When you experience emotional challenges, reaching out for help is hard, especially for men. Men are socialized to transmit feelings of strength and avoid showing weakness. Many men feel that coming to therapy is a sign of weakness – when it is actually a sign of strength. Reaching out to a psychologist means that you are willing to look at yourself and grow. Most men leave therapy feeling stronger and more resilient.
Findings consistently indicate that many men are reluctant to seek help for mental health concerns
Seidler, Z. E., Rice, S. M., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Oliffe, J. L., & Dhillon, H. M. (2018)
Men are conditioned to be stoic. From an early age, boys are told to just “man up”, are encouraged to be independent, and are discouraged from talking about their feelings. It’s not surprising that it’s difficult to ask for help. Fortunately, however, help is available and it is often very effective.
Mental health challenges affect men and women. And, psychological treatment is effective for both men and women
Staczan P. Schmuecker R. Koehler M. Berglar J. Crameri A. von Wyl A. … Tschuschke V. (2017)
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Becoming stronger, more confident, more resilient, and more balanced in therapy
Your emotional health is every bit as important as your physical health. Keeping it bottled up just doesn’t work. Negative emotions tend to spill over into other areas of your life and have a significant impact on your ability to function.
In therapy, we will be alert to how you view your role and we will work to build confidence and resilience so that you can better meet your own expectations. We will leverage your strengths and provide practical coping tools to address the areas where you need help.
How to recognize when you need help?
Men and women are affected by depression, anxiety, and other mental health struggles, but gender stereotypes and stigma can make it more difficult for men to recognize when they need to get mental health treatment. Feeling that your needs are not being met, lack of confidence, feeling a lack of energy, prolonged periods of sadness, and constantly feeling stressed are all indicators that you may need help. Anxiety issues tend to spiral and get worse if unaddressed. If left untreated, you are more likely to experience insomnia, a decline in libido, physical health problems, and other challenges.
Eleven indicators that you need to work on being more assertive and better identifying your feelings
- Do you have trouble trusting your gut? Do you question yourself a lot?
- Do you beat yourself up often?
- Do you need other people to validate your opinions?
- Do you feel maxed out, depleted, like there is never time for you?
- Do you feel like you get nowhere from being nice, but don’t know how to get your way without other people being angry at you or seeing you as a jerk?
- Do you want to be kind while still getting your needs met?
- Do you self-sabotage?
- Do you have trouble getting promoted?
- Do you find it difficult to deal with coworkers and managers?
- Do you struggle to deal with rejection?
- Do you lash out in frustration at loved ones?
In therapy, you can build the skills to get your needs met
Trying too hard to please everybody else in your life while ignoring your own needs is a recipe for unhappiness. As your frustration builds it becomes harder and harder to avoid taking out your frustration on your loved ones or engaging in other destructive behaviors.
In therapy, you can learn to stop seeking external approval, express your emotions, embrace your masculinity, and have a more satisfying sex life. As you build more meaningful relationships and start getting your own needs met, you can better achieve your professional potential and you will be a better partner. Therapy is a safe, non-judgemental space to build the practical tools and coping skills that you need.
References
- Seidler, Z. E., Rice, S. M., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Oliffe, J. L., & Dhillon, H. M. (2018). Engaging Men in Psychological Treatment: A Scoping Review. American journal of men’s health, 12(6), 1882–1900. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988318792157
- Staczan P. Schmuecker R. Koehler M. Berglar J. Crameri A. von Wyl A. … Tschuschke V. (2017). Effects of sex and gender in ten types of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy Research, 27(1), 74–88. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] [Ref list]