Pragmatic Clinical Research to Inform the Field of Men's Mental Health: A Commentary on and Extension of Papers by David Edwards and Tracy Eells

Abstract

We consider the potential utility of the methods described by Eells (2010) and Edwards (2010) for guiding case conceptualization and treatment process in the area of men's mental health. As a relatively new field, men's mental health has been concerned with the clinical implications of understanding how masculine gender socialization influences the variety of ways different men experience, express, and respond to problems in their lives. Eells (2010) and Edwards (2010) have developed pragmatically driven research strategies that may help researchers and clinicians interested in working with men to (a) integrate gender in meaningful ways into case conceptualizations, and (b) develop effective ways of being therapeutically responsive to some of the specific challenges in working with more "traditional" men.