Santa Clara University

Psychotherapy With Men

CPSY x203

Day	Saturday, August 6th, 2011
Time	9am - 5pm
Room	Loyola Hall, Room 136
Credit	0.7 CEU (or 7 CE hours)
Cost	$165
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Description

    A recent national poll of practicing psychologists indicated that if we eliminate court-mandated referrals, addiction and/or aggression, the ratio of female to male clients is estimated at four to one. Eighty percent of regular psychotherapy patients are women as is the majority of counselors and psychotherapists.

 

    There are many reasons why men are such a minority in psychotherapy, not the least of which is that the process of therapy characteristically expects men to acknowledge and deal with unsolved problems, experience uncomfortable feelings and confront shame. However, there is another reason that keeps men away. Some psychotherapy may well be inhospitable to male clients. Despite all these reasons, therapy can be remarkably successful for men when geared to male needs and styles.

 

    Effective psychotherapy with men requires unique sensitivity to the male patient's difficulty with therapy itself, explicit empathy for gender role-strain and his experiences of loss, direct attention to the existential aspects of these losses, and acknowledgment of positive masculine attributes, speaking the patient's (male) dialect and counter-transference issues. Central to all treatment of men is the issue of rejection and abandonment.

 

    In this workshop we will explore what therapists can do specifically to make their practice welcoming for male clients. We will explore what successful therapists do and demonstrate some simple ways of joining with men that increases dramatically the likelihood that they will stay in and benefit from therapy. Male issues in individual, couple, and group therapy will are explored. Finally, we will address specifics of how both male and female therapists can be successful with male clients.

This class qualifies for the Advanced Psychotherapy Certificate program.