Self-Compassion for Men: A Few Timely Approaches to Challenges Faced by Men in Today’s Society

For many men, traditional roles no longer work or serve us well. Age-old male norms have become recipes for shame, anxiety, and feelings of alienation which can lead to stress, relationship problems, workplace difficulties, substance abuse, damaging behavior, anger, and depression.

To meet the evolving needs of men in today’s society, there are a few options available.

Ultimate Courage: A Self-Compassion Workshop for Men

Daniel Ellenberg, Ph.D., Steven Hickman, Psy.D. and David Spound M.Ed have created Ultimate Courage— a powerful interactive, skill-building workshop that draws from ancient wisdom traditions, modern neuroscience, and psychological research.

In this 2½ day workshop, they encourage men to discover and embrace their real strengths, while also bringing kindness and understanding to their difficulties. This two-tiered approach of strength building and facing difficulties compassionately is a powerful path towards greater wisdom, satisfaction, effectiveness, and joy.

Throughout the workshop, a series of interactive, reflective, and meditative exercises develop practical skills for meeting the challenges of modern life with greater insight, resilience, and compassion (for self and others).

In this workshop, you will discover how:

• Exploring practices of self-compassion (involving mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness) can bring wisdom, strength, and healing.
• Being with a group of men in honest and courageous ways can help us overcome feelings of failure, isolation, fear, anger, shame, and not fitting in.
• Finding a middle path between the extremes of harsh self-criticism and self-indulgence can result in greater happiness, life satisfaction, and achievement.
• Engaging in practices of mindfulness and self-compassion can help us develop more productive and comfortable relationships with ourselves, family members, friends, and colleagues.

Live Online Mindful Self-Compassion for Men

The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion has been offering Live Online MSC (LOMSC) for a number of years now, and the next chapter in online MSC training is Live Online MSC for Men (LOMSCfM). LOMSCfM has the same content as MSC programs offered in-person, and it is taught by men to a group of men only. LOMSCfM is ideal for men who would like to take MSC as part of a group of men, who do not have access to MSC in their area, who have commitments or mobility issues that make it difficult to leave home to do a course, or who have already done MSC and would like a refresher.