Therapy with Men and Boys: A Guide for Clinicians
Therapy with Boys and Men is a podcast for therapists, counselors, and mental health providers working with male clients — tackling men's mental health, masculinity, the manosphere, and the psychology of boys and men through conversations with leading clinicians and researchers.
Working with men in therapy comes with real challenges: vulnerability and help-seeking don't come easily for a lot of male clients, and clinicians are often left without the training to understand what's actually going on for them — from loneliness and isolation to the pull of online manosphere content, from anger and disconnection to changing ideas about masculinity itself. Each episode brings you tools, research, and clinical wisdom from top experts, helping clinicians (and the women who love, parent, and work alongside men) better understand what men and boys are going through in 2026 America.
Your hosts:
Dr. Erica Liebman is a Philadelphia-based clinical psychologist specializing in men's mental health, couples therapy, and psychological assessments of military veterans. A board member of APA Division 51 (Society for the Psychology of Men & Masculinities), she advocates for better training on boys and men in psychology programs. ericaliebmanpsyd.com
Dr. David Shepard is a Los Angeles-based psychologist with 30+ years of experience treating men individually and in couples therapy. A past president of APA Division 51 and Professor Emeritus in Counseling at Cal State Fullerton, he's published extensively on working with men and male partners in couple therapy. drdavidshepard.com
Episodes
13 episodes
Episode 13: From Dude to Dad: Helping New Fathers Connect, Cope, and Thrive
The baby is here. Grandparents crowd the room, nurses check on Mom, and everyone wants to hold the newborn. And Dad? He's standing in the corner with the diaper bag, wondering where he fits. For many n...
Episode 12: AI Therapy is Here: Should We Be Terrified?
We keep hearing two things about AI Therapy and mental health — it's either going to replace therapists, or it's going to ruin a generation of men who talk to their phones for help instead of a person. However, as we know from most new technolo...
Episode 11: How to Connect with Teenage Boys
A fifteen-year-old sits on the couch, eyes down, one-word answers. His parents are terrified they've lost him. Sound familiar?In this episode, Drs. Erica Liebman and David Shepard sit down with Robert Scholz, LMFT, LPCC — a private pract...
Episode 10: Need a Clear Map for Working with Male Clients? Dr. Andrew Smiler Has One
In previous episodes, psychologists Erica Liebman and David Shepard have interviewed master therapists who take a relational approach to helping male clients. This time, we’re doing something different: We are learning about a pragmatic problem...
Episode 09: Part II on Assessing for Suicide: With Demonstration
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 a...
Episode 08: 40,000 Male Suicides A Year: Re-thinking How Therapists Should Be Assessing Their Male Clients
Imagine this scenario. Your client is a middle-aged man - depressed, possibly suicidal. But he won’t talk about his feelings. He admits to suicidal ideation but brushes it off. You are very worried. You go through your assessment checklist and ...
Episode 07: "Was that Appropriate?" Navigating Sexualized Comments from Male Clients
Female therapists face unique challenges when male clients make sexualized comments—whether overt advances, suggestive language, or subtle seductive tones. These moments can rupture the therapeutic alliance and trigger countertransference, maki...
Episode 06: Reaching Therapy-hesitant Men: Through Social Media and in First Sessions
How do you help men who won’t seek help? Dr. Audra Horney found the answer on TikTok.In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Erica Liebman and Dr. David Shepard talk with psychologist Dr. Audra Horney about her innovative approach to one o...
Episode 05: Straight Therapist/Gay Male Client: What Heterosexual Clinicians Need to Know
If you’re a heterosexual therapist working with adult men, chances are you'll also be working with gay men. But how prepared do you really feel? Most graduate programs and internships offer little guidance on how to navigate the unique clinical...
Episode 04: Lessons from Couple Therapy: How to Engage the Male Partner on the Road to Connection
Why are so many men ambivalent about coming to couple therapy? And so many therapists struggle with engaging men in the therapy process? In this special episode, Dr. Erica Liebman looks for answers by interviewing her co-host, Dr. David Shepard...
Episode 03: The Manosphere: What It Is and What It Means for your Therapy with Young Men
The "manosphere" gets a lot of attention in the media- but what is it, really? At its core, it's a loose online network of influencers talking about a range of topics, but all having a connection with masculinity, male identity, and "what it me...
Episode 02: Female Therapists-Male Clients: Crossing the Gender Divide
Working with male clients as a female therapist presents unique challenges. What happens when your client shuts down, or none of your empathic responses seem to land, or you just can't seem to develop that crucial therapeutic alliance? What do ...
Episode 01: Building Relationships and Uncovering Emotions
Join us for the very first episode of Therapy with Boys and Men: A Guide for Clinicians. In this episode with guest Dr. Fred Rabinowitz, we explore how to accomplish the most important and often challenging tasks therapists need to ...