When I work with men the question arises. How do I get over her?
It's been a while since I thought about this but let me put some things down in writing.
It has been mostly the case with my work that I have seen more men who have come to me struggling to get over relationships than I have found women who have struggled to do the same over a man. In fact, it has been overwhelmingly men who come to me and discuss their past relationships. They come in all forms of relationship distress. They are about to break up. They have just broken up. They are trying to stay together and he does not want them to break up. They are working through their separation or their divorce. Or they are no longer together and he misses her. Or he can't stop thinking about her but they have not been together in a long time.
You catch the drift. All sorts.
This is normal. Men, I have found, are wired in this special way to never give up once they settle down with a mate. You heard that right, once a man makes their decision, they want to go the distance. I believe this goes to the core of what it means to be male, that as men have conquered the world (with families in tow) and fought across lands that the intrinsic drive is always linked to family. This is a good thing, the difficulty is it gets wired incorrectly.
The trouble is, they're not exactly sure of what that exactly means for their relationship and to give their mate what they want. Worse, they're not always sure that they have the commitment mutually metted out between a pair. Simply put, the woman hasn't always decided to give that back to him and many women--countless women find themselves in the cross-hairs of men who they have no interest they want to commit to but end up on the receiving end of affection that they never asked for. This is wrong. I will address in greater detail the core concepts behind this in another post.
Men. We need help. Here's where we start:
1. We need to understand that the process of cultivating partnership is a two way street. If we don't have the skills that our partner needs and we have no interest of working on ourselves then we need to move on with our lives.
2. If someone has expressed they don't want us as a partner, we need to move on.
3. We need to adequately accept and work on ourselves as a being that is not near completion.
4. We need to understand that the way that we have been socialized in this world has been one where we have often been told that being a man is "enough" and that the work of change is not that we have the language or the energy for.
5. We must begin to accept the fact that self care is part of our vocabulary and that living stressed and with poor self-care standards ultimately makes us live a less fulfilling and lonelier life.
I had a friend that I asked how they took care of themselves on a regular basis. The question for a female client would have immediate responses of wine dates with friends, spa time, massages, early bed times, and so on and so forth. But with this male client there was dead silence for a while. I just sat there while he looked around and then said something to the effect, I take a shower sometimes.
This is what drives women mad, brothers, how can we know ourselves and calm our minds and bodies down and work on ourselves if the most time
This is not our own fault, of course not! We have been socialized this way to fight and strive and shut down our emotions and been told to not work on ourselves. Look at the cancer rates for men and women, look at the heart attacks, look at the CoVid cases, we are more stressed out, die earlier and this is our life. We don't know how to stop it.
I could go on. I'm interested in what your own thoughts are about your own wellness and how you relate to this topic.
Men, there is hope for us. Turning to therapy is a huge first step and taking that step allows you to focus on yourself and your own needs. With me you get a man who focuses on both the male and the female condition and I will help you get over whatever you need to work on.
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