Photo by drew_hays / Unsplash.com Part 1 — Men and Mental Health, What Are We Missing?             I  have been interested in men’s mental, emotional, and relational health for a long time. When I was five years old my mid-life father became increasingly irritable, angry, and depressed because he felt he couldn’t support our family, my mother and me, doing the work he loved. In desperation he took an overdose of sleeping pills to stop the pain. Fortunately, he didn’t die, but  our lives were never the same. He was committed to Ca ..read more

Photo by spiritvisionstudios / Unsplash.com “Human beings are creatures of belonging which we achieve through three marriages. First, through relationship with other people and other things (particularly and very personally, to one other person in relationship or marriage); second, through work; and third, through an understanding of what it means to be themselves.” David Whyte, The Three Marriages: Reimaging Work, Self and Relationship.             For more than fifty years I have helped people achieve success in all three kinds of rela ..read more

It isn’t easy being a man in today’s world. The same is true for being a woman. Finding the right partner and creating a joyful, long-lasting, marriage is truly a miracle. In their book. In their book, A Couple of Miracles: One Couple, More Than a Few Miracles, Joyce and Barry Vissell share their life journey. Joyce, a nurse/psychotherapist and Barry doctor/psychiatrist, offer wisdom for men, women, and couples who are wanting to find the secrets for a long and successful life, career, and marriage.             I have known Joyce and Barr ..read more

Photo by: thetonik_co / Unsplash.com Part 3 – What We Can Do There is a worldwide contagious disease that most of us have experienced, but very few understand. According to the man who first identified this disease, Alvin Toffler, “It will not be found in Index Medicus or in any listing of psychological abnormalities. Yet, unless intelligent steps are taken to combat it, millions of human beings will find themselves increasingly disoriented, progressively incompetent to deal rationally with their environments. The malaise, mass neurosis, irrationality, and free-floating violence already appar ..read more

Part 2: The Future of Gender-Specific Healthcare             In Part 1, I discussed some of my own challenges as a health care professional who has been working in the field for more than fifty years. I also described the challenges facing health care providers today and why so many are leaving the profession. I introduced you to the importance of the emerging field of Gender-Specific Medicine and its founder, Dr. Marianne J. Legato. I recently interviewed Dr. Legato for my podcast at MenAlive. She discussed the evolution of the field of ..read more

I have been providing mental health services to men, women, and families since 1968. Like many mental healthcare providers, my desire to help others began in my family. When I was five years old, my mid-life father took an overdose of sleeping pills. He had become increasingly depressed because he couldn’t make a living during what he loved to do to support his family.             Though he didn’t die, our lives were never the same. He was committed to Camarillo State Mental Hospital, north of where we lived in Los Angeles. The treatment ..read more

Photo by Noah Silliman / Unsplash Part 1 I have been a health care professional for more than fifty years. During that time I have risen in my profession and helped thousands of men and women to live fully, love deeply, and make a positive difference in the world. I have also been stressed, depressed, and suicidal during much of my professional life. I’m  not alone. According to Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, “Health care workers compared with non-healthcare workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to m ..read more

Photo by Xuan Nguyen / Unsplash Margaret J. Wheatley is one of my heroes. At a time when many people are afraid of the truth, she tells it like it is. At a time when many people want to run away and hide, she invites us to step into our true warrior spirit in the tradition of Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa. In my book, The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing the Planet, I quoted Trungpa:             “Warriorship here does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Here the wor ..read more

Photo by: Ashley Batz – Unsplash.com Part 2             In Part 1 of this series I introduced you to the work of Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schultz, PhD wo are co-directors of the iconic, 86-year-old Harvard Study of Adult Development. In their book, The Good Life: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, they offer expert guidance on how to live a fully healthy life, to love deeply, and find your passion and purpose in midlife and beyond. I also shared the work of Chip Conley, Founder of the Modern Elder Academy ..read more

Photo by OPPO Find X5 Pro I will admit it. I’m in love. I would even go so far as to say I’m more in love now than when we first fell in love 44 years ago. My wife, Carlin, and I have been together since 1980. It was the third marriage for each of us. Yes, sometimes, the third time is the charm. But getting to stage five has been a journey which we are still on. I wrote about it in an article, “The 5 Stages of Love and Why Too Many Stop at Stage 3.”             We all want real, lasting love, whether we are in our 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, or be ..read more