Need Therapy? A Good Man is Hard to Find (New York Times)
As a male therapist myself, I’m especially interested in hearing responses to this recent piece in the New York Times about the dwindling number of male therapists in the field (according to this piece, it’s down to about 10% of all therapists in practice). Would the lack of availability of a male therapist keep you from seeking therapy in general?
(New York Times, 5/21/11):
“Between unresolved family conflicts, relationship struggles and his mixed-race identity, James Puckett had enough on his mind in college that he sought professional help. But after bouncing from one therapist to another, he still felt stuck.
“They were all female, and they did give me some comfort,” said Mr. Puckett, 30, who works for a domestic-abuse program in Wisconsin. “But I was getting the same rhetoric about changing my behavior without any challenge to see the bigger picture of what was behind these very male coping reactions, like putting your hand through a wall.”
He decided to seek out a male therapist instead, and found that there were few of them. “I’m just glad I ended up with the person I did,” said Mr. Puckett, who is no longer in therapy, “because for me it made all the difference.”
Researchers began tracking the “feminization” of mental health care more than a generation ago, when women started to outnumber men in fields like psychology and counseling. Today the takeover is almost complete.
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