Helping men facing mental health problems
Mark Meier knows there’s only one thing tougher than getting a man into therapy and that’s keeping him in therapy. Meier is a licensed clinical social worker and cofounder of Face It Foundation (faceitfoundation.org), whose mission is to help men understand and recover from depression. Face It, founded in 2009, offers individual and group support, community events and training for mental health professionals. In 2019, the nonprofit launched an unusual program pairing traditional therapy with peer support to see if that combination improved outcomes for men. Early results look promising. Meier talks about the program and what men need most to get and stay mentally healthy.
You’ve said that men will go to therapy but they tend to only stay with it for a session or two. Why?
The literature is clear that men stop going to psychotherapy after one or two visits. For a number of reasons, it hasn’t served them well. Sitting down for 50 minutes of talking is counterintuitive for most men. These guys never got Emotion 101. Guys need the cover of the group. because he’s direct. Some attended sessions with their wives. The psychologist shared real-life stories and did skills-based therapy with these guys, such as guided imagery, breathing techniques, (the eye movement approach) EMDR, not just talk therapy.
What did you and Face It co-founder Bill Dehkes hear in your group sessions while the men were also seeing the psychologist?
Sometimes it was funny. When we’d gather in our friendly group environment, they’d say, “What just happened?” Or, “I don’t understand how that tapping works.” But they also said they had started sitting at work listening to his guided meditations and they’d feel less anxious. Their confidence was going up. We started seeing optimism in them.
What were some measurable outcomes?
Ninety-eight% of the men completed all five therapy sessions. Fifty-one% strongly agreed and 39% agreed that having a peer support group to attend was an important component in helping them complete the five therapy sessions. And, most important, they showed significant improvement on the depression and anxiety rating scales they were provided in therapy. Twenty five of the 27 men said they strongly agreed or agreed that their depression improved because of the combination of peer support and five therapy sessions. A few of the men are still seeing the psychologist.