Young Men's Experiences of Counselling: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Abstract

The mental health of Australian young people has received increased national attention in recent years. Social and psychological indicators suggest a higher than historical incidence of mental health problems in this vulnerable age group. Australian young people often do not seek support for mental health concerns; however, when they do choose to attend, young men seek support at much lower rates than young women and are unlikely to attend counselling. This lower rate is of concern because cumulatively, young men experience higher rates of suicide, depression, alcohol and other drug use compared with other members of the Australian community. When Australian young men do access counselling, they prove difficult to engage and retain in treatment. Despite these realities, researchers and practitioners alike know very little about the counselling experiences of young men. Limited research has been primarily theoretically driven and often based on practitioner experience. Consequently, the voices of young men are missing from the literature.<br/> This study investigated the counselling experiences of seven Australian young men, using a qualitative approach to explore why they chose to attend, engage in or exit from therapy. The young men participated in in-depth interviews, and their stories were analysed using Narrative Inquiry. This analysis was underpinned by the a posteriori application of a conceptual framework: the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This assisted in deepening the examination and understanding of the young men's counselling experiences.<br/> Four core themes emerged from the young men's narratives: Therapeutic Engagement; Connections with the Counsellor and Others; Masculinity; Stereotype and Stigma. Overall, these core themes reflect the complexity of the young men's counselling experiences and highlight the tenacity required by them to navigate their therapeutic journeys.<br/> Implications for future practice and research that arise from this work include challenging hegemonic masculinity and focusing on the need to represent young men as both capable and committed to their counselling experiences. A strength-based approach that steers away from representing young men as having many deficits in the counselling space is required to ensure that young men will be encouraged to use therapy as a means of support when needed.