Therapy with Men and Boys

Therapy with Men and Boys: A Guide for Clinicians

Health EN ↓ 11 episodes

Every mental health provider who works with men and/or boys knows how challenging it can be. Therapy requires our male clients to be vulnerable and admit their need for help. That's pretty terrifying for a lot of men and boys. The good news is that there are clinicians and researchers who have devoted their careers to learning how to overcome these challenges. In this podcast, we will try to fill the gap in your clinical knowledge, with the help of the leading experts in working with boys and men, who will share their wisdom and tools with all of us. About your co-hosts: Dr. Erica Liebman is a...

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Therapy with Men and Boys

Episodes

Episode 11: How to Connect with Teenage Boys 22.06.2026 48:40

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! A fifteen-year-old sits on the couch, eyes down, one-word answers. His parents are terrified they've lost him. Sound familiar? In this episode, Drs. Erica Liebman and David Shepard sit down with Robert Scholz, LMFT, LPCC — a private practice therapist and adjunct professor at Pepperdine with nearly 30 years of experience working wit...

Episode 10: Need a Clear Map for Working with Male Clients? Dr. Andrew Smiler Has One 11.05.2026 41:33

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! In previous episodes, psychologists Erica Liebman and David Shepard have interviewed master therapists who take a relational approach to helping male clients. This time, we’re doing something different: We are learning about a pragmatic problem-solving approach, and a new way of conceptualizing our clients. Our guest is Dr. Andrew Smiler...

Episode 09: Part II on Assessing for Suicide: With Demonstration 01.04.2026 34:34

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! In Part 1 of this 2-part series, suicidologist, Dr. John-Sommers Flanagan discussed with Erica and David what researchers know and don’t know about why so many men kill themselves. While males and females attempt suicide in equal numbers, men are 3-4 times likely to succeed. John spoke to some of the things researchers do know – e,g., lo...

Episode 08: 40,000 Male Suicides A Year: Re-thinking How Therapists Should Be Assessing Their Male Clients 02.03.2026 34:28

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! Imagine this scenario. Your client is a middle-aged man - depressed, possibly suicidal. But he won’t talk about his feelings. He admits to suicidal ideation but brushes it off. You are very worried. You go through your assessment checklist and your acronyms, but they aren’t helping. This man is just too withdrawn. But you know that doing...

Episode 07: "Was that Appropriate?" Navigating Sexualized Comments from Male Clients 20.01.2026 41:25

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! Female therapists face unique challenges when male clients make sexualized comments—whether overt advances, suggestive language, or subtle seductive tones. These moments can rupture the therapeutic alliance and trigger countertransference, making it difficult to maintain boundaries while keeping the conversation therapeutic and shame-fre...

Episode 06: Reaching Therapy-hesitant Men: Through Social Media and in First Sessions 10.12.2025 38:24

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! How do you help men who won’t seek help? Dr. Audra Horney found the answer on TikTok. In this episode, co-hosts Dr. Erica Liebman and Dr. David Shepard talk with psychologist Dr. Audra Horney about her innovative approach to one of therapy’s biggest challenges: getting men through the door in the first place. With over 100,000 followers...

Episode 05: Straight Therapist/Gay Male Client: What Heterosexual Clinicians Need to Know 06.11.2025 32:54

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! If you’re a heterosexual therapist working with adult men, chances are you'll also be working with gay men. But how prepared do you really feel? Most graduate programs and internships offer little guidance on how to navigate the unique clinical and cultural nuances of working with gay male clients. So as you sit with your gay client...

Episode 04: Lessons from Couple Therapy: How to Engage the Male Partner on the Road to Connection 24.08.2025 40:30

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! Why are so many men ambivalent about coming to couple therapy? And so many therapists struggle with engaging men in the therapy process? In this special episode, Dr. Erica Liebman looks for answers by interviewing her co-host, Dr. David Shepard, who is a leading expert on making couple therapy effective for male partners. Together, David...

Episode 03: The Manosphere: What It Is and What It Means for your Therapy with Young Men 13.06.2025 39:58

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! The "manosphere" gets a lot of attention in the media- but what is it, really? At its core, it's a loose online network of influencers talking about a range of topics, but all having a connection with masculinity, male identity, and "what it means to be a man." Some voices in this space genuinely resonate with yo...

Episode 02: Female Therapists-Male Clients: Crossing the Gender Divide 08.04.2025 35:00

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! Working with male clients as a female therapist presents unique challenges. What happens when your client shuts down, or none of your empathic responses seem to land, or you just can't seem to develop that crucial therapeutic alliance? What do you do when your own past experiences with men -- especially the ones that left scars-- st...

Episode 01: Building Relationships and Uncovering Emotions 02.02.2025 39:31

Please Send Us Your Thoughts on this Episode or the Podcast! Join us for the very first episode of Therapy with Boys and Men: A Guide for Clinicians. In this episode with guest Dr. Fred Rabinowitz, we explore how to accomplish the most important and often challenging tasks therapists need to know to make their treatment with men successful. These include, how to build a strong therapeutic allianc...