A men's support group can help its members cope with life's major issues.
Men often have trouble expressing their feelings. They can feel that society expects them to stay strong and silent. However, men have emotions, too, and talking about them in a secure setting can help them manage their stress and figure out solutions to life's problems. Men in a support group can develop trusting bonds with one another and reveal things to each other that they might feel uncomfortable telling anyone else.
Marriage
Marriage requires huge degrees of compromise, empathy and persistence. Issues can crop up related to sex, intimacy or other issues involved with relating to someone of the opposite sex. Talking about your feelings with other men can lead to their suggestions for improving any problems. At the very least, the other men can empathize with you.
Divorce
If marriage leads to divorce, men are confronted with a whole new set of problems including child custody and alimony, dividing up assets and facing the dating scene as an older gentlemen. Divorces can be messy and it can help to talk with other men. Some men in your support group may have already faced divorce. They can offer practical information about navigating the financial, legal and emotional consequences of the separation.
Raising Children
Children present their parents with challenges at all levels of development. From the crazy terrible twos to the sullen teen years, dads in men's support groups can commiserate and trade tips for effective parenting. They can discuss the best ways to handle bad grades, bad attitudes or bad behavior. They can also talk about finding the time to bond with their children despite busy lives.
Work
Whether working for success or just to earn a paycheck, men in a support group can talk about their feelings related to work. Climbing the ladder presents difficulties such as balancing work life and family life, managing stress and occasionally battling with feelings that the higher ups aren't acknowledging you. Working to earn a paycheck can cause its own stress, especially if both money and time are short.
Failure and Ambition
Men often begin their lives with large goals. Later in life, most men grapple with issues related to success or feelings of failure. Men in the support group battling mid-life crises can talk about their feelings and potential remedies, whether they seek professional counseling or a shiny red sports car to feel young again. Feelings of mediocrity can rise up when a man doesn't achieve all that he hoped for, or if he feels progress is moving more slowly than he'd like. These issues can cause existential angst.
Highly ambitious men might feel a backlash from their families if members feel like the man's ambition is taking him away from them. Talking with other men in a support group can help a man sort through these feelings.
Grief
As a man ages, he's likely to watch family members, friends and colleagues die. Talking through a man's grief can help him heal. Grief is often a highly personal journey, with each person responding differently to the loss. No rules guide grief, but talking through it can help a man heal. Hearing others' stories of healing can facilitate a man's own.
Money
Often a taboo topic, men in a support group can speak frankly to one another about money. They can discuss practical concerns such as investing, or gather ideas about how other men handle money with their significant others. Do men give their kids' allowances? Do men have separate bank accounts from their spouses? Is there a particularly adept financial advisor in town that can help improve a man's stock portfolio? Talking about these issues can give each man ideas. The men can also provide empathy for one another as they seek financial success.
