Gender Socialization, Countertransference and the Treatment of Men with Eating Disorders

Abstract

Knowledge about the treatment of eating disorders is largely based on the experience of women with these disorders. The motivations, beliefs, vulnerabilities and developmental factors that cause and perpetuate eating disorders in men are often gendered. Engaging men in therapy and helping them build and sustain motivation requires therapeutic sensitivity to the impact of these gendered factors. Therapists’ sensitivity to these factors inevitably activates personal experiences with gender and provides an important source of information about patients’ experiences. This article focuses on how gender socialization and internalized views of masculinity affect client, therapist and the co-created therapeutic relationship. Male and female therapists can use awareness of gender influences to improve their ability to detect and communicate their gendered countertransference reactions. The article concludes with a discussion of how gendered assumptions and emotional reactions can affect treatment team interactions and treatment program protocols.