Working With Men in Family Therapy: An Exploratory Study*

Abstract

The results of this exploratory research provide a beginning formulation of a gender‐sensitive approach to working with men in family therapy. A panel of 36 family therapists endorsed 131 interventions as appropriate and effective ways to work with men. The results suggest the importance of therapist awareness of gender issues and socialization in working with male clients. Interventions were highly endorsed in the areas of developing therapist perceptual and conceptual skills regarding gender, promoting mutual responsibility, and challenging stereo‐typical behaviors and attitudes. Surprisingly few interventions pertaining to structuring treatment and encouraging affective expression in men had sufficient consensus to be included in the final results.

Engaging men in family therapy: does the gender of the therapist make a difference?

“…General results of the study indicate sufficient consensus between the female and male therapists to endorse 131 (or 38.6%) of the total 339 items in the second round of the Delphi Questionnaire (DQII). (These results are published elsewhere: see Dienhart and Avis, 1994. ) Of the remaining items, a gender-based sub-analysis revealed that male therapists endorsed an additional twenty-seven items as appropriate and potentially effective, while female therapists endorsed an additional thirteen items.…”

“…Male and female participants agreed on 36% of the interventions suggested for challenging stereotypical attitudes and behaviours (see Dienhart and Avis, 1994). In this area, the male panelists again endorsed more additional items than the female panelists (six compared to two).…”

Gender Bias in Guatemalan Counselor Education Students: Using an Experiential Activity as a Stimulus

“…Aloof, controlling, and aggressive male behavior is recognized in the literature as exaggerated negative aspects of machismo (Torres, Solberg, & Carlstrom 2002). Restrictive or deleterious male roles have been recognized throughout most cultures, and Dienhart and Avis (1994) asserted that therapists must be aware of their beliefs regarding the male role and their potentially harmful affects upon clientele. They suggested that professionals with such perceptions subtly enforced a limited range of male affect and behaviors in intimate relationships.…”

The Essential Elements of Successful Marriage and Family Therapy: A Modified Delphi Study

“…Ot K er studies in t a e field of MFT have used this approach to obtain the consensus of experts about a particular issue (e.g., Avis, 1986;Dienhart & Avis, 1994;Fish & Piercy, 1987;Jenkins, 1996; Winkle, Piercy, & Hovestadt, 1981).…”