Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Counselor Education

First Advisor

Sarah Kiperman

Abstract

Black gay cismen (BGCM) are among the highest population demographics to experience body image dissatisfaction (BID) and among the least likely to seek healing programming. Culture-specific experiences such as sexual racism have been linked to body image dissatisfaction among BGCM. While the harmful experiences of sexual racism have been studied among BGCM, body image healing programming continues to address the needs of predominantly White straight ciswomen. Additionally, medical mistrust, identity preservation, and culturally incongruent healing practices have been linked to reasons BGCM are reluctant to seek healing practices. This dissertation aims to address the gap in existing literature by employing the Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (PCSIM) to develop, implement, and evaluate a culture-specific body image dissatisfaction healing program for BGCM ages 14 to 29. Furthermore, researchers conduct a systematic review of BID healing literature to understand the effective healing practices enacted with this community, while employing grounded theory methodology to understand what BGCM perceive as the core components in developing a culture-specific healing program. Lastly, a pilot study design is implemented to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the body image dissatisfaction healing program for BGCM called The Category is: Body (TCiB).

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