What does the psychology of men and masculinities offer the practitioner? Practical guidance for the feminist, culturally sensitive treatment of traditional men.

Abstract

The psychology of men and masculinities can provide helpful guidance to practitioners treating men who endorse traditional masculine norms. This article offers conceptual models and techniques to address some men’s culturally based aversion toward therapy and emotional work. We posit that traditional men comprise their own unique, multifaceted cultural group, and successful clinical work with such men can be understood as a form of cultural competence. In addition, an understanding of the psychology of men and masculinities serves a feminist aim in that it recognizes male privilege and can allow clinicians to advocate for gender equality in their therapeutic work with men while better serving women clients whose distress may be directly related to the men in their lives. Following a theoretical overview, this paper covers the following in regard to traditional men: initiation into therapy, overcoming the stigma surrounding help-seeking, assessing for alexithymia, traditional men’s different expressions of caring, traditional men’s externalization of distress, the concept of intersectionality, traditional men’s experiences of depression, fathering, and therapeutic adaptations. We conclude with a case conceptualization portraying how assessment and treatment can proceed with a traditionally masculine client. We describe how feminist, culturally competent therapy can address a traditional man’s clinical concerns, guided by insights from the psychology of men and masculinities.

Pilot evaluation of the men in mind training program for mental health practitioners.

“…Additionally, relative to males, female practitioners appeared to experience greater gains, after reporting lower competencies pretraining. Past research makes specific recommendations for female practitioners around engaging men (Silver et al, 2018; Sweet, 2012), and our prior work uncovered the experience of particular challenges among female practitioners when working with male clients (Seidler, Wilson, Trail, et al, 2021). Nonetheless, independent of sex differences, practitioners have described difficulties in calibrating their therapeutic approach to appropriately fit the needs of men (Beel et al, 2020; Mahalik et al, 2012).…”

“…Indeed, Australian practitioners report challenges spanning their lack of self-efficacy for engaging male clients and barriers related to traditional masculinities defined by stoicism and emotional restriction as challenging their efforts for working with men (Seidler, Wilson, Trail, et al, 2021). Also evident are sex differences wherein female practitioners report limited personal familiarity with the “male experience” as an impediment to their efforts to engage men effectively with psychotherapy (Silver et al, 2018; Sweet, 2012). No research has reported strategies for overcoming these challenges for female practitioners; a notable knowledge gap given the female-dominated nature of psychotherapy in Australia and the U.S. (American Psychological Association, 2015; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021).…”

Challenges working with men: Australian therapists' perspectives

“…The tone of responses highlighting this issue was such that many female therapists appeared to try to “push through” the discomfort of therapy with men harboring these attitudes. Limited research has focused on the experiences of female therapists working with men specifically (Silver et al, 2018), and those that have, focus on specific subpopulations of men such as veterans (Deering & Gannon, 2005), domestic violence perpetrators (Päivinen & Holma, 2017), and men with borderline personality disorder (Schapiro‐Halberstam et al, 2019). Drawing on gender relations theory, it appears female therapists in the current study often adopted so‐called “ambivalent femininities” when working with men adhering to challenging socio‐political attitudes (Howson, 2006).…”

Men, masculinities, depression: Implications for mental health services from a Delphi expert consensus study.

“…The costs of poor engagement, often stemming from a lack of trust, respect, or rapport with the treating practitioner, are reflected in sporadic attendance, loss to follow-up, negative treatment experiences, and risk of refusing future services (Johnson et al, 2012; Kilmartin, 2010; Spendelow, 2015). Given the significant and ongoing challenge of even getting men to seek help for mental health concerns (Silver, Levant, & Gonzalez, 2018), improving treatment engagement for those men that overcome these barriers into care is essential.…”