*Handouts for some presentations can be downloaded by clicking the title below.
Raising Boys to Be Competent and Connected Men
Judith V. Jordan, Ph.D.
Download Raising Boys to Be Competent and Connected Men presentation handout (PDF)
Boys continue to face unique challenges in school and society. They suffer emotionally from strict social prohibitions associated with gender role development, and those boys may grow up to men that may struggle with mutually satisfying relationship. To help all children thrive and grow into health adults, it's clear we need new models of relational strength and competence. Dr. Jordan will explore ways to honor boys' need for connection. She will examine how to welcome vulnerability and practice mutuality in work with boys and men. The challenge for all of those who care for and about boys is recognizing the need for social norms that encourage greater relational possibility.
Deepening Psychotherapy with Men: Stories, Metaphors, & Road Trips
Fredric E. Rabinowitz, Ph.D.
Download Deepening Psychotherapy with Men presentation handout (PDF)
In his unique, engaging style, Dr. Fred Rabinowitz will share his stories of men from the perspective of confidant, psychotherapist, and fellow traveler. By examining the diversity of male experiences, Dr. Rabinowitz frames the type of therapeutic alliance that encourages men to reflect and communicate their emotional depth. His male-friendly interpersonal approach engages men non-defensively, while still respecting their defenses and boundaries. He understands and speaks the language of men, using the imagery and metaphors of their life journeys. Whether in individual, couples, or group therapy, he validates the male experience, while challenging the assumptions that keep men stuck in repetitive and unfulfilling patterns. Known to his friends as “Road Trip” Fred, Dr. Rabinowitz normalizes self-disclosure and frames each man’s life in the context of where he is on the road of life. Dr. Rabinowitz will demonstrate how his male friendly approach engages, energizes, and encourages men to expand their behavioral repertoires and pursue passion in their lives.
Working with Older Men: A Live Demonstration
Jon Carlson, PsyD., Ed.D.
Download Lifestyle Intake Form (docx)
This presentation will feature a live counseling session demonstrating counseling with an older male client. The demonstration will highlight male friendly engagement and exploration of issues around aging and being an older man. Since this will be an actual client and therapy session, the content and issues to be discussed will be known as the presentation unfolds. The subsequent discussion of the session will examine how masculinity was conceptualized and developmental issues present.
Healing the Shame: Treating Male Survivors of Military Sexual Assault
Lori Daniels, Ph.D., LCSW
Download Healing the Shame presentation handout (ppt)
The military values camaraderie, loyalty, discipline, cohesion, courage, and strength. In addition, for a number of service-members who are now veterans, the military experience also included military sexual trauma (MST). It’s often assumed that MST events affect only female service-members. However, when a male active-duty service-member is sexually assaulted, he is soon faced with a cacophony of emotional and behavioral challenges, some of which directly contradict the values taught to men in the military. Most male veterans raped or sexually attacked while serving in the military struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and become isolated individuals with added dimensions of shame and rejection. A further conundrum for a male survivor is created due to the added fear of reporting an assault, especially for assaults that occurred before ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. This presentation will discuss the prevalence rates, etiology, emotional issues, and treatment strategies in facilitating recovery for male veterans from military sexual trauma. Comparisons between female and male issues of sexual assault; civilian and military sexual assault; and special issues for male survivors will also be discussed. Case examples will be provided to better illustrate the use of integrative psychotherapy as a preferred method of treatment befitting a wide variety of issues presented in psychotherapy by MST survivors. Working as a female psychotherapist with male clients struggling with MST histories will also be discussed.
From Bars to Grindr to Fatherhood: Clinical Work with Gay Men
Jay Robertson-Howell, PsyD., MSSW
Download From Bars to Grindr to Fatherhood presentation handout (ppt)
When working with gay men, it’s essential to keep in context the experience in which the individual’s sexual identity developed. As times have changed, so have the individual experiences with a developing sexuality. However, what still needs to be considered is the intersection between sexuality and masculinity and the impact that this has on gay men. Even though times are changing and stigma has been reduced, homophobia continues to influence the level of shame an individual experiences.
I Pray with Clients (and other Confessions of Integrating Spirituality in my Clinical Work with Men)
Anthony Isacco, Ph.D.
Integrating religion and spirituality into clinical work with men requires thoughtful consideration of client, counselor, ethical, and treatment factors. To help practitioners gain competence in this area, this presentation will highlight the following areas: Research detailing how religion and spirituality may be a new pathway towards improved health outcomes for men; decision-making models that help to decide when to integrate spirituality into clinical work, including assessment strategies, ethical standards, and counselor self-reflection and awareness; and a description and discussion of case examples that included religious and spiritual interventions with male clients.
The Use of Humor and Story Telling in Psychotherapy
Christopher Kilmartin, Ph.D.
Men are socialized to tell stories and use humor to communicate their experiences. Psychotherapists can tap into this mode of communication, which feels natural to many men, to facilitate insights and build working alliances with their male clients. In this presentation, a seasoned storyteller and humorist helps us to understand how to help clients laugh and tell stories in different and healthier ways.
Women Working with Men: Gender Dynamics in the Therapy Room
Mary Andres, Psy.D., Nicole Green, Ph.D., Debra M. Kawahara, Ph.D., and Rebekah Smart, Ph.D.
Even as women therapists are trained to understand certain aspects of male socialization and its impact on men’s mental health, they can be taken off guard at the interpersonal dynamics that emerge in psychotherapy. Often these relate to the complex intersection of gender, culture, class, and sexual orientation, and can manifest in a variety of transference and countertransference issues. Recognizing the issues early on and monitoring one’s own process is crucial for being able to respond to male clients compassionately and effectively. A panel of experienced women therapists will talk about how they have navigated interpersonal gendered dynamics with their male clients, including issues of romantic transference, anger and hostility, power struggles, and working with feelings.
Engaging Men in the Process of Psychotherapy
Mark Stevens, Ph.D.
Download Engaging Men in the Process of Psychotherapy presentation handout (pdf)
Men are coming into psychotherapy at a higher rate than ten years ago. Once they come to therapy, how do we make the process one that they feel challenged, comfortable and wanting to return. This presentation will focus on relevant issues that psychotherapists need to become familiar with in regards to how men “enter” therapy and how men “do” therapy. The presentation will include discussion about men’s issues and the “rules of masculinity” as they relate to the counseling process. A video tape (produced by APA) of a real time counseling session with a male client and the presenter will be shown and discussed.
Male-Sensitive Couples Therapy: A Workshop and Demonstration
David S. Shepard, PhD., & Michele Harway, Ph.D.
This workshop will focus on five treatment tasks required for conducting male-sensitive couples therapy: (1) overcoming men’s ambivalence about engaging in a process that they may perceive as “stacked against them”; (2) dealing with countertransference when the male partner’s behavior appears responsible for couples’ distress or lack of treatment progress (3) assessing for signs of masked depression, in order to differentiate depression from disengagement/withdrawal patterns; (4) recognition of the clinician’s own gender role beliefs regarding “masculinity”; (5) assessing for intimate partner violence using language that encourages honest disclosure. The workshop will feature a live demonstration of male-sensitive couples counseling, with the presenters taking turns as the therapists for the purpose of introducing participants to the treatment tasks listed above. Additionally, they will discuss the differences in the process when a male vs. a female is the clinician.
Lessons Learned from Men Who Transitioned from Military to Civilian Life
Marvin Westwood, Ph.D., David Kuhl, MD, Ph.D. and Duncan Shields, M.A.
There is much concern about the psychological health of male military veterans returning from deployment. This experiential presentation will describe the Veterans Transition Program (VTP), which is a group-based residential program where soldiers help soldiers transition from military to civilian life. The objectives of the VTP are to enable soldiers to "drop the baggage" of operational stress injuries and to provide 'tools' to be successful and productive in civilian life. This presentation will describe the program, the lessons learned in providing the program over the past 15 years, and applications to programs provided for civilians based on the success of working with men in the military.
Understanding and Supporting Men Sexually Abused in Childhood
Martha Lucia Marin
This session provides an opportunity to consider the particular ways men may respond differently to childhood sexual abuse. Whatever your level of knowledge about working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, this interactive session may challenge you to rethink your current assumptions, examine your expectations and to employ a lens of masculinity to enhance your existing skills when working with men. The session explores common misunderstandings about men and sexual abuse, the special barriers men face in disclosing childhood sexual abuse, how cultural norms may inhibit men from seeking treatment (e.g., gender expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, faith, etc), the importance and role of language in advocacy and treatment, and biases and beliefs can diminish your effectiveness in working with men. This training is most useful for those with some basic knowledge and understanding of sexual abuse dynamics.
Affirmative Practice with Transgender Clients
lore m. dickey, Ph.D.
Download Affirmative Practice with Transgender Clients presentation handout (pdf)
This session will examine recent developments in establishing an affirmative practice for work with transgender clients. Over the course of the session, participants will learn about the practice guidelines that have been developed by the American Psychological Association. The session will also provide a first-hand account of the transition process. This will afford participants with an opportunity to examine their own assumptions about gender and the ways that the gender binary pervades in society. Additionally, it will explore informed consent models of treatment and the ways that mental health professionals can advocate for their clients. Participants of all knowledge levels are
invited to this session.
Creating Healing Spaces for African American and Latino Urban Men
Joseph M. Cervantes, PhD., and Stan Bosch, Psy.D.
This workshop will address through an interactive and self-reflective program, the struggles of manhood for Latino and African American and the desire for authenticity despite the continued presence of micro and macro aggressions. We will begin and end with ritual to initiate a healing circle of open dialogue. Storytelling, truths and falsehoods about Latino and African American men, spiritual awakenings in the midst of conflict and inter-community warfare, and understanding the call to a brotherhood of spiritual connection will be aspects of this engaging presentation. Challenges of becoming men and advancing true authorship in one's manhood through the lifespan will be a focus. Strategies for the development of collaborative stewardship in communities of color will be integrated through the mutual dialogue of presenters and participants.
Pressures to Succeed and Diminished Manhoods: Gendered Racism and the Model Minority Son
Chris Liang, Ph.D.
Download Pressures to Succeed and Diminished Manhoods presentation handout (pdf)
This interactive workshop will begin with a brief overview of theories of masculinity, gender role conflict, and racism-related stress as they pertain to Asian American men. The concept of gendered racism will then explored through the use of examples. Before breaking into smaller groups to discuss how gendered racism may be presented clinically across three populations of Asian American men (adolescents, young adults, adults who are fathers), workshop attendees will be encouraged to share their own observations of how gendered racism may shape the relationships, careers, behaviors, and well-being of Asian American men. As a result of attending this workshop, attendees will (1) develop a clear sense of how masculinity ideology, gender role conflict, and racism intersect and vary across the life span of Asian American men; and (2) consider different strategies for addressing gendered racism experiences of Asian American men in a clinical setting.
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