Men’s Mental Health

One of the challenges that many men face are the overbearing stigmas around men’s mental health and “masculinity.” All that has only led to the false ideology that “men are supposed to have it all together.” The reality though is that men experience emotions, stress, struggles, anxiety, depression, etc. too; because we’re all born with the same nervous system that guides our emotional stress/threat response system.

It’s biological to experience stress and emotions, and doing so doesn’t make you “weak” or less than. I approach therapy with my male clients in a way that honors their strength, but also accepts their humanness.

I help men explore their life struggles and challenges by giving them the ability to guide the pace of therapy by their own comfort level. When people think of therapy, often times they probably think of “feelings,” too. I think at times that correlation can be overwhelming. Having to express your emotions can be uncomfortable for both women and men. When we aren’t taught to really understand what it means to feel our feelings and process them effectively, the thought of diving into doing so can be daunting.

Yes, therapy is a place to feel your feelings, but that’s not a process I rush. Especially when taking the stigmas surrounding men’s mental health into consideration.

All therapists view their roles differently…a facilitator, an empower-er, a feeler, coach, mediator, etc. Naturally as a therapist I find myself most often being an “educator.” As an “educator” type of therapist, a lot of the time my “left, logical brain” leads. My brain organically “thinks to feel.” Meaning, I don’t show up diving straight into the “feeling” part of therapy...because I believe when we are able to first understand, we are more equipped to process and implement what we’ve learned into our lives.

This collaborative teaching stance allows me to offer a compassionate, gentle, yet effective and productive approach when working with clients who value patience, balance between logic and emotion, and the ability to integrate information into their lives for long-lasting change.

I always tell my clients, “I want you to know what I know because we should all be taught what therapists are taught.” For my clients, this collaborative approach emphasizes that we are both equally as important in the therapy room — a speaker and a listener, with these roles being switched back and forth because it’s your life that I need to learn, too. The balanced dynamic between the therapist and client reduces the pressure of needing to show up a certain way. It gives you the chance to just be exactly who you are, and to not worry about who you have to be in your day-to-day life. There are no expectations on who you should be when working with me as your therapist…therapy is for you.

Whether you’re a deep feeler or an emotion novice, you can be YOU…and let go of the weight on your shoulders and any expectation previously placed upon you.