For years we have documented the varying areas of life in which men and boys bear the brunt of discrimination and sexism. In our family courts, domestic violence services, law enforcement/criminal justice system, genital integrity, education and a host of other areas, men and boys are systematically short-changed.
The mental health industry is one of the most brutal and culpable forces concerning these issues. Countless social workers and psychologists turn a blind eye to the genital mutilation of boys and the science proving its detrimental effects on its victims. There are perhaps an even greater number of mental health professionals who knowingly and unknowingly operate under tainted research and a false narrative about domestic violence. These individuals often actively work to prevent male victims and their children from accessing services, either through malicious intent or willful ignorance.
A pernicious and destructive sexism pervades the mental health industry. It operates unchallenged behind a façade of false objectivity, false inclusiveness and false compassion. Sadly, the mental health industry is ignorant of even the most basic differences between men and women in the ways we process emotions. Men are often expected to emote like women. When they don’t, they’re judged as deficient.
These facts, and many, many more have created an unambiguous need for change in the helping professions.
The Men’s Mental Health Network is the first major step toward making that happen.
Our Mission Statement and promise:
The Men’s Mental Health Network provides an alternative to the mainstream mental health profession which has grown increasingly sexist and indifferent to the problems faced by men and boys. We will apply our 100+ years of collective expertise in men’s issues to develop and provide training material for other mental health professionals.”
At launch, we will provide direct services in the areas of grief and loss, high-conflict relationships, addictions and men with disabilities.
This is only the beginning.
We are presently consulting with other mental health professionals who practice without disparaging assumptions about men and boys. These professionals understand the current aberrant shortcomings of the mental health field.
Upon thorough vetting, we will add these professionals to a public directory. The ultimate goal is to provide a comprehensive, international mental health network in which both online and offline services are available.
The importance of that is difficult to overstate. When people seek relief from the “helping” professions and are instead given political ideology, it is an abuse of their trust. There is a reason so many men roll their eyes at the mention of therapy and counseling. It is the same reason they are far less likely than women to reach out for help. Their suspicions are 100% justified.
They are telling us quite clearly that the mental health field must change, not the men. The Men’s Mental Health Network is the first earnest attempt to answer them.
As the Men’s Mental Health Network directory grows and solidifies, our next objective is to create and provide authorized continuing education and training for mental health professionals. It will be designed completely on evidence-based clinical need, not political correctness. We will target under-recognized and often ignored areas of study, such as misandry and gynocentrism. This training is intended to confront and scrutinize already faulty beliefs held by so many in the mental health field.
Additionally, we will adopt a very public role in challenging many mental health institutions and individuals by calling attention to sexist and harmful practices. We will not shy from nor let pass any entity or individual who is part of the problem.
Men and their problems have long been ignored, minimized and even ridiculed by the mainstream mental health industry. Today marks the beginning of corrective action. We start by building a network of professionals who don’t view men as the default problem and have both comprehension of and compassion for their struggles.
We will turn that platform into a beacon of light that challenges the rampant discrimination against men in the mental health field and force an end to the empathy gap that now plagues men and boys at the most vulnerable moments in their lives.
Please visit the site and join our mailing list. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. If you want to offer further support, please make use of our donation button to help us reach our goals.
Signed,
Paul Elam,
Peter Wright,
Tom Golden LCSW and
Tara Palmatier, PsyD
