Therapy with Men and Boys: A Guide for Clinicians
Every mental health provider who works with men and/or boys knows how challenging it can be. Therapy requires our male clients to be vulnerable and admit their need for help. That's pretty terrifying for a lot of men and boys. The good news is that there are clinicians and researchers who have devoted their careers to learning how to overcome these challenges. In this podcast, we will try to fill the gap in your clinical knowledge, with the help of the leading experts in working with boys and men, who will share their wisdom and tools with all of us.
About your co-hosts:
Dr. Erica Liebman is a clinical psychologist based in Philadelphia who splits her time between her private practice working with individuals and couples, performing assessments of military veterans and working on various projects that further the awareness of issues facing men and boys. She is a board member of the Society for the Psychology of Men & Masculinities, a division of the American Psychological Association. Her two main foci in this realm is advocating for increased education about boys and men in APA psychology programs as well as helping to bridge the divide between men and women through compassion and understanding. Dr. Liebman can be reached via her website www.ericaliebmanpsyd.com
Dr. David Shepard is a practicing Los Angeles-based psychologist with over 30 years of experience specializing in working with men, both individually and as the male parter in couple therapy. Dr. Shepard is a member of the Society for Psychology of Men & Masculinities, a division of the American Psychological Association, and a past-president of the division. He is Professor Emeritus in Counseling at California State University, Fullerton, and the author of numerous publications about working with men and making couple therapy work for male partners. He can be reached at drdavidshepard@gmail.com. His website is drdavidshepard.com
Therapy with Men and Boys: A Guide for Clinicians
Episode 09: Part II on Assessing for Suicide: With Demonstration
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In Part 1 of this 2-part series, suicidologist, Dr. John-Sommers Flanagan discussed with Erica and David what researchers know and don’t know about why so many men kill themselves. While males and females attempt suicide in equal numbers, men are 3-4 times likely to succeed. John spoke to some of the things researchers do know – e,g., loss of a job and relationship break-ups are leading triggers for males. But he also made clear how much we really don’t know. The episode ended with John promising to do a role play.
This episode features that role play. John plays the therapist, and David plays the client, a middle-aged unsuccessful novelist, whose suicidal ideation was triggered by his wife’s confronting him with his failures. We’ll listen to, among other things, how John creates a collaborative, non-threatening style; his use of scaling intensity of emotions, and searching for what can lift them; and his continual empathic reflections ensuring a strong therapeutic relationship. John is a strong believer in the use of evidence-based therapy, so everything you hear is grounded in current research.