Gender In The Therapy Hour

First Published in 2012. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

There is no shortage of literature about working with men in counseling and psychotherapy, but almost none of it addresses the unique issues that a female clinician can face with a male client. These women do not have a basis for a complete understanding of the impact our society’s ideas about gender can have on a man, his masculinity, and his feelings toward talk therapy, in part because they are not men themselves. The contributors to this book, all female clinicians who have worked extensively with men, have set out to provide their female peers with a guide for therapeutically engaging and helping men. Chapters explore how each author became involved in men’s issues, case studies and examples from her own practice that illustrate her approach, and her own assessment of what works best with male clients. Topics considered include core treatment issues, such as transference and counter-transference, beginning and ending therapy with men, and ethical dilemmas; working in different therapy modalities; and doing therapy with diverse populations of men. The book concludes with an edited transcript of a discussion amongst the authors about their personal experiences working with male clients. This will be an important book for all female therapists who work with male clients and are looking for ways to better understand and tailor their approaches to meet the needs of men in therapy.

Gender is still largely ignored as an "active" variable in counseling and is typically viewed as pertaining to women's issues or problems. The field has leap-frogged over gender, perhaps because it is too complex, perhaps because we resist change, or perhaps because our gender socialization is sufficiently effective as is. This book makes clear as to why gender must be considered in understanding the client's concerns, the process of therapy, and the counselor's role in the therapeutic interaction. Effective therapy requires an understanding of gender theory and gender processes. The approach taken in this book explains complex concepts in understandable terms, provides summaries of pertinent research findings, and applies theory and research about gender to client case examples.

This book examines a variety of critical issues pertaining to the psychology of men and masculinity and presents successful, evidence-based strategies for treatment. Part 1 focuses on treating men in couples counseling, group work, and career counseling, as well as counseling men about their health. Part 2 explores the intersections of identity for sexual minority men, older men, and fathers, and discusses spiritual work with men in life transitions. Part 3 addresses the concerns of men in the military, prevention of sexual violence, and treating men with addictions and trauma-related issues. Part 4 provides the specific clinical frames of female counselors using relational–cultural theory with men, and examines using motivational and masculine-sensitive therapy with men. Examples and vignettes throughout the text provide clinical relevance, and reflective questions in each chapter encourage readers to explore their own biases and ideas about working with men. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here. *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected].

Clinical psychology has traditionally ignored gender issues. The result has been to the detriment of women both as service users and practitioners. The contributors to this book show how this has happened and explore the effects both on clients and clinicians. Focusing on different aspects of clinical psychology's organisation and practice, including child sexual abuse, family therapy, forensic psychology and individual feminist therapy, they demonstrate that it is essential that gender issues are incorporated into clinical research and practice, and offer examples of theory and practice which does not marginalise the needs of women.

Burck and Daniel share the personal meaning that gender holds for them, and the open and enquiring, rather than definitive, style of their writing makes it easy for the reader to grasp their ideas. The authors' handling in the early chapters of the many intellectual conundrums about gender is clear and assured, and through their many citations of other literature in the field they have managed to align this volume with other scholarly works while at the same time ensuring a very readable and practical book.