Student Spotlight: Bridging Faith and Therapy
Get to know MSW student Antonio T. (SSW ’29)
In this spotlight, Antonio Toliver gives insight into Boston University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) and Master of Theological Studies (MST) dual-degree program. Antonio describes how his diverse and comprehensive curriculum gives him multiple lenses to tackle his mission: to destigmatize mental health issues within black church communities. Antonio believes education surrounding stigmatizing language — and giving people the vocabulary to properly identify and discuss mental health — could be the bridge between faith and therapy for many.
Could you describe your background? What are your interests outside of work and school?
I would describe myself as really resilient, hardworking, and passionate, which I think comes from both personal experience and from the values my mom helped cultivate in me early on. She modeled what perseverance and faith look like, no matter the circumstances. I’ve come to realize that the balance of grace and grit I try to live by really comes from both of my parents—my father and my mother each taught me, in their own ways, how to stand strong but stay humble, to give my best effort while still giving myself grace. A lot of different things that I’m interested in coming from a place of passion. So, I guess I am really assertive in that way of trying just to achieve my goals and help those around me.
I was born and raised in Indianapolis. After I graduated from high school, I enlisted in the Army and served two years in the military. I got out after my service for school, got my bachelor’s in psychology with a minor in religion, and then a master’s in applied sociology at the University of Indianapolis. During that time, I founded the Black Male Initiative at the University of Indianapolis in 2020, which focuses on mentorship, leadership, academic success, and belonging for black men. That organization became the foundation for a lot of community-based and advocacy work I continue to do now that I’m here at BU for the MSW program.
As for my personal interests, I want to learn how to play tennis. I am also interested in getting my glider license and then eventually my private pilot license. Right now, I find myself getting into LEGOs and collecting different sets. They’re a really big trend right now. I mainly build different cars, and I have some botanical LEGOs.
Why social work? What drew you to the field, and how did you become interested in becoming a social worker?
I’ll say just wanting to blend the worlds of psychology, sociology, and theology. I feel like social work gives you broader opportunities to do so in different ways, whether that is policy writing, face-to-face contact with clients, or working with different nonprofits. That’s how I want to use my social work degree, a way to reach different areas, especially when it comes to bridging the gap between mental health and the black church.
I went into this MSW program almost consecutively after graduating with my master’s degree in sociology. I took a little break after graduating in the 2024 winter semester from the University of Indianapolis. I was born and raised in Indianapolis, so I relocated to Boston for this program. I like the East Coast a lot. Boston is a big city with good public transit. I enjoy taking the trains and just exploring different parts of the city and sitting by the water. The vibe is definitely different from the Midwest, and I like that.
Tell us about your experience in the MSW and MST dual-degree program so far.
Most of my courses are within the School of Theology this semester, but I am in a few social work classes.
The way the dual degree curriculum is mapped out is that within the first year, you’re primarily with the School of Theology. In the second year, I’ll be doing all social work courses. Then the third and fourth years will be a mix between the two. Internship placements will happen in our second year because we also need it for school of theology. The practicum education department tries to find a placement that will meet both schools’ needs.
What about the program has been surprising and unexpected?
I’ll say what was surprising was that the college class is pretty big. I went to orientation and there were, I think, over 60 people, whereas the School of Theology had roughly 50-60 people. My last institution’s class year was really small.
So yeah, it’s definitely an adjustment to get used to a far bigger program.
Something else that surprised me was that there are people that didn’t know about the combination of the MSW and MTH degrees. But after hearing about it, they’re interested in how that curriculum works or maybe pursuing it afterwards.
What makes social work worthwhile to you?
I would say it’s the connection with people that you’ll make and being able to use different resources to serve the population that you want to serve. My overall goal is to bridge the gap between mental health and the black church. With that, I would like to say that I am an interdisciplinary scholar. I want to take the different aspects of all my backgrounds (across sociology, psychology, and theology), and bridge that gap between the two worlds. And I think social work gives me the tools to be able to do that in a multidisciplinary way.
How do you think stigma around mental health forms within communities?
Not having the language for it, I think, is a big thing. And why it is stigmatized for like men in general, black men specifically, because it’s one of those things where you’re deemed as less masculine or “softer” in a sense by expressing your emotions and how you’re feeling. So that keeps the stigma going with this idea of, “I just have to be strong. I have to be one way, and I have to provide. And anything that comes my way, I can’t really talk about how I’m feeling about it. I just have to get up and keep going.”
Those are ways in which it continues to be stigmatized, or even using stigmatizing language and terminology such as, “you’re crazy” or different things like that. And that’s not always the case. Crazy is a word that I have been taught to not use when talking about mental health because it is like another stigmatizing word. Language really does play a big role throughout the entire thing.
How do you plan to address mental illness stigma within black church communities?
I would say two things that I always mention every time I talk about this: language and access. I think within social work, we talk a lot about language and providing access. I think that language is a way to provide access simply because most times, if we don’t know what to call or name something, it often goes untreated, unhealed, and unspoken about.
With mental health in the black church, it has been really taboo. Not just in the black church, but in the black community in general. Specifically in the black church, we often hear, “Just pray about it.” I believe there is a way to integrate the two. Yes, we can pray, but we can also put in the work behind it and get the help that we need. I truly believe that faith and therapy can coexist. I think social work is an avenue for that—to provide the language and access to things we have been feeling for a very long time and didn’t know how to identify. I think social work might be able to provide the language so that people can get the proper help that they need.
I believe we can achieve this through educational programs. What I want to do is to establish different counseling centers; partner with different churches and provide mental health services that way. That way it wouldn’t just be myself tackling these issues alone, and other therapists that want to participate can help provide access, as well. I think addressing this issue can be done by creating or partnering with a nonprofit to make the care affordable. I think that’s another large barrier; counseling is very expensive and a lot of people don’t have access to that, or the means to be able to have insurance that will cover the cost of care. I’ll say making it affordable for people, and making it available, whether that is directly within the church or partnering with a non-profit.
What are your favorite courses, professors, and events at BUSSW?
I have First Formation, Spirit and Art of Conflict Transformation, and New Testament Hermeneutical Methods, which are School of Theology courses, and I’m taking Human Behavior for Social Work. The curriculum from Human Behavior and Spirit and Art of Conflict Transformation plays off each other extremely well. In Human Behavior, we explore different theories about how people think, feel, and act within their environments, and in Conflict Transformation, we talk about how those same dynamics show up in communities, relationships, and systems—especially through a theological lens. I like looking at both sides to see how the theories from social work and the practices from theology can blend together for what I want to do. My New Testament Hermeneutical Methods class with Dr. Shively Smith also fits into that mix, but in a different way. That course has helped me learn how to ask the Bible the right questions and find the language to speak to deeper issues that connect directly to my themes of language and access within faith and mental health work. Along with that, Dr. James McCarty (Spirit and Art of Conflict Transformation) and Dr. Hokanson (Human Behavior) have both helped me connect spirituality, psychology, and social work in a really holistic way.
One thing that I do like about my Human Behavior class is that we have a section coming up on the spiritual person, and I know we’ve been talking about how social work as a field wants to bring in more of the spiritual side when looking at the overall holistic context of a given person. We talk a lot about the psychological side of people, as well as the environment, but I think we need to get to the spiritual side of things too, and integrate that perspective. Spirituality is a big part of human experience, and social work is all about taking the whole of a person within their context. It’s a pretty big context for a lot of people.
Another thing that I love about social work is that it gives us a 360-degree holistic approach, which I’ve been mapping out through all my different studies. It’s not just about the mind and the environment; social work gives us the ability to see the person within the environment, and these different lenses of how it goes from micro to macro and looking at an issue from other perspectives.
What are you looking forward to most in the program?
I would say [becoming] more involved in leadership roles. I am always looking for different ways to use my previous experience in class. My human behavior professor is allowing me to lead a class discussion on the spiritual person, given my background. I think I will be looking forward to doing more things like that.
I am also interested in joining different organizations. Just learning more about the field, growing, and connecting with different people, whether they are interested in the same thing as me or something completely, totally different; just to be able to learn from all of those around me.
What is your dream job in the field of social work?
I’ll say because of the different areas and goals that I want to reach, I think the best way to do that would be as a founder and CEO of a faith-based nonprofit organization that would be able to provide educational programs for the community, for churches, and maybe housing as well. I envision this organization having a section that houses those in need, and clinics within the nonprofit that can be sent out to the community. Like I was explaining before, my mission is to destigmatize mental health within black communities and churches. What I want is to be at the forefront of that effort, and I believe that I can do that with my own dedicated organization.
Another section of that would be affordable housing for the community, and helping the community at large with whatever that may be for that specific community. I used to call it a one-stop shop when I was an undergrad. People would ask me what I wanted to do, and yeah, I think I’m getting back to that one-stop shop of a central hub where you can address differing needs.
What is your advice for other MSW students?
I’d say a couple of things. One, to look at higher education and your field of study in the same way as a system and then be curious about that system and ask as many questions as possible to be able to learn it. So that way, you can get out of it what you need and have the best outcome.
And remain curious, have fun. Don’t be afraid to seek out the things that, even if you would say , “Well, I’m only interested in it a little bit.” I say still go after it, and maybe take a class in whatever it is, or talk to somebody who’s in that area. I believe the more we’re exposed to different things it gives us the ability to kind of reimagine or kind of boost our imagination to be able to dream again and dream bigger than the thing that we may see in front of us.
Be okay with change, because change will happen. Graduate school stretches you, but it also grows you. I think it’s important to remind students to stay curious, stay open, and trust the process—because growth often comes through change. You come in your first semester; you may have a plan, but because of that exposure by the time you finish, it might’ve changed completely.