This study explored the effects of a person's God image and religiosity on his or her attitudes toward seeking mental health services. God image for participants was measured using the God Image Scale (Lawrence, 1997) and the Loving and Controlling God Scales (Benson & Spilka, 1973) and religious devotion was measured using the Religious Orientation Scale-Revised (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Scale (Plante, Yancey, Sherman, Guertin, & Pardini, 1999). Attitudes toward counseling were measured using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPH-SF). Results indicated that individuals who perceive God as present, benevolent, and loving have more positive attitudes towards seeking professional help. Individuals who report higher degrees of intrinsic religiosity also indicated more positive attitudes toward counseling. Further, religious devotion did not add meaningful predictive power to God image in predicting attitudes towards counseling. Finally, religious beliefs were demonstrated to be neither a strong nor statistically significant predictor of attitudes towards counseling.

This study explored the effects of a person's God image and religiosity on his or her attitudes toward seeking mental health services. God image for participants was measured using the God Image Scale (Lawrence, 1997) and the Loving and Controlling God Scales (Benson & Spilka, 1973) and religious devotion was measured using the Religious Orientation Scale-Revised (Gorsuch & McPherson, 1989) and the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Scale (Plante, Yancey, Sherman, Guertin, & Pardini, 1999). Attitudes toward counseling were measured using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPH-SF). Results indicated that individuals who perceive God as present, benevolent, and loving have more positive attitudes towards seeking professional help. Individuals who report higher degrees of intrinsic religiosity also indicated more positive attitudes toward counseling. Further, religious devotion did not add meaningful predictive power to God image in predicting attitudes towards counseling. Finally, religious beliefs were demonstrated to be neither a strong nor statistically significant predictor of attitudes towards counseling.

Each year, there is an increase in the number of international students pursuing higher education in the United States. These students often experience varying degrees of acculturative stress. International students are however not likely to seek counseling. Stigma has been identified as a major barrier to seeking psychological help. The study explored the relationship between self-stigma, social stigma, gender, and length of stay/residence as predictors of attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help of international students attending Mississippi State University. Results of the study indicated that between self-stigma and gender were statistically significant predictors of international students’ attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Self-stigma was inversely related to students’ attitudes towards seeking counseling and implied that international students with greater self-stigma were more likely to have negative attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Mean scores on the attitudes towards counseling scale suggested that some participants were positively inclined towards counseling while others were not. Similarly, mean scores on the self-stigma scale indicated that some participants found the act of seeking help personally stigmatizing while others did not. There were no statistically significant differences between males and females, and their attitudes towards seeking professional counseling. The results indicated that self-stigma might have a greater influence on help seeking as compared to social stigma. It also confirms the research that suggests that gender might play a role in influencing attitudes toward counseling. Limitations of the study, especially with regard to recruitment and mode of data collection, sampling procedures, instrumentation, and other demographic variables were discussed and alternatives explored.