Pragmatic Clinical Research to Inform the Field of Men's Mental Health: A Commentary on and Extension of Papers by David Edwards and Tracy Eells

Christopher S. Reigeluth, Michael E. Addis
2010 Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy  
We consider the potential utility of the methods described by Eells (2010) and Edwards (2010) for guiding case conceptualization and treatment process in the area of men's mental health. As a relatively new field, men's mental health has been concerned with the clinical implications of understanding how masculine gender socialization influences the variety of ways different men experience, express, and respond to problems in their lives. Eells (2010) and Edwards (2010) have developed
more » ... ly driven research strategies that may help researchers and clinicians interested in working with men to (a) integrate gender in meaningful ways into case conceptualizations, and (b) develop effective ways of being therapeutically responsive to some of the specific challenges in working with more "traditional" men. This commentary focuses on pragmatic approaches to case formulation and case study. Specifically, we consider the potential utility of methodologies described by Eells (2010) and Edwards (2010) by extending them to the relatively under-developed field of men's mental health. We begin by providing a brief overview of some of the current issues being considered in men's mental health. Next, we discuss two of these issues in greater depth: the need for gendered case formulations and the challenges underlying keeping some men in therapy. Our discussion about the pragmatic case study and case formulation centers on the ways that Eells' and Edwards' methodologies help address the above two issues. Lastly, we comment on the generalizability of these methods and provide some final thoughts on why Eells' and Edwards' approaches are especially well suited to inform men's mental health.
doi:10.14713/pcsp.v6i4.1049 fatcat:m7ozl76edng3rmt3eeythb5nmu