June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month
June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. I will be covering several topics starting with this one.
Men were robbed as little boys when conditioned to not feel or show emotion. Many were told this made them weak and somehow “bad”and perhaps were severely punished for expressing. In adulthood, this leads to repression of emotion and the avoidance response.
Depending on the severity of trauma, they may have developed severe attachment issues which make it difficult or impossible to show up as a healthy partner. The inability to maintain a long term, loving relationship adds to the toxic shame they carry, further perpetuating the cycle.
These attachment issues sometimes result in never partnering or cycling through partners when things get tough, triggers present, or communication and compromise become necessary.
Instead of working and growing with their partner, they may end the relationship and begin a new one where the early dating stage is easy, exciting and with no perceived demands. This behavior is a maladaptive attempt to bypass pain and loss. This leads to false intimacy as true love and intimacy can only be built over time.
These attachment wounds can be healed with proper trauma therapy and you can have a secure attachment style. There are no short cuts. The grass is greener where you water it.
I am grateful, privileged and honored to work with my male clients who bravely and profoundly choose to do their inner healing work, love themselves and their partners.
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