The Impact of Sexual Trauma: Working With Men and Boys in a Psychiatric Inpatient Field Placement

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Great article!

Bravo Jesse Douglas Raynak, BSW, MSW! Well done. The issue of men dealing with sexual abuse is one that is rarely addressed but is of course of great import. First I would like to point you and others to an excellent resource on this issue the 1 in 6 web site http://1in6.org A great deal of info and personal stories there.

You ask a very important question Why is this taboo? I think there are many answers to that one but the primary answer is gynocentrism which pushes men and boys into roles of providing and protecting while at the same time pathologizing their dependency. Add onto that the power of what researchers are calling "precarious manhood" and you get a potent brew.

This is all then impacted by the fact that men's emotional pain is taboo in our culture and most people, men and women, including many therapists tend to run from male pain. Look at most of your coursework and you will see that there is an abundance of material focused on how to work with girls and women, minorities and numerous other groups but you likely see NOTHING about working with men. Bring this up at your school and watch the defensiveness.

It is this defensiveness and taboo both from the general public and professionals that have kept us from really understanding how we can be of help to men and boys. I wrote a very concise book on this titled "The Way Men Heal" that goes into this issue and helps bring some understanding to what men and boys might need. There is a section at the end of the book on how to be of help to men and boys and a section on suggestions for therapists. https://www.amazon.com/Way-Heal-Thomas-Golden-LCSW/dp/0965464946

Thanks for bringing up this important topic.

Tom Golden, LCSW-C more than 5 years ago

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Great gift book for social work graduates!