Men & Mental Health

by Reeta Minhas-Judd

For some men, even in the current times we live in still have a phobia/hesitation when it comes to therapy.

This is normally inherent from childhood, as they may have had family who did not talk openly about emotions or saw therapy as a sign of weakness or it could even be a cultural thing, where emotions were not seen or heard.

I am proud to say that I currently have more male clients than females and this is so good to see, however there are those who still do not believe that therapy can help them or that they don’t need it. This could be because of fear, lack of awareness, they may even see it as a sign of weakness. For if they have been told their whole lives that you must “just get on with it`’ or “be a man”, this is enough to keep males from entering the world of therapy. I think on the contrary, that for a man to come to therapy is a sign of courage and it shows such strength to come and open up to somebody and share your inner most thoughts and allow yourself to be vulnerable. With me, you will never be judged and you will hopefully leave the session feeling less burdened that you arrived.

I recently presented a Men & Mental Health presentation to the first team at Eastbourne Borough Football Club and I was blown away by how engaged and attentive the guys were throughout my presentation. I left feeling hopeful that even if they learnt just one thing from my presentation, I have done what I aimed to do and they were more aware of the importance of men and mental health.

One of the main reasons why I always offer a FREE 90 Minute therapy session is to give those who are more sceptical the opportunity to come and discover about themselves and to understand why they behave the way they do. It also costs nothing, no commitment as there is no contract to sign and no hidden agenda, purely 90 minutes of your time and the possibilities of what you may discover is immeasurable. I therefore urge those guys who feel that they don’t need therapy to at least dip their toe in the water and as I have just said you lose nothing, but could gain the chance of living your best life!

Reeta Minhas-Judd is a life therapist and has run her wellbeing company, RMJ Wellbeing, for the past three years. Her focus is primarily on the positive health and wellbeing of her clients, with the ultimate goal of helping them to enjoy a happy existence.For more information visit www.rmjwellbeing.com