Therapy for Men

If your partner tells you “you need to be in therapy,” it doesn’t mean you’re crazy (or that your partner is). It does mean that something is going on with you, your partner, or your relationship that needs to be addressed. Waiting for that something to take care of itself rarely works. Your Thrive counselor can help you figure out what is going on and develop a plan to deal with it.

Sometimes you know something is wrong, but you can’t put your finger on the exact problem. Maybe you feel less motivated, not as happy, or less confident than you used to. Your Thrive counselor can help you identify the issue and come up with a plan to address the problem at its source.

Often the problem we can’t stop thinking about is also something we’re uncomfortable discussing with our partner, family or close friends. Fear of being judged or misunderstood can leave us struggling alone in silence, as can worries about burdening others with our problems or doubts that they can help us. Your Thrive counselor will listen without judgment and use proven techniques to help you address your concerns.

Stress is the pressure we feel when facing a problem or challenge that affects an important part of our life. That activates our “fight or flight” response, which can elevate our performance in the short term but harm our mental and physical health if it remains cranked up for too long. Your Thrive counselor can help you understand, reduce and manage stress across all aspects of your life.

If you can’t relax or stop your mind from worrying, you could be experiencing anxiety. Chest pains, difficulty breathing, cold sweats and stomach upset with no medical reason are signs of extreme anxiety episodes, also known as panic attacks.  Anxiety (and depression) can also be a sign of untreated ADHD. Your Thrive counselor can help you identify anxiety, understand it, and learn how to manage it.

If you are stuck in a sad mood that has you feeling hopeless and unable to enjoy doing things that brought joy in the past, you could be experiencing depression. The causes of depression can be complex, sometimes including a combination of medical and mental factors. Depression (and anxiety) can also be a sign of untreated ADHD. Fortunately, there are many effective ways to treat depression. Your Thrive counselor can help you identify depression, root out its causes, and develop a plan for lifting you out of it.

It’s common to view anger in any form as a problem. However, anger is actually an important and useful emotion that helps us identify problems that need our attention. But it can cause its own problems when our anger “switch” is overly sensitive, causing angry reactions that are out of line with what triggers them. For men, increased anger and irritability can also be a sign of depression, anxiety or untreated ADHD. Your Thrive counselor can help you determine the source of any anger issues you are experiencing and create a plan to address them.  

Intimate relationships can add so much to our lives: companionship, connection and sexual fulfillment. However, all relationships have their ups and downs. If your relationship has hit a rough spot, or if you and your partner are experiencing sexual difficulties, it doesn’t mean the relationship is doomed. You might be struggling through a new stage of the relationship that is part of its natural progression. (Even infidelity by one partner doesn’t have to mean the end of the relationship.)  Your Thrive therapist will never tell you what to do, but he can help you explore your relationship concerns and options for addressing them. If you want to enter couples therapy with your partner, your Thrive counselor can help connect with a qualified couples counselor.