APA Critics Create Their Own Bogeyman

This article is typical of many that have come out recently criticizing the American Psychological Association's new "Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men": https://www.independent.ie/opinion/patricia-casey-men-are-the-new-women-in-world-of-us-psychology-37703969.html

The author is lying. She says that the guidelines conclude that "there isn't much difference in the basic behaviours of men and women." That didn't ring a bell, so I did a text search. This statement appears nowhere in the guidelines (you can read them here: https://www.apa.org/about/policy/boys-men-practice-guidelines.pdf). Similarly, I saw another person claim the document talks about "toxic masculinity" and calls on men to "check their privilege" to be allies to women. None of these phrases appear in the document either. It looks to me as if a lot of people are reading stuff into it based on their own expectations.

In reality the document acknowledges that there are a variety of "masculinity ideologies," and nowhere claims that masculinity is solely a matter of ideology. And it certainly doesn't, as this writer claims, try to "beat down" men's masculinity. On the contrary, it urges that psychologists adapt their style of practice to what male clients will be comfortable with.

P. 17: "Researchers have identified normative practices in therapy that can be iatrogenic for men. On one end of the spectrum, clinical methods that emphasize the language of feelings, disclosing vulnerability, and admitting dependency needs can create expressive difficulties for males who adopt and adhere to traditional masculine roles. On the other end of the spectrum, therapists can sometimes make harmful assumptions that men are unable to express emotions or are hypersexual or aggressive."

P.18: "Importantly, psychologists strive to attain a level of gender self-awareness that allows them to act with intentionality, resisting the imposition of their values and biases on male clients."

P. 19: "For instance, psychologists may overlook or discount important problems in men (e.g., depression, body image concerns) because those issues have historically been a focus among women. Thus, psychologists strive to recognize the relational style of many men and adapt by substituting other terms for psychotherapy such as consultation, meeting, coaching, or discussion; using less jargon; being more active and directive; and matching relational style to the client’s needs."

P. 22: "Psychologists also may strive to identify ways that psychological services can be more adaptive to the ways men have been socialized. Depending on the expectations, psychologists strive to correct erroneous assumptions about psychological interventions or change the structure of interventions to be more congruent for the male client."

P. 23: "Although most violence is perpetrated by men, most men are not violent. Consequently, men are often stereotyped as aggressive and violent. These stereotypes can have negative consequences for heterosexual men who experience violence in intimate relationships from their female partners. Although abusive women, on average, may do less physical damage than abusive men, physical assaults from female partners have been shown to create myriad psychological problems for men. In addition, male victims of intimate partner violence experience significant barriers to finding help because the domestic violence system has historically focused on helping battered women. Likewise, men who have experienced sexual abuse from women or men may face significant personal and professional barriers to seeking help."