The purpose of Ms article is to acknowledge the utility of an Afrocentric systems approach to treating obese or overweight African American women. It is suggested that a treatment program should address and integrate the strengths and supports of the culture into the development of interventions. African American beliefs about psychotherapy and family, cognitive and coping styles, religiousness and spirituality, and body satisfaction and body image, as well as current approaches to treating obesity and overweight, are considered. This literature is used to frame guidelines for helping African American women with eating problems, body dissatisfaction, or weight management in ways that do not dismiss the experience of multiple oppressions (i.e., racism, sexism, and the stigma of obesity and overweight).

In the literature on chronic or life-threatening illness, there is an overriding emphasis on clients' psychological coping styles and how they relate to psychological functioning. By contrast, in our approach, we look at the subjective mind/body experiences that clients have of their illness and how their lives are impacted by their illness. As psychotherapists, we address their existential distress, pain, body experience, thoughts, and feelings, as well as their efforts to cope or find meaning in their illness. We summarize Gestalt/Existential therapy for chronic illness, illustrate the approach with three case-vignettes, and stress the importance of attending to each client's unique responses to illness.

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