So I got this announcement the other day:
"The 3rd National Psychotherapy With Men Conference is taking place on June 9th, 2012 at Fordham University in New York City, NY.
We expect the available registrations to fill up quickly. So, we would like to offer you the opportunity to reserve your spot at a reduced early bird rate! REGISTER NOW to take advantage of this reduced rate and register for the conference.
To learn more about the 3rd National Psychotherapy With Men Conference including guest speakers, breakout sessions and the numerous benefits of attending, visit the conference website at www.fordham.edu/PMC."
Frankly, I love this idea. It's too bad NYC is beyond my travel capacity right now because I would be quite interested in this conference. Gender matters as a core facet of our identities and experiences, and psychotherapy has not always served boys and men well.
One of the more common issues we have to train counseling interns on - is how to engage and help boys and men who may not be as verbose, expressive, or articulate as females. Let's face it, Psychology is a pretty wordy field. We like to write long dissertations and articles, give presentations, engage in insight oriented and validating discussions, explore our thoughts and behaviors and describe them in talk therapy. For those who are not comfortable engaging in this way, it behooves the therapist to find what works.
At the school sites, some of us shoot Nerf basketballs into little hoops while chatting with boys. We build towers or sand tray battle scenes that depict emotions in a way words fail to.
There is even data collected at our own clinic which shows that boys tend to show more symptom improvement when paired with a male therapist. We have no data to explain why that is-but we have lots of theories. Do males identify more with a male therapist? Can the male counselor be a role model or father figure? Do male therapist just "get" other guys and their communication styles differently? Do male clients feel they need to act differently with therapists of different genders?
Of course there are always exceptions. Recently, a close friend asked me for a therapist referral. He's a USMC war veteran, and I thought a male therapist who understood military culture might be the best fit. Yet when I gave him some names of good psychologists I know - he hesitated. "You know, I actually think I'd be more comfortable opening up with a woman. You know - maybe it's that whole Alpha Male thing but I don't think I can spill my guts like that with another guy." Point taken.
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