Men and Therapy with Amanda Curtin MSW

In this insightful conversation, Patrick Teahan, MSW sits down with his mentor Amanda Curtin, MSW — the creator of the RRP model for childhood trauma therapy — to discuss one of the most important and underexplored topics in mental health: why men often resist therapy and how clinicians can better engage them in the healing process.

Patrick and Amanda examine the cultural conditioning that teaches boys to suppress emotions, avoid vulnerability, and equate asking for help with weakness. They discuss how phrases like "you're alright" and "don't be a crybaby" — delivered by well-meaning coaches, teachers, and fathers — create a template for emotional disconnection that follows men into adulthood and damages their relationships, their parenting, and their sense of self.

The video features a remarkably authentic role-play in which Patrick plays "Michael," a man whose wife has encouraged him to meet with Amanda. Michael arrives skeptical, insisting his childhood was fine and that he does not have trauma. Through gentle, structured questioning, Amanda helps him see that growing up without emotional attunement — even in the absence of overt abuse — is its own form of developmental wounding that shapes how he handles conflict, intimacy, and fatherhood.

Amanda explains her approach to selling group therapy to resistant clients: framing the work as a structured course with concrete tools rather than an open-ended feelings circle. She shares how men often become the most engaged and enthusiastic group members once they experience the model firsthand and realize they are not alone in their struggles.

This video is essential viewing for men considering therapy, partners who want to understand male resistance to emotional work, and therapists looking for practical strategies to connect with male clients. Patrick and Amanda model a compassionate, non-shaming approach that meets people exactly where they are — validating their experience while gently expanding their understanding of what healthy emotional development actually looks like.