Many of the difficulties experienced by men in group psychotherapy are inherent in their socialization process that brings about male gender role expectations. The need to be continually competitive, autonomous, unemotional, strong, in control of oneself and of others, dominant, and action-achievement-solution oriented can, unless reframed, work against the goal of achieving individual and collective psychological growth. It is stated that men seem to know that modern society sees them as expendable, that they play only a minor role in evolution and seem to have lost their roles as protectors and providers. Additionally they do not seem to accept the proposition that they do not have to prove their adequacy and worth. Almost unavoidable feelings of inadequacy result in a need to prove or at least maintain one's image of manliness. While these parameters of the male role are admirable and were vital in the past, in the group therapy environment they obviously work against the goal of achieving self-understanding and psychological growth. The question for psychologists who work with men in groups is how to use these tendencies to help expand masculinity to include behaviors that lead to positive mental health, and how to retain the positive aspects of the male role while making it more flexible and opening it up to new possibilities, reframing and expanding the definition to include a broader range of behaviors. (ABL)
Authors
- Peer Reviewed
- F
- Publication Type
- ['Reports - General', 'Opinion Papers']
- Published in
- United States of America
