When two bodies meet in the therapy room: a hermeneutic phenomenological exploration of the male therapists’ embodied lived experience when being with male clients with disordered eating behaviours

This is the first hermeneutic phenomenological study looking at the male therapists’ embodied experience when working with male clients with disordered eating behaviours. There has been an increase of disordered eating behaviours in men, and the promotion of westernised muscular and lean bodies has been considered a contributory factor. Nonetheless, men experience a high level of stigma and shame because of the belief that they are struggling with a female problem. There has been little focus on this gendered experience, but also on the role that male psychotherapists may have in supporting men to look at their relationship with their bodies in a safe environment. The aim of this research is to elicit rich and meaningful insights of the male therapists’ experience to deepen the understanding of the role that they may have on their male clients’ recovery in a context that has been female-led. This is a qualitative study using interviews from six participants to extract data about the male therapists’ when being in embodied relatedness with male clients with disordered eating behaviours. Van Manen’s hermeneutic Phenomenology of Practice (2014) was used as the methodology to reveal and explore the most prominent themes that emerged from the interviews. The data was obtained in two stages. Firstly, by setting out a written description of an experience working with a male client with disordered eating behaviours. Secondly, an online interview using a conversational approach to further discuss the piece of writing, and any other relevant clinical experiences. Each transcript segment was labelled, organised and clustered to specific themes, and then cross-participant analysis was carried out to look for themes across all interviews. Three interconnected themes were identified to describe the essence of the experience: a mutual experience of starvation between the male therapist and male client, what feels unbearable in the therapy room, and the connection established through their shared maleness. Discussion of these findings indicate the importance of their therapeutic, psychological, somatic, social and political implications in the contemporary world, whilst enhancing the current literature of the male experience of disordered eating behaviours and Eating Disorders (ED). Merleau-Ponty’s ideas on the phenomenology of the body, Sartre’s notion of being objectified by the gaze of the Other, and Foucault’s thinking on systemic regulatory structures over male bodies contributed to the emergence of the themes. This study provides compelling accounts and descriptions from male therapists working with male clients with disordered eating behaviours that may contribute to support clinically and personally male mental health practitioners in a field that has been historically considered female dominated. This study shines light on the importance of creating spaces for these male clients to acknowledge the importance of asking for support, embody vulnerability whilst being in a therapeutic relationship and challenge social discourses that have shaped male bodies to destigmatize this experience and increase its visibility in ED.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

DCPsych

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

DCPsych thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Middlesex University / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC)

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Guiñazu, M.I.

• Eating Disorders
• Male clients
• Male therapists
• Embodiment
• Qualitative Research
• Hermeneutic Phenomenology of Practice
• van Manen
• Merleau-Ponty
• Foucault
• Sartre

Identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:27y41x

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mdx.ac.uk:27y41x