Men’s Issues and Masculine Psychology

Common Concerns for Men:

Desire to be a good partner
To have intimacy needs fulfilled
Gender and cultural issues
Questions of what it means to be masculine
Desire to be a father who creates supportive, guiding relationships with his children
Toxic shame about things done or not done
Feelings of loneliness, confusion, frustration, being “out of control”
Addictive behaviors, compulsions and/or obsessions
Desire for an enjoyable career

Men of all ages and cultures are experiencing challenges in the 21st century.They are asked to share their emotions, yet often feel criticized when they do. Men have the same pressures and expectations of the past to support a family, but they can feel inadequate in the face of modern, stressful work environments and a busy lifestyle that often pressure them to be unavailable to their family or their own hobbies and passions.

There are books now that speak to this issue, such as The Decline of Men: How the American Male Is Tuning Out, Giving Up, and Flipping Off His Future by Guy Garcia, an award-winning journalist, novelist, and former staff writer for Time. Popular TV shows and advertisements are, as well, spotlighting the new male attitudes, which, though they may be the stuff of sit-coms, can also be painful, shameful, and dysfunctional for some men.

To avoid shame, men can indulge in common escape-behaviors, such as gambling, pornography, drugs, alcohol, sex addiction, love and relationship addiction, workaholism, or TV and other media addiction, which only contribute to the problem in the long run. However, the pressures, expectations, addictions, and feelings men are having can be recognized, processed and released to a great extent through the help of the comprehensive and efficient therapy approach, EMDR.

While many men have tried “talk” therapy and found it to be unsatisfying, the same men experience something beyond talk with EMDR. They are assisted in tapping into the brain’s amazing ability to heal and are able to release unwanted, persistent negativity in its many forms. They rediscover their strengths, talents, vitality, and passions, and their positive traits begin to reemerge spontaneously. 

One child sexual-abuse survivor in his mid-40’s said, “I’ve progressed more after three months of EMDR therapy than I did from twenty years of talk therapy.” Men in trauma therapy gain a sense of greater control over their lives, their decisions, their present and their future.* We hope you will contact one of our specialists now to get started toward your goals.

*It may be relevant to check out more info about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Therapy and Treatment.

San Diego therapist, Men’s Therapy, Masculine Psychology, Father Therapy