THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF MEN The 37th Annual Summer Institute on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Newark, Delaware July 31 & August 1, 2008 Gary R. Brooks, PhD THE “CRISIS” OF MASCULINITY - THE DARK SIDE OF MASCULINITY * Violence * Rape and Sexual Assault * Sexual Harassment * Male Sexual Misconduct as Group Norm * Substance Abuse * High-Risk Behavior * Absent Fathering * Homelessness and Vagrancy * Inadequate Partnering CHALLENGES OF MODERN MASCULINITY * Post-War cultural shifts & Changes in the Workplace * Social Movements of the 1960s * The Women’s Movement THE MEN’S MOVEMENTS MEN’S STUDIES EPISTEMOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY THE TRADITIONAL MALE ROLE * “NO SISSY STUFF” * “THE STURDY OAK” * “GIVE ‘EM HELL” * “THE BIG WHEEL THE MASCULINE MYSTIQUE – JIM O’NEIL * Restrictive emotionality * Health care problems * Obsession with achievement and success * Restricted sexual and affectionate behavior * Socialized concerns for power, competition and control * Homophobia “ELEMENTS OF THE MALE ROLE” DOYLE * Anti-feminine element * Success element * Aggressive element * Sexual element * Self-reliant element MAJOR THEMES IN MEN’S LIVES- BROOKS * Men and Their Work * Violence * Men with Women * Men With Men * Men and Fathering * Men and Their Health CONFORMITY TO MALE NORMS INVENTORY - MAHALIK * Winning * Emotional control * Risk-taking * Violence * Power over women * Dominance . MALE ROLE NORMS INVENTORY - LEVANT * Avoidance of femininity * Fear and hatred of homosexuality * Extreme self-reliance * Aggression GENDER ROLE STRAIN – IMPACT ON MEN’S LIVES BOYS TO MEN - TRAUMATIC PROCESSES IN MALE SOCIALIZATION * Masculinity "rites of passage" (Gilmore, 1990) * Developmental research re male role latitude * “Loss of the relational” (Real, 1997) * “Normative Alexithymia” (Levant, 2005) * Male “emotional funnel system” (Long, 1987) * Male “empathy deficits” (Lisak, 2005) WHY TRADITIONAL MEN HATE COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY * Stereotypes of Psychotherapy * Social Construction of Masculinity * Political Power and Triangulations * The Way Therapists have Treated Men MALE SOCIALIZATION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY “REAL MEN” - * HIDE PRIVATE EXPERIENCE * MAINTAIN CONTROL * EXHIBIT EMOTIONAL STOICISM * PRESENT SELF AS INVINCIBLE * TAKE ACTION * AVOID RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT * KNOW WHAT TO DO * SEXUALIZE INTIMACY MALE-FRIENDLY PSYCHOTHERAPY * INFORMED BY IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF MEN’S LIVES * ATTUNED TO POWER AND POLITICAL ISSUES * BROAD IN INTERVENTION MODALITIES * POSITIVE AND ENHANCING * TRANSTHEORETICAL * SENSITIVE TO DIVERSITIES AMONG MEN * DEMANDING OF THERAPIST SELF-AWARENESS BROADENING PARADIGMS FOR THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS WITH MEN & BOYS OUTSIDE THE OFFICE OUTSIDE THE OFFICE MEN ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE THERAPY OFFICE DEVELOPING THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE THE M.A.S.T.E.R.Y MODEL * “M” – Monitor Personal Reactions to Troubled Men * “A” - Assume Men are in Pain * “S” - See Men’s Problems in Gender Context * “T” – Transmit Empathy and Compassion * “E” – Empower Men to Change * “R&Y” - Respect Men’s Readiness to Change and Yield Somewhat to System Pressures WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE PSYCHODYNAMIC & OBJECT RELATIONS APPROACHES WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE COGNITIVE THERAPY (Mahalik, 2005) WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE BEHAVIOR THERAPY WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE - INTERPERSONAL THERAPY WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE - HUMANISTIC, EXPERIENTIAL, EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOTHERAPY WITHIN THE THERAPY OFFICE – INTERVENTIONS FOR BOYS AND MALE ADOLESCENTS (KISELICA & ENGLAR-CARLSON, & HORNE, 2008) THE ALL-MALE THERAPY GROUP * Men's Groups as Familiar Terrain – Confronting the Male chorus * Countering Men's Emotional Isolation from Other Men (“Altruism”) * Decentralizing Women in Men’s Lives * Enhancing Communication Skills * Discovering Emotional Interconnections (“universality”) * Instilling Hope and Initiating Mutual Empowerment TRADITIONAL MEN AND MARRIAGE (HISTORICAL, DEVELOPMENTAL, POLITICAL, AND GENDER SOCIALIZATION PERSPECTIVES ON MEN’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH WOMEN) * Male Early Development- Psychoanalytic Perspectives * Restrictive Early Socialization and Hypermasculinity * Adolescence and Sexuality * Misogyny in Patriarchal Culture * The Institution of Marriage * Men's Traditional Expectations of Marriage * The “Civilizing” Value of Marriage * Marital Services * Career and Symbolic Benefits * Emotional Benefits * Physical Benefits GENDER-SENSITIVE FAMILY THERAPY FOR MALES (BROOKS, 1992, 1998) DIVERSITY AMONG MEN - COMMON ISSUES FOR MEN OF COLOR MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCE (SUE & SUE, 2008) THERAPEUTIC “SKILL” ISSUES