Working With Troubled Men: A Contemporary Practitioner's Guide

This book offers a concise, readable, research-grounded synthesis of the special concerns mental health and other helping professionals need to address when working with men today, and explains a wealth of effective gender-specific approaches to assessment and intervention that result in more successful outcomes for male clients.

Many more women than men seek counseling and therapy, and to some extent standard services have evolved in response to female styles of communicating and problem-solving. Practitioners frequently feel frustrated and baffled by their male clients because they seem unresponsive to treatment approaches that work so well for women. But many men benefit from therapy when practitioners understand male socialization and the ways men communicate and problem-solve.

Too many men today are doing badly and are in real need of help. Almost half of America's male children grow up in single parent homes headed by mothers, where they seldom have male mentors or role models. Fewer men than women attend or graduate from college, and increasing levels of binge drinking and date rape on campuses paint a discouraging picture of men on campus. Male violence continues to be a serious problem in many American communities, with male youth violence continuing at epidemic levels. Men die younger than women overall and in much higher proportions from suicide, homicide, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. Part I: The Serious Problems Experienced by Men. The Troubled Lives of Men. Male Development: Some Divergent Points of View. Working With Men to Ensure Good Physical Health. Male Bashing. Part II: Clinical Work With Men. A Gender-Specific Approach to Diagnosing Male Clients. Forming Therapeutic Relationships With Male Clients. A Model of Therapy for Men. Storytelling, Personal Coaching, Humor, Role Plays, Men's Groups, and Other Useful Approaches for Treating Men. Self-Help Groups With Men. Part III: Clinical Work With Violent Men. Clinical Work With Violent Male Youths. Clinical Work With Physically and Sexually Abusive Men. Treating Male Sexual Harassment and Workplace Violence. Part IV: Clinical Work With Men of Color: Special Concerns. Clinical Work With African-American Men. Clinical Work With Traditional and Newly Immigrated Latino Men (With Mina Garza). Clinical Work With Asian Men (With Steven Ino). Part V: Aging and Substance Abuse. Clinical Work With Male Substance Abusers. Working With Older Adult Male Clients. Part VI: The Future: Improving the Lives of Men. Changing the Way We Respond to Men. Female Therapists and Academics Respond.


Review :
"Once again Dr. Glicken has approached an important subject that has remained in the shadows for far too long. While it is aimed at the clinical practitioner it is full of many observations and insights that will also help most social workers in myriad settings. I predict this important contribution to the field will be required reading for many years." --Daniel Huff Boise State University