New BPS briefing paper on practising therapy with men ‘a step in the right direction’

Men seek therapy less than women do, but die by suicide more. So why are men staying away from therapy in droves? It's possible that what we are offering men simply doesn't appeal to them very much. We tend to take the attitude that women seem to like what's on offer, so why can't men just see sense and like it too? But there is another way of approaching this issue, by asking 'how can we make therapy more appealing to men?'

Eighteen months ago, consultant clinical psychologist Martin Seager and I proposed to the BPS that we need guidelines on practising therapy with male clients. A key issue was finding approaches that are 'male friendly'. This doesn't mean treating all men as being the same, but being sensitive to how men, in general, might be different to women in general, in ways that are relevant to their mental health.

Martin and I drafted an initial version that was developed further with the input of members of the BPS Male Psychology Section. The document was finalised after feedback generated through an open consultation from across the entire BPS membership. We are now delighted to announce the publication of this document – Briefing paper: Psychological Interventions to Help Male Adults. 

So what will you find in our briefing paper? We outline approaches to therapy that recognise the ways in which men – in general – deal with stress. For example, there is evidence that whereas women want to talk about their feelings when distressed, men want to 'fix the problem' causing their distress. So although men can benefit from talking about their feelings, they tend not to be attracted to therapy if they think that's what they will have to do there.

Another issue we highlight is that men in general may express mental health problems slightly differently to women, or respond to some stressors differently than women do. It's important, for example, for therapists to recognise that men might experience family breakdown differently than women do, so no matter what problem a male client presents with, knowing about any relationship issues they have can be important to the success of their therapy.

We note that a common problem these days is attributing men's mental health or behavioural issues to masculinity. The reality is that masculinity can be used to help deal with mental health, and disparaging masculinity – in the media, academia and elsewhere – may well have a negative impact on the mental health of men and boys. Our briefing paper is different to the APA guidelines on working with boys and men in that ours takes a more positive view of masculinity. Encouragingly though, the APA has recently moderated its view of masculinity, and we hope this will eventually be reflected in their guidelines.

Although the BPS briefing paper won't solve all the problems of men's mental health, we hope it is a step in the right direction, and one that leads to theory, research and practice that improve the provision of mental health for men and boys.

Briefing paper: Psychological Interventions to Help Male Adults