Challenging Assumptions About What Men Want: Examining Preferences for Psychotherapy Among Men Attending Outpatient Mental Health Clinics

• Published in: Professional psychology, research and practice research and practice, 2021-02, Vol.52 (1), p.28-33
• Main Authors: Kealy, David, Seidler, Zac E., Rice, Simon M., Oliffe, John L., Ogrodniczuk, John S., Kim, Dan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attrition; Clients; Clinical outcomes; Clinics; Coping strategies; Emotions; Functional impairment; Human; Human Males; Individual psychotherapy; Male; Men; Mental Health; Mental health services; Outpatient; Outpatient clinics; Outpatient Treatment; Outpatients; Preferences; Psychotherapeutic Outcomes; Psychotherapy; Therapists; Treatment preferences
• ISSN: 0735-7028; 1939-1323
• DOI: 10.1037/pro0000321

Understanding men's preferences for outpatient mental health treatment is important in better providing responsive services that engage this population in effectual care. In psychotherapy, responding to client preferences is associated with reduced attrition and improved outcomes. Knowledge regarding men's therapy preferences, however, is limited and equivocal, particularly among men attending outpatient mental health services. The present study examined treatment preferences-with a focus on psychotherapy-in a sample of Canadian men (N = 92) attending public-funded outpatient clinics. The majority of men (45.7%) endorsed a strong preference for individual psychotherapy. This preference was associated with higher levels of work and social impairment. Men tended to prefer therapists to teach coping strategies, explore feelings and patterns of experiences, and assist men in working with emotions. Only 20.9% of men preferred brief treatment, and 31.4% perceived a need for long-term therapy (>1 year). Contrary to popular discourse, findings indicated respondents' preference for therapies that focus on vulnerable emotions, and many men-particularly those with greater functional impairment-reported interest in longer term, emotion-oriented psychotherapy. Public Significance Statement This study suggests that men who seek community-based mental health treatment tend to prefer receiving individual psychotherapy and having their therapist help them access difficult emotions, teach them specific strategies, and facilitate insight-often over a moderate- to long-term course of therapy. These findings counter assumptions about men tending to reject emotion-oriented treatments and suggest a need for individualized approaches that accommodate a range of men's preferences in psychotherapy.