading away from sin and shame), pleasing (attraction), and commendable (what is best in every area of life). Correct thinking is foundational to righteous living, as one’s thought patterns directly influence one’s life. By replacing anxiety and worry with thoughts rooted in these principles, believers can live transformed lives that reflect Christ’s teachings. This integration of CBT and Scripture demonstrates how spiritual tools can address negative thoughts, fostering a renewed mind that aligns with biblical truths and leads to peace, righteousness, and spiritual growth.
Music and prayer
After the biblical integration section is finished, the pastor who led the session continues to engage attendees in group singing, meditation, and prayer, facilitating deeper reflection on the content presented. In the training we provided, we used the popular contemporary Christian music, Waymaker (Church Project 2019, 2024d). The lyric describes the power of God that can help believers overcome daily challenges and obstacles, helping them reframe their problem-focused perspectives into more helpful and adaptive thinking.
Session 3: Intermediate beliefs
CBT didactics
The third session focuses on IBs, which are attitudes, rules, and assumptions that drive our enduring patterns of behaviors and decision-making. Attitudes represent the positions we hold about various aspects of life that can be articulated as general statements, such as “It is terrible to experience failure,” or “A life not recognized by others is not worth living.” Rules can be articulated as “should” or “must” statements, reflecting underlying attitudes. For example, those with the attitude of “It is terrible to experience failure” may have developed the internal rule that “I should avoid any actions that could result in failure” or “I must succeed in all my endeavors.” Those same ideas can be translated into an assumption statement: “If I fail, that means I am a terrible person,” or “If I am not successful, that means I am not worthy.”
In the structure of human cognitions, IBs serve as a bridge between ATs and CBs. The upcoming section will delve deeper into the concept of CBs, which represent the most fundamental level of thought. Individuals with mental health challenges frequently hold highly rigid and dysfunctional beliefs in how they or others should live. Significant efforts are invested in adhering to these internal rules, sometimes to the detriment of their well-being, yet many remain largely unaware of their inflexible beliefs and expectations. IBs would rarely be explicitly articulated, but most frequently manifest through repeated patterns of behavior, referred to as “compensatory behaviors,” silently shaping one’s entire life. The examples of compensatory behaviors include continuous worries, pushing people away, seeking approvals, and reassurance all the time, repeatedly checking things for accuracy and perfection, keep taking on more responsibilities beyond one’s capacity, being guarded all the time, and more. These patterns of behavior will ultimately affect one’s quality of life and relationships.
Researchers compiled IBs that negatively impact one’s mental health such as in the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) (Beck et al., 1991; de Graaf et al., 2009; Weissman & Beck, 1978), a validated measure of IBs that is used in clinical and non-clinical settings. Research has shown that highly negative IBs are associated with increased vulnerability to mental illness. In the RYM training, the concepts of IB are introduced along with their impact on one’s behaviors, decision-making, and mental health.
The presenter will walk through practical steps for participants to go through to address potential issues related to IBs, which include the following action plans: (1) pay attention to your reactions to triggering situations; (2) identify ATs; (3) try to understand what underlying attitudes and rules might be associated with those ATs; (4) examine whether the IBs (rules and attitudes) are in line with the Scripture; (5) if not, correct those thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide this process; (6) act as if your thoughts have been changed and repeat!
Experiential learning
Participants will receive a link to complete an online version of the simplified DAS scale. The full list of questions is included in Supplemental Appendix III. The link will automatically return the DAS scores with interpretation of the results. Participants will be encouraged to share the results and insights developed based on the activity with other participants. In addition, the presenter will facilitate group discussions regarding how to apply the action plans they learned to address specific issues they identified through the DAS activity. The following questions can be asked to prompt discussions: (1) What do you think about the result? (2) Are you surprised by the result? (3) Is this an issue that you have been aware of? and (4) Are there areas that you want to change?
Spiritual integration
The spiritual integration part explores how IBs shape behaviors, emphasizing the importance of grounding thoughts and actions in biblical truths to address distorted thinking and unhealthy emotional patterns, while fostering spiritual growth and transformation. Scriptures are paired with common dysfunctional attitudes—approval, love, achievement, perfectionism, entitlement, omnipotence, and autonomy—to illustrate God-centered approaches to overcoming them (see Table 4).
Domains of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS) and Relevant Scripture.
The presenter emphasizes the importance of allowing biblical truth to guide one’s thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making instead of being dictated by the internal rules shaped by one’s life experiences and secular worldview. A few tools to consider are using a thought journal to capture IBs, using prayer, confession, and spiritual identity statements to reframe and replace dysfunctional attitudes, and incorporating spiritual disciplines (Scripture reading, worship, fellowship) to further integration as well as enhance discipleship. The goal is not just symptom reduction but spiritual transformation, which leads to emotional healing, a renewed mindset, a Christ-centered identity, and relational wholeness.
Music and prayer
Participants are invited to engage in group singing, meditation, and prayer again, reflecting on the session content. The popular hymn “I surrender all” was chosen in our training to convey the message of giving up one’s lifestyle to live a life guided by Scripture (Church Project 2019, 2024b).
Session 4: Core beliefs
CBT didactics
The last session begins with a brief video that explains the concept of CBs, how they are formed within attachment relationships and by early childhood experiences, and how they shape one’s life by influencing all levels of thoughts, including IBs and ATs. CBs are the most fundamental beliefs the individuals hold about themselves, others, and the world. People with mental health challenges often exhibit very negative and rigid beliefs, which are referred to as the negative triad, a central feature of major depressive disorder.
The presentation emphasizes the importance of not only addressing more surface-level thoughts but also going deeper by reflecting on the fundamental beliefs that people hold to change their thinking patterns truly. It provides an outline of an integrated approach to CBT that incorporates biblical principles, aiming to change negative CBs that life experiences and internalized values have shaped. This integration involves leveraging clients’ religious beliefs to replace unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and aligning therapeutic interventions with spiritual insights. The biblical verse, Proverbs 23:7 (“. . . for as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”), serves as a thematic foundation, emphasizing the connection between beliefs and identity.
Evaluating thoughts against spiritual affirmations helps believers to challenge negative CBs by evaluating evidence that supports or contradicts these thoughts. It integrates faith by encouraging users to refute harmful beliefs with biblical proofs. Examples include examining events that challenge or affirm CBs and using biblical references, such as John 15:13, to refute negative self-perceptions. This approach highlights the importance of faith-based narratives in promoting positive cognitive and emotional transformation during the therapeutic process.
Experiential learning
To help the audience to apply the didactic learning about CBs, the presenter introduces the Biblical Core Belief Worksheet (Supplemental Appendix IV) and walks through the steps of identifying negative CBs, evaluating them against biblical principles, and replacing them with more helpful and adaptive thoughts that align with biblical truth about self, others, and the world/future. This process is referred to as “examining the evidence” technique in CBT.
Spiritual integration
A clergy begins this section by summarizing the core concepts of CBs and how they influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions. This presentation focuses on examining the topic of CBs through the lens of the Scriptures by contrasting common CBs with Kingdom CBs—new beliefs, rooted in what God’s word says about us as citizens of the Kingdom of God, and as children of its King. The presenter highlights how negative CBs can be activated during negative life events and then trigger automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) that elicit negative feelings and behaviors, reinforcing ANTs and maintaining the negative cycle. The presenter introduces the five ways (Table 5) that believers can experience God’s peace by renewing their minds in alignment with Kingdom Core Beliefs. In this presentation, peace is defined as a state of inner tranquility and freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts, as described in 2nd Thessalonians 3:16: “Now, may the Lord of peace himself grant you his peace at all times and in every way.”
Five Ways to Exterminate Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) and to Experience God’s Peace.
Then, the presenter explains how the repeated patterns of ANTs are rooted in CBs at more fundamental level and introduces the four steps of RYM plan to address negative CBs (Table 6). These steps are further elaborated upon through a case scenario included in Supplemental Appendix V that can be easily encountered in church environments.
Four Steps to Replace Negative Core Beliefs to Kingdom Mentality.
Music and prayer
A contemporary Christian song Gracefully Broken was chosen for the final session to reflect the content about CBs (Church Project 2019, 2024a). The lyrics of the song convey a sense of surrender and devotion to God. It describes being broken due to our exposure to trauma and adversities, shaping our negative CBs. However, it implies that our inner strength can be restored by gracefully surrendering to God’s will, asking for His guidance, strength, and purpose in life. The song offers everything we are, as we seek God’s presence and transformation, trusting in His power to work through our weaknesses. While these musical pieces were carefully selected in consultation with professional Black church musicians, each church implementing RYM can modify the music selection, taking into account the preferences of its congregation and cultural traditions.
Process and product: Evaluation plan and summary of preliminary findings
Currently, initial pilot evaluations on implementation and effectiveness outcomes are in progress. The implementation outcomes include feasibility, acceptability (buy-in), and appropriateness (intervention fit), which are examined using descriptive analyses of validated measures. Interviews and focus groups with Black faith leaders who participated in the pilot implementation of RYM provide qualitative data for mixed-method data analysis looking for convergence and divergence of the findings. The qualitative data also informs rapid qualitative data analysis (St. George et al., 2023) on implementation facilitators and barriers.
The effectiveness outcomes include Black faith leaders’ knowledge of core CBT principles and skills, attitudes toward CBT, and confidence in providing informal mental health support for congregational members. Utilizing the quasi-experimental design and t-test analyses, pre- and postintervention scores on these outcomes are statistically compared with assess preliminary effectiveness of RYM.
The evaluation of the RYM program is still in early stages, but initial findings are promising. Preliminary analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the program was both feasible to deliver in African American church contexts and well received by clergy participants. The early evidence also indicates positive improvement in the participants’ acquisition of CBT knowledge, attitude toward CBT, and their reported ability to apply these skills within congregational settings. Qualitative data also supported that faith integration in RYM using Scripture and Black church music highlights the strengths and resilience within Black churches, suggesting RYM as a culturally acceptable model. These findings underscore the potential of RYM as a scalable church-based approach to reduce mental health disparities while maintaining fidelity to evidence-based CBT.
More detailed report on the preliminary outcomes will be provided in a forthcoming article. Future studies will focus on evaluating RYM effects with a fully powered sample of Black faith leaders. In addition, a congregant version of RYM that directly engages members of Black churches beyond leaders will be developed and tested concurrently to achieve the project’s long-term goal, which is to improve the mental well-being of African American populations. To achieve this goal, the CHURCH project seeks to maximize the Black churches’ capacity as a source of informal mental health support through innovative methods of culturally tailoring evidence-based mental health interventions informed by stakeholder-engaged approaches.
Discussion
The RYM program reflects a broader paradigm shift in mental health service delivery, recognizing the importance of culturally situated and spiritually integrated interventions. Historically, the delivery of evidence-based treatments, such as CBT, has often occurred in clinical settings, often detached from the cultural and spiritual realities of diverse populations. However, RYM demonstrates that it is both feasible and clinically meaningful to adapt established therapeutic principles to align with the faith-based values and practices that are central to the daily lives of many African Americans.
This approach challenges the long-standing dichotomy between professional mental health care and faith-based support, illustrating that these domains can be harmonized rather than held in tension. By co-developing RYM through a CPPR process, RYM acknowledges clergy not only as referral agents but as collaborative partners and co-facilitators of mental health promotion. At the same time, RYM maintains fidelity to evidence-based therapeutic principles by preserving core CBT constructs (ATs, IBs, CBs) while embedding them within scriptural teachings, church music, and prayer practices that are deeply familiar to participants.
In addition, from the program evaluation standpoint, the CHURCH project provides a unique model of participatory evaluation situated within a CPPR project that recognizes faith leaders as full partners of research (Fitzpatrick et al., 2011). Unlike many other church-based research that is solely led by researchers, this project was co-designed and executed through active engagement of the church stakeholders. Through these participatory processes, the CHURCH project contributed to community capacity building through a partnership built on reciprocity and mutual benefit, in line with the CPPR principles. For example, pastors in the project team have been utilizing the new knowledge they have gained to better serve the congregational members of their churches. Two African American pastors active in the faith communities of Homewood have been equipped with the knowledge and skills in participatory research methods, implementation science, process and outcome evaluation, and qualitative data analysis. In addition, one of the pastors has started teaching at a local university as a guest lecturer and adjunct professor. The pastors who collaborated on the project have obtained a certificate of completion in Community Partners Research Ethics Training (CPRET), which was developed by the joint effort between the Human Research Protection Office (HPRO) and the Community Engagement Core at Pitt CTSI (Moon, 2026). In addition, they have participated in disseminating research findings at national conferences to benefit Black church communities beyond the greater Pittsburgh region (Moon, 2025; Moon, 2026; Moon et al., 2022).
A CPPR project emphasizes mutual gain. Accordingly, beyond aforementioned community impact, the CHURCH project also created a robust impact on research and academia. For example, four junior faculty of color with limited research experience have been fully immersed in community-engaged research through the project. In addition, two faculty members who have been teaching CBT in an MSW program have revamped the curriculum by integrating topics related to spirituality and community dissemination. The pastor with an MSW degree, who began teaching at an MSW program following his exposure to academia through the project, has played a crucial role in addressing the critical gaps in incorporating spirituality into social work education and practice. Master’s and doctoral students have gained valuable experience through deep community immersion while assisting with RYM implementation, participant recruitment, data collection, and analysis. They also had the opportunity to co-present with community partners at scholarly conferences alongside faculty members. The team also published a scholarly article, which received positive reviews for its creative approach to involving faith leaders in the CPPR process.
The partnership generated a meaningful impact on multiple levels. For example, the project’s launch in the fall of 2019 led to the creation of a support system for faculty and African American faith leaders navigating the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Equipping faith leaders with culturally tailored evidence-based methods to promote the psychological and spiritual well-being of African American congregations was particularly important during the pandemic when the communities of color experienced increased mental health challenges stemming from various structural issues, social isolation, trauma, and grief and loss. One of the pastors in the project team stated, It helped me as a pastor, and it also encouraged several of us to address mental health issues within our congregations. I certainly drew on insights gained during the project to inform my sermons, prioritizing the importance of mental health during and after the pandemic (JW, personal communication, January 2024).
The CHURCH project and RYM program contribute to the growing movement of mental health promotion that aligns with community values and spiritual traditions (Berkley-Patton et al., 2021; Tierney et al., 2025), addressing critical gaps in the knowledge of effective strategies to reduce mental health disparities among African American communities through church-based interventions. For clergy, this work illustrates how churches can draw upon long-standing theological commitments to holistic care by integrating mental health promotion into existing pastoral roles as advocates, counselors, and healers, while also offering concrete tools to reduce stigma and reframe mental health concerns as part of the human experience rather than indicators of spiritual deficiency. For mental health clinicians, RYM demonstrates the importance of partnering with trusted faith leaders, translating clinical concepts into spiritually resonant language, and respecting the church as a primary context of care and resilience. For researchers, this project highlights the value of community-engaged research that attends power, culture, relationships, and spirituality throughout intervention development and implementation. Collectively, these implications suggest that faith-integrated interventions, when co-developed with clergy and community stakeholders, can extend the reach of mental health promotion efforts while honoring the church’s enduring responsibility to care for the whole person in communities historically marginalized by systemic inequities and racial trauma.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-ptj-10.1177_00916471261429437 – Supplemental material for Renew Your Mind: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-Based and Spiritually Integrated Mental Health Training for African American Faith Leaders
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ptj-10.1177_00916471261429437 for Renew Your Mind: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)-Based and Spiritually Integrated Mental Health Training for African American Faith Leaders by Deborah J. Moon, John M. Wallace, Toya Jones, Jonathon Counts, William R. Glaze, Paula Marie Powe, Aliya Durham, Jubaida Auhana Faruque and Hyung Jik Lee in Journal of Psychology and Theology
Footnotes
Authors’ Contributions
As the principal investigator (PI) of the CHURCH project from 2019 to 2023, JW was primarily responsible for conceptualizing and designing the entire study. He also contributed to the development of RYM, creating the opening of the introduction and the biblical integration section of session 4. Since around 2021, DM has overseen the study’s execution and has served as PI from 2023 to 2024. She developed the music therapy content for the introduction and the CBT didactic session on IBs, authored the manuscript based on RYM content, and managed the development process by assigning sections to contributors. TJ contributed CBT-related content to the orientation and didactic sessions 1 and 2. JC developed biblical integration sections for sessions 1 and 2. WG created the “Mental Health in the Bible” section of the introduction and led efforts to adapt CPPR principles for the project. PMP developed content on “Mental Health in Contemporary Society” for the introduction and addressed childhood trauma in the CBT CB section. YD led the community engagement aspect of the CHURCH project and assisted in drafting the manuscript’s discussion section. JAF helped with developing the initial draft of the manuscript based on the RYM content under DM’s supervision and contributed to editorial revisions. HJL drafted the abstract and parts of the discussion section.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The project was funded by the Center for Research on Innovations in Services and Equity in Mental Health and the Center on Race and Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh.
Ethics Considerations
The CHURCH project was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Pittsburgh.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.
Supplemental material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Author Biographies
References
Supplementary Material
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