Gender in the Therapy Hour

There is no shortage of literature about working with men in counseling and psychotherapy, but almost none of it addresses the unique issues that a female clinician can face with a male client. These women do not have a basis for a complete understanding of the impact our society’s ideas about gender can have on a man, his masculinity, and his feelings toward talk therapy, in part because they are not men themselves. The contributors to this book, all female clinicians who have worked extensively with men, have set out to provide their female peers with a guide for therapeutically engaging and helping men. Chapters explore how each author became involved in men’s issues, case studies and examples from her own practice that illustrate her approach, and her own assessment of what works best with male clients. Topics considered include core treatment issues, such as transference and counter-transference, beginning and ending therapy with men, and ethical dilemmas; working in different therapy modalities; and doing therapy with diverse populations of men. The book concludes with an edited transcript of a discussion amongst the authors about their personal experiences working with male clients. This will be an important book for all female therapists who work with male clients and are looking for ways to better understand and tailor their approaches to meet the needs of men in therapy.

"Gender in the Therapy Hour: Voices of Female Clinicians Working with Men, edited by Sweet, fits well within the literature on counseling men yet also provides a fresh unique perspective." – Sex Roles"Gender in the Therapy Hour is a very timely book. Most graduate students and young clinicians in the mental health fields today are women. Like my supervisees, they are thirsting for guidance on how to work with their male clients, and finding few resources. This book will satisfy that thirst." - Ronald F. Levant, EdD, ABPP, 2005 President, the American Psychological Association; Professor of Psychology, the University of Akron"Every once in a while a book for clinicians comes along that makes me wonder why nobody has written it before. Dr. Sweet’s compilation of the voices of savvy and respected female therapists (and one token male!) addresses the issues of women treating men in outstanding fashion. A must read for all clinicians, male and female alike!" - David B. Wexler, PhD, Executive Director, Relationship Training Institute, San Diego CA

Holly Barlow Sweet, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice and co-founder and co-director of the Cambridge Center for Gender Relations.