Level I: Emerging Best Psychotherapy Practices In Working with Men
Workshop Description:
Over the last ten years, we have seen a unique intensification of issues related to men: “Mars and Venus,” “Me Too,” “Toxic Masculinity,” “Gender-Inclusive Practices,” “White Male Privilege,” and the recent APA’s “Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men.” Clearly, opportunities and challenges related to males arrive almost daily in our therapy offices. We psychotherapists are invited to consider how to best serve our male clients in such gender-turbulent times.
This workshop supports clinician’s in reexamining, and better mastering the use of clinical assessment, strategic treatment interventions, and longer term post-therapy thriving of men through the following: instruction, case review and vignettes, examples of emerging practices, and research findings that include interview data from local women clinicians working with male clients.
Learning Objectives for Participants:
- Demonstrate greater clinical effectiveness by better understanding brain research on males…specifically neurobiology of brain dominance, language capacity, and communication styles.
- Utilize creative techniques to support male clients to develop greater emotional awareness, fluency of expression, and relational accountability.
- Learn to effectively collaborate with other therapists to support the developmental and therapeutic needs of shared male clients.
- Understand how to use an integrative model in order to assess, treat, and serve men for long-term therapy / personal gains.
- Learn to use imagery, story, and archetypes in session to transform therapeutic concepts from abstract to concrete, in order to motivate client’s personal growth.
- Understand effective non-verbal therapies that facilitate depth processing as an alternative to insight focused & emotionally expressive psychotherapies
Time Frame: This workshop can be taught in 6 hours.
Level II: Emerging Best Skills In Working With Men In Psychotherapy
Workshop Description:
Building on the concepts from the workshop entitled: “Level I: Emerging Best Psychotherapy Practices In Working with Men” this Level II workshop brings a focused hands-on approach to the attendees. Along with group conversation, role practicing, and guided applications of workshop materials, attendees will gain mastery of strategic treatment interventions through dyad practice.
Learning Objectives for Participants:
- Demonstrate how to contract with clients to do deeper psychoemotional work that addresses truamas, addictive patterns, prevalent unconscious dynamics, and family of origin wounding related to presenting challenges.
- Utilize ways to leverage the “Inner Mature Adult Self,” and form effective connection with the regressed inner children to heal negative core beliefs, self-sabotaging, and (both small t, & big T traumas.)
- Understand how to better address and manage one’s own projections, counter transference, triggers, and gendered biases / blind spots with male clients.
- Learn to use story, metaphor, myth / ritual, and body-centered techniques to support therapy outcomes.
- Explain how to assist clients to communicate more accurately and responsibly using the following:
- The essential 35 personal qualities within vital relationships
- The key elements that tarnish, erode, or destroy relationships
- Personal use / abuse of relational rank, power, and priviledge
- Vulnerability and intimacy as the foundation of good relating
- The basics of NVC (nonviolent communication)
Time Frame: This workshop can be taught in 6 hours.
Next Gen Men: Re-Envisioning Authentic Masculinity Across the Lifespan
Workshop Description:
These days, we are bombarded by countless images of immature manhood — men who are thoughtless, controlling, sexually inappropriate, hostile, violent, or painfully neglectful in their relationships. Much of these behaviors by men start in their boyhood. We as clinicians know that boys are deeply impacted by families, socialization, media, and culture. Boys still need much clinical assistance from us…just take a look at the latest books on the topic: “Better Boys, Better Men,” “Boys Adrift,” “The Boy Crisis,” “Boys and Sex,” “Decoding Boys,” “Raising Men.” It seems true that many males of all ages are significantly struggling. How can we help change that?
This workshop supports clinicians to better navigate masculinity issues in their work with clients, care providers, parents, etc. Through instruction, case review, vignettes, and examples of emerging practices, participants will learn powerful solutions for males who display immature masculinity. An integrative approach will be used to demonstrate physical, emotional, social, sexual, soulful, and spiritual dimensions of holistic manhood. A rare, and lengthy list of expert resources will be provided.
Learning Objectives for Participants:
- Define mature masculine authenticity.
- Master the use of four effective practices for teaching the topic of maturity to boys and to men.
- Identify the value of authentic men as role models for children and youth.
- Explore topics that authentic men sustainably utilize: i.e., creating a support network, self-care, peace-oriented living, respect for self and others, and calling for justice.
- Learn some of the contributing factors that help explain how family expectations, gender stereotypes, socialization, media, and culture often contribute to inauthentic masculinity.
Time Frame: This workshop can be taught in 2.5 hours.
