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Counseling and Psychotherapy for Male Military Veterans
When one speaks of health care services to U.S. military veterans, one is primarily speaking of services delivered through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This federally administered organization is the largest health care provider in the world and employs more counselors and therapists than any other organization.
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Group Therapy for Traditional Men
Psychotherapists no longer have the luxury of ignoring the powerful role of gender. Over the past three decades of gender studies research, three vitally important points have gained acceptance. First, we have begun to realize that, in many significant ways, women and men behave differently in the therapy room (Maracek & Johnson, 1980; Mintz & O'Neil, 1990). Second, we have learned that inattention to gender differences impairs therapy and, in some cases, harms clients. Third, on a more positive note, we have seen how therapy enriched by gender awareness is far more relevant to clients and more rewarding to therapists.
Men In Therapy: The Challenge of Change
Meth and Pasick's "Men in Therapy" is a fine book. It is one of the first books to attempt translation of the growing men's studies literature into a practical exposition of how to approach men in psychotherapy. Two previous noteworthy books have been Scher, et al's (1987) Handbook of Counseling and Psychotherapy with Men and Silverberg's (1986) Psychotherapy for Men. Like the Scher, et al., book, this is an anthology, with several authors focusing on differing aspects of the common theme. The authors meet a principal challenge of this format by coordinating the chapters well enough that there are seamless transitions and a general sense of congruence. Though there is no concluding chapter to summarize and integrate, the reader is nonetheless left with a fairly coherent message about men in therapy. The lack of a single, all-encompassing, reference list is a mild annoyance.
Psychology of Gender
Although it may once have seemed acceptable to assume that the theories and practice of psychotherapy could remain isolated from their social and cultural contexts, it has more recently become clear that competent practitioners must attend to the rich diversity of their clients' lives. Gender is a significant variable that shapes how clients identify, experience, and attribute responsibility for their problems, choose to address them, and behave in the psychotherapy office. In addition, gender affects the behavior of practitioners themselves. Thus, competent and ethical therapeutic practice requires that practitioners become as knowledgeable as they can be about the emerging literature on gender and its implications for practice.
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