Psychotherapeutic Work with Men

Abstract

Compared with women, men suffer from poorer physical and mental health. This is due to various factors such as an overall longer working life, working under dangerous conditions, less frequent medical check-ups, higher likelihood of addictive behavior, and trivialization of one’s own symptoms of illness. Often, misjudging one’s own health is also due to the perceived need to portray yourself as a “strong man.” To facilitate men’s access to psychotherapy and to turn their associated “feelings of insufficiency” into a notion of self-competence, a gender-sensitive therapeutic and medical approach is needed. The balance model of positive psychotherapy is ideally suited to develop a structured idea of one’s individual biological, psychological, and social health model in men and to implement a concrete plan of action to carry out the changes derived from it. Using the balance model, all relevant issues in men’s lives can be addressed. Examples include health behavior, sexuality, stress regulation, working conditions, family, fatherhood, dealing with violence, and developing visions and resources. Men need a therapist as a professional counterpart “at the same eye level, " someone who has a high level of understanding with regard to issues relevant to men.