This is a complicated issue. Men find it difficult to go into therapy for many reasons. One is the relatively low number of male therapists. Should it matter? Perhaps not, but then you would have to argue that women should not prefer female therapists. Research indicates that in the long run the gender of the therapist is not significant to therapeutic outcome. It is in the decision to seek therapy that it matters. Patients believe, rightly or not, that having a same gender therapist will be more comfortable for them. This belief and the difficulty in finding a male therapist contributes, along with other factors, to the reluctance of men to enter a therapeutic relationship.
Ruminations is mainly about the intersection of three things that interest me: being healthy, politics, and the necessity of letting go. From time to time, I'll write about other things that catch my fancy.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Need Therapy? A Good Man is Hard To Find!
This is a complicated issue. Men find it difficult to go into therapy for many reasons. One is the relatively low number of male therapists. Should it matter? Perhaps not, but then you would have to argue that women should not prefer female therapists. Research indicates that in the long run the gender of the therapist is not significant to therapeutic outcome. It is in the decision to seek therapy that it matters. Patients believe, rightly or not, that having a same gender therapist will be more comfortable for them. This belief and the difficulty in finding a male therapist contributes, along with other factors, to the reluctance of men to enter a therapeutic relationship.
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