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Are Clinical Psychologists, Psychotherapists and Counsellors Overlooking the Needs of Their Male Clients?
Abstract
Around 75 per cent of suicides are male, yet men seek therapy less than women do. Is talking about feelings unappealing to men? Our interviews with 20 experienced therapists identified ways in which therapy might be made more male-friendly.
... The second study was modified a little, adding some background questions (e.g., sexuality) and slightly modifying one or two of the other questions. The original reports, including full questionnaires, are available online (Barry & Daubney, 2017;Barry, 2018). This paper presents the surveys chronologically, first with the methods and results sections for the UK sample (Study 1), followed by the methods and results in sections for the US sample (Study 2). ...
... After that, the discussion section combines the findings from the two surveys. The full survey questions have been published previously (Barry & Daubney, 2017;Barry, 2018). was granted by University College London's Graduate School Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 4075/013). ...
... In the UK and the US, men who value sport and leisure had a more positive mindset. We already know that many men value sports, either to watch or play, especially team sports (Liddon & Barry, in press), and the findings of the present research underline the non-trivial benefits of such interests and activities (Holloway et al., 2018). Therefore, men should be encouraged to enjoy the aspects of sport and leisure that are important to them. ...
In recent years, psychologists have applied some of the ideas from positive psychology to the study of masculinity to discover what factors contribute to men’s mental health. This line of research acts as a counterbalance to other research which focuses mainly on problems related to masculinity. This paper describes two surveys – one of 2,000 men in the UK in 2017, and another of 5,000 men in the US in 2018 – which assessed core values and well-being. The main outcome measured was mental well-being, using the Positive Mindset Index (PMI). The surveys were conducted online and were analysed using multiple linear regression. Both surveys found that men typically aspire to moral values such as honesty and reliability more than physical values such as fitness and being athletic. In both surveys, taking other variables into account, the strongest predictor by far of mental positivity was job satisfaction (β = 0.49, p < .0000000001 in the UK, and β = 0.35, p <. 01–85 in the US). Relationship stability was the second strongest predictor of PMI in the UK (β = 0.12, p < .000000001) and marriage was the fifth strongest predictor in the US (β = 0.07, p < .0005). Valuing one’s health was another strong predictor of PMI in both surveys (β = 0.12, p < .000006 in the UK, and β = 0.17, p <.029 in the US). Findings are discussed concerning our understanding of men’s mental health needs. The contrast to the fashionably negative view of masculinity in the media and social sciences is noted.
... Greater awareness of help-seeking behaviour may enhance practitioners' awareness and understanding of how support services can effectively assist male victims and their support networks, facilitating victims' escape and recovery of an abusive relationship (Hine et al., 2020;Holloway et al., 2018;Roddy & Gabriel, 2019;Williamson et al., 2015). The aims of this study were to explore men's help-seeking experiences and/or their perceptions of utilising formal support services including counselling and more informal support networks (e.g. ...
... For some participants, the process of psychologically experiencing within therapy was unhelpful, and there was a preference for practical facts over emotion-focused interventions (Holloway et al., 2018). This finding supports evidence that some men are disempowered by sources of support that require them to 'fit in' to existing services that are not sensitive to the social norms of traditional masculinity and how these shape male experience (Brown et al., 2019;Pollard, 2016). ...
The subject of female‐perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) against men has been one of controversy, with well‐rehearsed arguments surrounding both the nature and existence of female‐perpetrated abuse against men. The aims of this study were to explore men's help‐seeking experiences and/or their perceptions of utilising support services/support networks following IPV victimisation. Consequently, this study explored the help‐seeking experiences of 26, largely British, men who self‐identified as having experienced female‐perpetrated IPV. As the focus was on subjective experiences, a qualitative design was employed. Participation was invited from men who had sought help for their IPV victimisation from a range of sources and those who had not sought help at all. Semi‐structured interviews explored the men's experiences of seeking help, and barriers to seeking help, following IPV. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Some of the participants who took part in this study had received formal support for their experiences of IPV (i.e. counselling, calling IPV helplines and support services, contact with social workers or the police) and informal support (e.g. speaking to work colleagues, family and friends). Five participants had never spoken to anybody about their experiences prior to taking part in the interview. A range of barriers prevented the men from seeking help. First and foremost, the importance of maintaining a sense of masculinity consistently underpinned the participants’ narratives. The men's fear of being judged negatively by others was often not unfounded. Negative help‐seeking experiences included being treated with suspicion and contempt. Positive help‐seeking experiences facilitated the men in recognising their relationship as abusive, which for some of the men was influential in their decision to leave or seek help. The lack of recognition and understanding of male IPV within society was of concern to most of the men. Some expressed a desire to use their own experiences in order to help other men in abusive relationships. These results have important implications for the development of appropriate support for male victims, including the need for practitioners to be non‐judgemental whilst assisting men in recognising their relationship as abusive.
... In the case of men going through the family court process, this for many is a long-term stressor, and it is not known whether this relents once problems are resolved. In general, men under stress tend to prefer to deal with the problem that is causing the stress rather than deals with their feelings regarding the stressor (Holloway et al, 2018), so it is more likely that resolution of stress for men in the family court process will be 'solution-focused' i.e., stress will be resolved when the problem is resolved. ...
... Although coping strategies were not assessed in the present study, futures studies might study the degree to which different coping strategies (e.g., emotion-focused vs solution-focused) might impact the levels of stress experienced about family breakdown (Holloway et al., 2018). The reduction in PMI in those participants who resolved their family breakdown issues implies that a solution-focused approach works i.e. addressing the cause of the stress rather than addressing the stress itself. ...
It is known that family breakdown and divorce are stressful for all parties. There is evidence these can even lead to suicide, especially in men. However it is not known how much various factors – such as child access restrictions and family court issues – cause stress, and whether the levels of stress change over time. The present study surveyed the experiences of 29 men who had separated from their partners. Participants submitted multiple reports (n = 408 for the whole sample) over a 12-month period. It was found that these reports included 358 stressful experiences related to child access problems, and 229 stressful experiences related to family court issues. Men’s mental well-being, measured using the Positive Mindset Index, was continuously low – just above clinical levels on average – throughout the 12-month period. Mental well-being was strongly negatively correlated to problems with child access (rs = –.571) and family court issues (rs = –.448). These correlations can be interpreted in the context of free text responses, which indicate that child access issues and family court issues had a negative impact on men’s mental well-being. Physical health problems were frequently reported too. Implications of these findings for the long-term mental health and physical health of men experiencing family breakdown are discussed in relation to the need for the family courts, and associated services, to recognise the chronic stress experienced by many men who find themselves in this predicament, and to ensure that court processes are resolved as swiftly as possible.
... 3. Pode-se dizer que os protocolos de referência/avaliação psicológica clínica e de aconselhamento tradicionais são mais adequados para os estilos de comunicação mais comuns entre mulheres que entre homens (Morison et al., 2014) e podem não funcionar tão bem para homens a longo prazo (Wright & Macleod, 2016). Algumas pesquisas sugerem que ao tentarem lidar com o sofrimento, as mulheres, em média, buscam falar sobre os seus sentimentos, enquanto os homens, em média, preferem buscar por "soluções para o problema" (Holloway et al., 2018). Homens podem preferir uma abordagem ativa focada no problema, na qual eles recebem informações específicas sobre estratégias para melhorar a sua saúde mental (Sagar-Ouriaghli et al., 2019). ...
Introdução Enquanto há uma tendência atual nas ciências sociais de privilegiar similaridades sexuais e de gênero sobre as diferenças (ex.: Hyde, 2005), há também evidências significativas de que diferenças sexuais/de gênero desempenham um papel importante na saúde mental assim como em outras esferas da vida (Tamres et al., 2002). Entretanto, tais diferenças não são enfatizadas no treinamento de psicólogos e terapeutas, o que significa que necessidades de pacientes homens podem não ser atendidas (Morison et al., 2014; Barry et al., 2021). Enquanto respeitamos diferenças sexuais/de gênero, é obviamente importante reconhecer que elas são formadas por médias e que indivíduos dentro de cada categoria variam em um espectro. Nenhum indivíduo é definido apenas por seu sexo ou gênero. Todas as intervenções psicológicas devem, acima de tudo, sintonizar-se com o mundo único do paciente, sem pré-julgar alguém baseado em qualquer categoria identitária. O que se segue é apenas para providenciar mais detalhes e informações para psicólogos sobre aspectos influenciados pelo gênero na vida dos homens para enriquecer e melhorar suas formulações e intervenções. Estas recomendações não são, portanto, prescritivas, instruções de "abordagem única" ou suposições baseadas em generalizações simplistas, nem em estereótipos de homens e meninos. Seu propósito é enriquecer e expandir a prática psicológica com respeito pelo sexo e gênero como uma das muitas variáveis de interação.
... stressful events in life, etc., social context, and personal resources e.g. selfesteem and previous experience (Barry, Holloway, Seager, 2019). This research has used the technique of phenomenological research (Engelland, 2020) in this study especially phenomenal approaches to the practice of religious belief (Rajasinghe, 2020). ...
Promoting Mental Health (PMH) through Buddhadhamma is researched by qualitative methodology using the technique of phenomenological and followed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) with an in-depth interview and semi-structured forms under the research and development approach by a focus group to create a guideline for the PMH project. Participants are individual 27 interviewees consisting of interview 20 participants from the elderly club members and 7 specialists for a focus group. The purpose of the study is to analyze the important base features of PMH, to analyze the general condition and behaviors for PMH involving practicing in Buddhadhamma belief, and to create a guideline for PMH. The result found the significance of PMH behaviors involving the major of Buddhadhamma focuses on Trisikha. Trisikha approaches daily life, especially by observing the precepts and practices mindfulness regularly and the experiences of facing mental health problems raised when working or doing business, especially during the economic crisis were down. Significant behaviors through the experience of self-promoting mental health were found most of all mentioned the utility of Trisikha is upraising mindfulness.
... In fact, studies on gender differences and stress coping have revealed that women used more social support strategies than men (Eschenbeck et al., 2007;Matud, 2004). Furthermore, men have been found to seek quick solutions to problems, whereas women prefer to talk about their feelings (Holloway et al., 2018). Therefore, women may find it easier to use emotion-focused coping than men. ...
This study examined the stress coping strategies of athletes with high psychological vulnerability. The participants were 487 university athletes (mean age = 19.8 years, SD = 0.88, 153 women). Data were collected using the Vulnerability Scale for University Athletes and General Coping Questionnaire and analyzed by conducting a multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed significant relationships between vulnerability and coping strategies ( r = .11−.39). Vulnerability was most strongly related to the emotional support seeking aspect of emotion-oriented coping ( r = .39). There was no significant difference in cognitive reinterpretation ( r = .07). Vulnerability had a stronger relationship with emotion-oriented than problem-oriented coping, and high (vs. low) vulnerability athletes had significantly higher emotion-oriented-coping scores. These results suggest that vulnerable athletes need to be provided with appropriate emotional support to cope with stressful situations, as they rely heavily on a stress management strategy focusing on emotion regulation.
Perhaps by now, having read the previous chapters, you will understand why PCOS is such a fascinating topic, and—like me—you might be perplexed as to why it is so neglected, especially given the scale and impact of this syndrome. In this concluding section, I hazard a guess as to why this situation exists how the situation might be remedied, and what they key points are for the future of PCOS research and practice.
Objective:
There is some evidence that men and women deal with stress in different ways; for example, a meta-analysis found that women prefer to focus on emotions as a coping strategy more than men do. However, sex differences in preferences for therapy is a subject little explored.
Design:
A cross-sectional online survey.
Method:
Participants (115 men and 232 women) were recruited via relevant websites and social media. The survey described therapies and asked participants how much they liked each. Their coping strategies and help-seeking behaviour were assessed too.
Results:
Survey data were analysed using multiple linear regression. After familywise adjustment of the alpha for multiple testing to p < .0125, and controlling for other relevant variables, men liked support groups more than women did (β = -.163, p < .010), used sex or pornography to cope with stress more than women did (Exp[B] = .280, p < .0002), and thought that there is a lack of male-friendly options more than women did (Exp[B] = .264, p < .002). The majority of participants expressed no preference for the sex of their therapist, but of those who did, men were only slightly more likely to prefer a female therapist whereas women were much more likely to prefer females (p < .0004). Even after familywise adjustment, there were still more significant findings than would be expected by chance (p < .001, two-tailed).
Conclusions:
Although there are many similarities in the preferences of men and women regarding therapy, our findings support the hypothesis that men and women show statistically significant differences of relevance to clinical psychologists.
Practitioner points:
Men are less inclined than women to seek help for psychological issues This study demonstrates that men and women show significant differences in some aspects of therapy, coping behaviour, and help-seeking It is possible that men would be more inclined to seek help if therapies catered more for men's preferences Practitioners can learn to improve the success of their practice by taking the gender of clients into account.
Men are generally more reluctant than women to seek psychological help, perhaps because of negative preconceptions about therapy. We interviewed 20 life coaches to find out whether they had seen gender differences in expectations and outcomes regarding coaching in their male and female clients. Analysis of the interviews, using the grounded theory method, revealed that although almost all coaches described gender differences in help seeking and treatment preferences in their clients, most coaches demonstrated ambivalence about describing such gender differences. Findings are discussed both in terms of cognitive dissonance theory, and in terms of the beta bias hindering the recognition of gender differences. These findings have implications for how coaches (and psychotherapists, psychologists etc) can improve the delivery of their therapy.
If the principal function of health services is to keep people alive and well, then the disproportionately high male suicide rate alone suggests that the needs of men are not being optimally served. Picking up on the theme set out by Linda Morison and colleagues in the previous article of this special feature, it is argued that health services for men can be improved if gender awareness is incorporated into their design, promotion, and implementation.
Two recent postmodern movements, constructivism and deconstruction, challenge the idea of a single meaning of reality and suggest that meanings result from social experience. We show how these postmodern approaches can be applied to the psychology of gender. Examining gender theories from a constructivist stand-point, we note that the primary meaning of gender in psychology has been difference. The exaggeration of differences, which we call alpha bias, can be seen in approaches that focus on the contrasting experiences of men and women. The minimizing of differences, beta bias, can be seen in approaches that stress the similarity or equality of men and women. From a deconstructivist position, we examine previously hidden meanings in the discourse of therapy that reveal cultural assumptions about gender relations. Paradoxes in contemporary constructions of gender impel us to go beyond these constructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
An increasing number of studies have reported differences in the pharmacokinetics and/or pharmacodynamics of antidepressants between women and men.
This article updates previously published literature describing sex differences in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antidepressants, and examines specific issues that face women with psychiatric illness.
An English-language literature search was performed with the PubMed database (March 2003-December 2008) using combinations of the search terms sex, gender, and antidepressants. In addition, each antidepressant was identified in the 63rd edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference.
The current data suggest that the pharmacokinetics of antidepressants can be substantially different between women and men. Likewise, the response to antidepressants can be quite variable, including sex differences in adverse effects and time to response.
Despite the many sex differences reported, there is still little published work systematically evaluating potential sex differences in antidepressant pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. More research is needed to guide the treatment of depression and other mental illnesses.
The issue of whether gender-related attitudes underlie the sex difference in suicide has been relatively unexplored. This study sought to validate questionnaires measuring traditional male and female gender scripts in order to test the hypothesis that scores on these questionnaires predict suicidality.
Methods: The responses of 348 women and 170 men were analysed using factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression.
Results: After controlling for other variables, two male gender subscales predicted risk of suicidality (Fight & Win, P<.001; Mastery & Control, P<.042), and one female gender subscale predicted reduced risk of suicidality (Family Harmony, P<.003). Conclusions: These novel findings have implications for understanding and predicting suicidality in men and women, and may be valuable in the clinical context.
There have been few studies that have specifically examined for any impact of gender on response to psychotherapy for those with depression. We therefore undertook a review and report findings.
A literature review was conducted by first seeking to identify studies via relevant search engines and then examining a number of secondary sources.
There was no clear or consistent evidence to suggest that gender has any impact on response to psychotherapy.
The review identified relatively few studies, so limiting our capacity to draw more than provisional conclusions. As some studies of response to antidepressant drugs have suggested differential gender response, such gender differences may then be expected to reflect biological influences rather than any general tendency for gender to influence response to therapy non-specifically.
The differences model, which argues that males and females are vastly different psychologically, dominates the popular media. Here, the author advances a very different view, the gender similarities hypothesis, which holds that males and females are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. Results from a review of 46 meta-analyses support the gender similarities hypothesis. Gender differences can vary substantially in magnitude at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs. Overinflated claims of gender differences carry substantial costs in areas such as the workplace and relationships.
What can Tony Soprano teach men about therapy
- J A Barry
- M Seager
Barry, J. A., & Seager, M. (2014, March 29). What can Tony Soprano teach men about therapy?.
Mens Health Forum. Retrieved Nov, 4 th 2016 from
https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/what-can-tony-soprano-teach-men-about-therapy
Data source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset
Health and Social Care Information Centre, Community and Mental Health Team (2014). Data
source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset. Available online
http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=13995&q=IAPT+2012-3+percentages&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top Accessed 2 nd August
2014 doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1062-93
Risk factors for male and female suicide decedents ages 15-64 in the United States. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
- H C Kung
- J L Pearson
- X Liu
Kung, H. C., Pearson, J. L., & Liu, X. (2003). Risk factors for male and female suicide decedents
ages 15-64 in the United States. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 38(8),
419-426.
Gender distinctions: Should we be more sensitive to the different therapeutic needs of men and women in clinical hypnosis?: Findings from a pilot interview study
- L Lemkey
- B Brown
- J A Barry
Lemkey, L., Brown, B., & Barry, J. A. (2016). Gender distinctions: Should we be more sensitive
to the different therapeutic needs of men and women in clinical hypnosis?: Findings from
a pilot interview study. Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 37(2),
10
Gender difference in changes in coping strategies: the effectiveness of brief therapy provided through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in the U.K
- K Wright
- J Mcleod
Wright, K., & McLeod, J. (2016). Gender difference in changes in coping strategies: the
effectiveness of brief therapy provided through an Employee Assistance Programme
(EAP) in the U.K. New Male Studies, 5, 2.