Improving the goals and process (GAP) matrix for groups: Incorporating feedback from the field

Will to Masculinity: An Existential Examination of Men's Issues

“…Existentialism is considered to be an aspect of the larger humanistic approach to counseling, largely because of the shared emphases on both the value and the irreducibility of human beings (Basma & Gibbons, ; Scholl et al, ). The goal of existential counseling is an authentic being in the world, which requires that people become aware of themselves and the responsibility they have for their choices (Bauman & Waldo, ; Miars, ). This orientation toward working with clients is not reliant on particular techniques, but is more focused on how the counselor engages with the client and the concerns they focus upon (Yalom, ).…”

“…The present work seeks to humanize men by taking commonly occurring challenges of masculinity (i.e., the masculine crisis) and philosophically reconceptualizing them as symptoms of existential issues related to meaning. This is particularly apropos given that the present climate of reductionism in men's issues is akin to the conditions under which existentialism initially emerged—that is, a time when science parceled people into parts, rather than viewing them as a whole (Bauman & Waldo, ). Science and philosophy work in tandem, as Jaspers () noted; science cannot provide meaning, and philosophy cannot provide knowledge of the world.…”