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Psychotherapy with Men: Masculine Gender Roles & Emotional Expressivity Impacting on the Therapeutic Relationship

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Whole thesis(256.58 KB)

Date

2004

Authors

Supervisor

Cotter, Liadan
Duncan, Andrew

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Health Science

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how men’s gender roles and their way of expressing emotions impact on the therapeutic encounter. It is often considered that men have greater difficulty than women engaging intimately and emotionally with their therapist and their social environment. Psychological and social factors are studied to inform the therapeutic work from a psychotherapist’s perspective. This dissertation is a modified systematic literature review which investigates the psychologically oriented literature available on this topic. Emotional constriction was found to be a significant negative factor on mental health issues for many men. Difficulties in family and work relationships, anxiety, depression and men’s attitudes towards help seeking can be linked to men’s inability to express themselves emotionally. The suggestion is made for therapists to be attuned to men’s particular way of connecting- and self-object needs for eschewing overt dependency. Clinical implications are highlighted for the practicing psychotherapist. Further research is recommended as being necessary to establish how gender variables and attitudes across both genders and across cultures affect the therapeutic relationship.

Description

Keywords

Men, Psychology, Mental health, Psychotherapy

Source

DOI

Publisher's version

Rights statement

Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/11244

Collections

Masters Theses