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Issue 358 // Institute Inbrief
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Dear <<First Name>>,
Welcome to Edition 358 of Institute Inbrief. This edition's featured article articulates some causes and concepts that can assist counsellors in understanding masculinity, so they can help men find meaning in the modern world.
Also in this edition:
- AIPC's UpSkill Micro-Credential courses
- The Importance of Teamwork
- The Science Behind Habit Formation
- Anger Management: De-escalating Anger
- Quotations, Seminar Timetables & More!
Enjoy your reading!
Sandra Poletto
CEO, Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.
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Diploma of Counselling
Join one of the most personally enriching careers.
There is no more rewarding way to help others than by providing emotional support that assists people get their lives back on track.
AIPC is the largest provider of counselling courses in the country. We have specialised in counsellor training for over 30 years. We have proudly helped over 55,000 people from 27 countries pursue their personal and career interests in counselling.
Our Diploma of Counselling is a journey of self-discovery, providing deep insight into why you think and behave as you do. And when you graduate, you will be extremely well prepared to pursue a career in counselling – employed or self-employed – enjoying our strong industry reputation and linkage.
As a Counsellor you will:
- Be truly passionate about what you do.
- Help people every day overcome challenges and lead better lives.
- Enjoy job security in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country.
- Have the freedom of owning your own business.
Ready to start your Counselling journey, <<First Name>>?
LEARN MORE 
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Community Services Courses
Helping You Help Your Community
By gaining a qualification within the Community Services sector, you will be contributing to an industry that serves a very important purpose: to assist those with personal or relationship challenges. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping others overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. And there’s no better time to do that than now!
Diploma of Financial Counselling - learn more
Do you want to help others who are facing financial hardship?
Diploma of Community Services (Case Management) - learn more
Join one of the fastest growing employment sectors in the country!
Diploma of Youth Work - learn more
Do you want to positively influence the next generation?
Bachelor of Human Services - learn more
A flexible and affordable alternative to traditional tertiary education.
LEARN MORE
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AIPC Upskill Micro-credential Courses
Our new Upskill courses cover a range of interesting topics to enhance your personal and professional development.
Our digitally badged range of micro-credential courses will provide you with new skills, a deeper understanding or a new sense of purpose, keep your career moving towards a brighter, more secure future.
Each micro-credential course is between 30 and 40 hours of learning, providing a deep, rich, learning experience. Some of the currently available courses include:
Creative and Critical Thinking - explore now
In this micro-credential you’ll learn the IDEALS model for creative thinking, including an examination of the roles of problem identification, ideation and critical evaluation.
Working with Mental Health - explore now
In this micro-credential you’ll learn about mental health issues that occur across the lifespan.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - explore now
In this micro-credential you’ll learn about the hugely popular modern behavioural therapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership - explore now
In this micro-credential you’ll learn the highly desired workplace skill of Emotional Intelligence (EI).
Mental Wellbeing in the Workplace - explore now
In this micro-credential you’ll learn how to support employee wellbeing, through understanding factors and strategies that can negatively (and positively) impact the psychological health of workers.
VIEW ALL UPSKILLS COURSES
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Finding Meaning: Masculinity in Crisis
Many young men seek counselling because they feel lost (Seidler, et al., 2016). This happens especially in today’s world, where the boundaries of how a man is supposed to behave are shifting rapidly. It’s a difficult time for young men to find their place in life as they struggle to adapt themselves to changing social attitudes and norms; there’s plenty of content in the media illuminating harmful male behaviours, but there isn’t a legitimate mainstream discussion of how masculinity ought to be propagated. As a result, many young men are growing into adulthood without a map - they lack a male voice of compassion and authority to guide them on how to integrate masculinity into their lives.
In our writer’s experience, men who have been referred for counselling often have a very strong underlying sense of purpose and a desire to be good people; their anxiety, depression, and harmful behaviours are often symptoms of feeling unable to actualise their potential. It’s a counsellor’s job to help men articulate this sense of purpose in constructive and positive ways, and offer guidance on enacting their perceived purpose effectively.
A study from the University of Connecticut has identified three major factors that determine whether men believe their lives are meaningful (George & Park, 2016):
- They feel that their lives make sense, and have continuity
- They are directed and motivated by meaningful goals
- They believe their existence matters to others
Researchers discovered that sources of meaning tend to fall into two main categories: meaningful relationships and a meaningful profession (George & Park, 2016).
There is no doubt that this generation of males is developing a unique relationship with masculinity, and it's not necessarily for the betterment of their relationships or professions (Black & Westwood, 2012); men’s desire for professional success can be interpreted as a validation of the patriarchal system, while their pursuit of romantic relationships can be perceived as misogynistic (LeanIn, 2019). While some men are certainly exploiting systems which privilege them, often times the prevalence of this attitude discourages “good” men from progressing and developing themselves (Hoff, 2016). This article is not making a stance on any social/political issues: it is merely articulating some causes and concepts that can assist counsellors in understanding this very nuanced issue, so they can help men find meaning in the modern world.
What even is masculinity?
Masculinity and femininity denote sets of attributes that most people can intuitively identify - for example, it doesn't take a discerning anthropologist to tell the girls section of the toy store apart from the boys section. But regardless of the value of this distinction, what exactly is the nature of it? Defining masculinity and femininity is a little more nuanced than simply referring to their apparent differences; not all people have the same understanding of what masculinity and femininity are, and how they manifest themselves. For example, conceptualisations of masculinity and femininity vary vastly across cultures and historical periods (Reeser, 2010); as such, there can be confusion about what these terms mean, and how we can embody them effectively.
Across time, however, typically agreed-upon standards for masculine conduct involve strength, courage, and leadership (Kimmel, 1994); these traits reflect a desire for meaning - you only inhabit strength and courage when a compelling reason to do so arises. Young men today, knowingly or not, are crying out for responsibilities that offer this type of meaning in their lives (Frankl, 2006). They want to know what it means to be who they are in the world right now - what can they do, and how can they best live? It's time that we help them find the answers to these questions.
Currently, there is a lot of heated discussion about whether masculinity - or any kind of gender categorisation - is a genuine natural occurrence, or a mere social construction that we can/should dispose of; the question of whether masculinity is inherent in biology or if it arises through socialisation has been debated for hundreds of years (Martin & Finn, 2010). This is a question that does not have a black-and-white answer; studies on prenatal androgen exposure - among other developmental events - have shown biological links to expressions of masculine or feminine traits (Martin & Finn, 2010), however, it can be argued that these differences are exaggerated and articulated further by social influences (Wharton, 2012).
Whichever perspective you align with, an often unacknowledged aspect of these conversations is that while some forms of masculinity are harmful, some are also powerful forces for good. It's possible (and advised) for men to have a productive and integrated expression of their masculinity (Jung, 2009) - one that allows them to use their strengths to achieve fulfilment. Unfortunately, the current culture is lacking in content which identifies what these strengths are, and thus fails to encourage men to embody them; as detailed above, many young men feel lost because of this.
It should also be stated that masculine traits are not exclusive to men; masculinity and femininity are not synonymous concepts to gender or sexual identity (Butler, 2006). That being said, this article is specifically addressing the mental health of men with masculine attributes.
Why is masculinity in crisis?
There are a variety of reasons why young men feel uncertain about how to navigate the contemporary world. These include, but are not limited to, the following 3 observations:
1) The increasing separation between traditional male roles and the reality of modern life
The roles of men in the traditional household and workplace are changing. Men are becoming more inclined to be actively involved in child-rearing and housework. However, there is still often an expectation for them to maintain the traditional breadwinner role (Martin & Gnoth, 2009). Men are finding themselves stuck in limbo between the past and the future. Discerning one’s purpose thus becomes difficult, leading to feelings of emptiness (Rogers, 2010); men without a defined mission will generally find themselves feeling a tremendous sense of lack (Deida, 1997). In this day and age, young men are extremely worried about what they will do after college, and the answer is likely “Go overseas for a few years, then come back.” This reflects a lack of encouragement to make powerful decisions towards meaningful futures.
2) A lack of positive masculine role models in society
For many children, fathers are either absent or not present enough, and this has lasting impacts on the way males view themselves and their sense of meaning/purpose in the world (Single Mother Guide, 2012). Men who grow up without an emotionally involved father has been correlated with long term effects including increased likelihood of dropping out of high school or college, and increased likelihood of substance abuse (McLanahan, Tach, & Schneider, 2014). These problems are exacerbated by the fact that many young men are searching for their place in the world and attempting to figure out what it means to be a man in today's society - there is not always an adult male figure for them to look up to.
The men who are often placed in the media limelight are there by way of some transgression or moral failing. While the modern world is rightly campaigning for positive representations of identities in media, it seems as though this effort circumvents men (Tarrant, et al., 2015). It is understood that men have historically tended to see themselves in positions of power and dominance, but this is not a reason to avoid exposing men to genuinely positive role-models in our current time. It is to the detriment of the mental health of many young men that we do not see more positive representations of masculinity (Tarrant, et al., 2015); ones that represent the compassionate and purposeful core of the masculine ideal.
3) Social media content either teaches men harmful ways of interacting with others, or degrades the concept of masculinity in general
The following two types of social media content are tough for today's men to navigate. Firstly, there is a large online community of content creators calling for men to be ruthlessly successful; young men are bombarded with images of 'alpha-males' and are expected to adopt this image into their own definitions of masculinity. This makes it more difficult for boys to embrace their sensitive sides, leading to a lack of emotional literacy (Stratford, 2020). Content creators rarely offer antidotes to this effect, and are failing to provide helpful insights into the psychological reality of becoming a good man with a meaningful life. These online figures often try to convey an image that their life is perfect, when in fact this is often far from the truth; men are being encouraged to strive for false images of fulfilment (Stratford, 2020). This is a major concern for both men and women.
Secondly, while some men are being plagued by the alpha-male image, others are being exposed to content that degrades masculinity in general. The conduct of certain men has been the object of fair scrutiny over recent years, and there are arguments to be made for how this conduct has been an expression of masculinity. There is, however, no grounds for suggesting that masculinity in general is problematic. This view has created a culture in which masculinity is demonised; while this might be a perceived course-of-action for eradicating its more toxic forms, the more immediate effect is that good men are feeling alienated and ineffectual (Rogers, 2010). Rather than encouraging men to be better, we are constantly reminding them that they are harmful; a result of this is a generation of men who are unmotivated and aimless (Salter, 2019). A study has found that male respondents who have experienced gender-based cyberbullying feel compromised in how they feel they are permitted to exist in society (Chen, et al., 2015). Men are seen as less attractive and less desirable to women when they post images of themselves on their Instagram account, as it is seen as the promotion of male dominance rather than a harmless expression of an individual (Fox & Rooney, 2015). This phenomenon leads to a significant decrease in men's self-esteem, which results in paralysis and stagnation in their professions and relationships.
So, how can counsellors help men find purpose and meaning?
As counsellors, we can offer strategies to help men identify and organise the meaningful facets of their lives. Viktor Frankl, the author of Man’s Search for Meaning, created logotherapy, which is based on the presumption that a man’s main motivation is to find meaning in life, as opposed to the pursuit of pleasure or power (Marshall & Marshall, 2012). Some techniques he used were dereflection (focusing on high-level goals instead of on themselves) and Socratic dialogue (open-ended questions to uncover dormant aspirations). If, for example, a client is passionate about saving the environment, this type of therapy can assist them in finding a practical way to focus their time and efforts on realising their potential in doing so.
Meaning therapy (Wong, 2010) incorporates aspects of cognitive-behavioural therapy and positive psychology, and helps people take on more meaningful responsibilities in their lives while encouraging them to pursue goals that serve others. It advocates psycho-educational approaches that equip men with the mental toolkit necessary to create a vision of an idealised future for them to begin moving towards.
Similarly, self-authoring is a process by which people organise their lives into a narrative structure, making their past, present, and desired futures more easily understandable (Peterson, 2005). By creating a map of one’s life, it can become far simpler to identify who you are, what you value, and what you need to do to be of most service to yourself and your community. As with most approaches that attend to creating meaning, it is based on reflection and awareness.
A culture of masculine content creation must be encouraged to counter the fear of being construed as 'too emotional', or 'not manly enough'. It's time we begin working together to help young men find meaning, and develop a culture which is focused on stopping the cycles of toxic masculinity, whilst encouraging healthy expressions of masculinity in its stead.
In summary…
Young men today are having a difficult time finding their place in the world. The current cultural climate surrounding masculinity - as well as the absence of positive role-models for younger generations - is leading to a decrease in the quality of mental health. Men must be taught how to integrate their masculine dispositions into their lives; how to lead, how to care, and how to love with purpose and commitment. There is an urgent need for discussion to take place around what masculinity means, and how we can encourage healthy expressions of it; it is my hope that this article has encouraged us all to begin engaging with this conversation.
Recommended Links: Men In Mind Program (by Movember), Men and Emotions: From Repression to Expression (Article), Men, Emotions and Alexithymia (Article)
References:
- Butler, Judith (2006) [1990]. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. New York London: Routledge.
- Cunningham, C. E., Chen, Y., Vaillancourt, T., Rimas, H., Deal, K., Cunningham, L. J., & Ratcliffe, J. (2014). Modeling the anti‐cyberbullying preferences of university students: Adaptive choice‐based conjoint analysis. Retrieved from webpage.
- Deida, D. (1997). The Way of the Superior Man. S.I.: Sounds True.
- Fox, J., Rooney, M. (2015) The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s use and self-presentation behaviors on social networking sites. Personality and Individual Differences
- Frankl, V. E., Kushner, H. S., & Winslade, W. J. (2006). Man’s search for meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
- Hoff, C. (2016). Five Ways Patriarchy Affects Men and their Relationships. Retrieved from webpage.
- Jung, C. G., Shamdasani, S., & Hoerni, U. (2009). The red book = Liber novus: A readers edition. New York: W.W. Norton &.
- Kimmel, Michael S. (1994). "Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity". Theorizing Masculinities. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 119–141.
- LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey survey (2019)
- Maria Marshall; Edward Marshall (2012). Logotherapy Revisited: Review of the Tenets of Viktor E. Frankl's Logotherapy. Ottawa: Ottawa Institute of Logotherapy.
- Martin, Brett A.S.; Gnoth, Juergen (2009). "Is the Marlboro man the only alternative? The role of gender identity and self-construal salience in evaluations of male models". Marketing Letters. 20 (4): 353–367.
- Martin, Hale; Finn, Stephen E. (2010). Masculinity and Femininity in the MMPI-2 and MMPI-A. University of Minnesota Press. pp. 5–13.
- McLanahan, S., Tach, L., & Schneider, D. (2013). The Causal Effects of Father Absence. Retrieved from webpage.
- Peterson, J. (2005). Self Authoring. Retrieved from https://www.selfauthoring.com/
- Reeser, Todd W. (2010). Masculinities in theory: an introduction. Malden, Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Rogers, Thomas (November 14, 2010). "The dramatic decline of the modern man". Salon.
- Salter, Michael (2019). "The Problem With a Fight Against Toxic Masculinity". The Atlantic.
- "Single Mother Statistics". Single Mother Guide. (2012)
- Seidler Z. E., Dawes A.J., Rice S. M., Oliffe J. L., Dhillon H. M. (2016). The role of masculinity in men's help-seeking for depression: A systematic review. Retrieved from webpage.
- Stratford, H. (2020). 'Be a man' - toxic masculinity, social media and violence: Innovation Unit: Creating impact - reducing inequalities - transforming systems. Retrieved from webpage.
- Tarrant, A., Terry, G., Ward, M., Are Male Role Models Really the Solution? Interrogating the 'War on Boys' Through the Lens of the 'Male Role Model' Discourse. (2015). Retrieved from webpage.
- Westwood, M. J., & Black, T. G. (2012). Introduction to the Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Retrieved from webpage.
- Wharton, Amy S. (2012). The Sociology of Gender, second edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Wong, P. T. (2009). Meaning Therapy: An Integrative and Positive Existential Psychotherapy. Retrieved from webpage.
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The Importance of Teamwork
Many people working in organisations try to avoid being part of a team. Perhaps the many levels of requirements for good teamwork place it in the “too-hard” basket. Yet there are many advantages accruing to both the organisation and the individual from successful teamwork. In this article, we look at some of these advantages..
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The Science Behind Habit Formation
Oh, here we go again! You’ve got a wonderful new smart phone – or maybe a computer – with all the bells and whistles, but how do you make it work? How do you get from one screen or one app to the next? Chances are, the first day will involve a bit of brainwork; you’ll notice what happens when you push this button or come to that screen and you may feel slightly clumsy working it, but after a day or two, you will be so used to the new device that you will forget how the old one operated. So, from the brain’s perspective, what just happened?
READ MORE
More articles: www.aipc.net.au/articles
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Certificate in Mindfulness Practice
Teaching helping professionals how to implement a Mindfulness practice with clients.
The Certificate in Mindfulness Practice is a comprehensive program designed to assist helping professionals integrate mindfulness practice into their client work.
The course helps learners develop their understanding of how mindfulness became the phenomenon it is in the West today, and the key processes and concepts that underlie it. They then explore how a personal mindfulness practice can be developed, consider the research into the effects of mindfulness in various contexts and among different groups, and how different helping professionals have integrated mindfulness into their practice approaches.
When you complete the Certificate in Mindfulness Practice, you’ll be issued with a Certificate in Mindfulness Practice Digital Badge and a Certificate of Attainment.
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MHA Credential Courses
Take a deep-dive with some of the world’s leading mental health & wellbeing experts. Learn new skills. Connect with peers. Earn a Digital Credential.
MHA Credential Courses are self-paced, deep-dive, content-rich (20+ hours of learning) programs led by internationally-renowned experts.
Each course is meticulously crafted and contains a range of learning resources including video lectures, peer-reviewed articles, case studies, workbooks, assessments, practical activities, and more. Credentials are 100% self-paced and accessible on-demand, so learners can start at any time and progress at their own pace.
Upon completion of an MHA Credential Course, you are issued with an MHA Digital Badge (an internationally-verifiable digital credential) and a professional development (CPD) Certificate of Attainment.
Currently offered MHA Credential Courses include:
- Disaster Mental Health Counselling
- Applied Positive Psychology: Finding Mastery & Flourishing
- Science and Practice of Wellbeing
- Evidence-based Parenting: Raising Children to Thrive
More courses will be released later this year, covering a range of topics including, trauma, suicide prevention, and more.
LEARN MORE
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Have you visited Counselling Connection yet? Our official blog has over 500 posts counselling, psychology, self-growth, and more! Make sure you too get connected. Below is a link to one of our popular blog posts.
Anger Management: De-escalating Anger
Would you know what to say or do in order to de-escalate from a client – or anyone – threatening to harm you if they don’t get what they want? Would you know – if all else fails – how to keep yourself safe in a violent situation? In this article, we share with you a set of responses for dealing with an angry person – safely – at each of 7 levels of anger.
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More posts: www.counsellingconnection.com
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"I argue that the most powerful thing you can do to add healthy years is to curate your immediate social network. In general, you want friends with whom you can have a meaningful conversation. You can call them on a bad day and they will care. Your group of friends are better than any drug or anti-aging supplement, and will do more for you than just about anything."
~ Dan Buettner
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Many students of the Diploma of Counselling attend seminars to complete the practical requirements of their course. Seminars provide an ideal opportunity to network with other students and liaise with qualified counselling professionals in conjunction with completing compulsory coursework.
Seminar topics include:
- The Counselling Process
- Communication Skills I
- Communication Skills II
- Counselling Therapies I
- Counselling Therapies II
- Legal & Ethical Frameworks
- Brief Interventions and Loss & Grief Support
- Individualised Support and Working with Mental Health
- Advanced Counselling Techniques
Click here to access all seminar timetables online.
To register for a seminar, please contact your Student Support Centre.
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