Men do not often come for counseling because they are having difficulties with being a father, but many of the presenting problems and reasons for seeking help can be related to the roles and responsibilities of fathering. The dramatic shift in societal expectations of being a father can often leave men confused as they navigate conflicting views, demands, and responsibilities. Counseling Fathers is designed to bridge the gap between fathers and professional helpers. This book provides the mental health practitioners with a guide for working with fathers in therapy, whether the issues of fathering are at the center of the discussions or in the background. The organization of the book speaks to the variety of today's fathers and the issues that they face. Part I provides an historical overview of the fathering movement, a strength-based approach to working with fathers, and an assessment paradigm using gender role conflict theory. Part II takes a cross-cultural approach, with a series of chapters that look at counseling with Latino, Asian, Black, and Caucasian fathers. Part III looks at specific populations of fathers, including first time fathers, teen fathers, stay-at-home fathers, gay fathers, and older fathers. Counseling Fathers provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive resource for family and individual practitioners who work with men who father.

The purpose of this book is to include men in the discussion about early parenthood, to foster a gender-equitable, whole family approach to parental mental health, and to increase awareness about best practices in the care for expectant and new fathers.

On a mid-October evening, a group of fathers gathered around a conference table and met each other for the first time. None of the men had ever thought of himself a "support group kind of guy" and each felt entirely out of place. In fact, nothing about their lives felt normal anymore. The Group: Seven Widowed Fathers Reimagine Life chronicles the challenges and triumphs of seven men whose wives died from cancer and were left to raise their young children entirely on their own. Brought together by tragedy, the fathers - Neill, Dan, Bruce, Karl, Joe, Steve, and Russ - forged an uncommon bond. Over time, group meetings evolved into a forum for reinvention and transformed the men in unexpected ways. Through the fathers' poignant interactions, The Group illustrates that while some wounds never fully heal, each of us has the potential to construct a new and meaningful future. Rosenstein and Yopp, co-leaders of the support group, weave together the fathers' stories with contemporary research on grief and adaptation. The Group traces a compelling journey of healing and personal discovery that no book has ever captured before. The men's touching efforts to care for their families, grieve for their wives, and reimagine their futures will inspire anyone who has suffered a major loss.

A trusted counselor helps readers move from heartache to joy as they overcome the wounds from a missing, abusive, or absent father.

Grieving Dads: To the Brink and Back is a collection of candid stories from grieving dads that were interviewed over a two year period. The book offers insight from fellow members of, in the haunting words of one dad, "this terrible, terrible club," which consists of men who have experienced the death of a child. This book is a collection of survival stories by men who have survived the worst possible loss and lived to tell the tale. They are real stories that pull no punches and are told with brutal honesty. Men that have shared their deepest and darkest moments. Moments that included thoughts of suicide, self-medication and homelessness. Some of these men have found their way back from the brink while others are still standing there, stuck in their pain. The core message of Grieving Dads is "you're not alone." It is a message that desperately needs to be delivered to grieving dads who often grieve in silence due to society's expectations. Grieving Dads: To the Brink and Back is a book that no grieving dad or anyone who cares for him should be without. As any grieving parent will tell you, there are no words to describe the hell one experiences after the death of a child. Many men have no clue how to deal with or understand the myriad emotional, mental, and physical responses experienced after the death of a child. Stories appearing in the book have been carefully selected to represent a cross-section of fathers, as well as a diverse portrayal of loss. This approach helps reflect the full spectrum of grief, from the early days of shock and trauma to the long view after living with loss for many years. Any bereaved father will find brotherhood in these pages, and will feel that someone understands them. While there is plenty of raw emotion in this book-the stories are not exercises in self-pity nor are they studies in grief. They are survival stories instead. Some are testimonies to hope. Some are gut-wrenching accounts of overwhelming despair. But all of them are real-life stories from real-life grieving dads, and they show that even if one reaches his physical and emotional bottom, it is possible (although not easy) to live through that pain and find one's way to the other side of grief. Most dads in this book found themselves in a state of physical, mental, and emotional collapse after the death of their child. As if the losses alone weren't enough to drive these men to the brink, most try to deal with their grief according to the conventional wisdom so many men are brought up with, which perversely, increases their suffering all the more. We all know the party line about how men are "supposed" to deal with loss or even disappointment: toughen up, get back to work, take it like a man, support your wife, don't talk about your emotions, don't lose control, and if you must cry-by all means do so in private.

Breaking Barriers in Counseling Men is a unique collection of personal and engaging contributions from nationally recognized scholars and clinicians with expertise in treating men. The editors have selected men’s clinicians who address areas as diverse as sexual dysfunction, male bonding over sports, father-son relationships, and counseling men in the military. Featuring a mix of clinical tips, personal anecdotes, and theoretical reframing, this book takes clinicians invested in these issues to the next level, breaking down barriers to connecting with men and getting them the help that is so often needed.