How therapy for men is being let down by the mental health industry w/ Timothy Wienecke

How therapy for men is being let down by the mental health industry w/ Timothy Wienecke

March 23, 2026

Listen on:

Therapy for men has a problem, and it starts long before a man ever walks into a session.

In this episode of the Men’s Therapy Podcast, Marc Azoulay is sitting down with Timothy Wienecke. Tim is a therapist, educator, air force veteran, and host of the American Masculinity Podcast. Together, they dig into how the mental health industry’s falling short when it comes to serving men, what counselor training’s missing, and what better care actually looks like.

Tim’s drawing on years of clinical work and guest lecturing in graduate programs to make the case that men are not simply harder to reach, they’re a demographic the system hasn’t been properly trained to serve.

The conversation is covering:

• Why counselor training still relies on modalities that are three or four generations old
• How the shortage of male clinicians is affecting the quality of care men receive
• What emotional intelligence and emotional expression look like in therapy for men 
• How to find the right therapist for men

 “The field in general is almost always 10 years behind,” Tim’s explaining. “And if you put in men’s issues, tack another generation on that.”

Who is this episode for?

This episode’s for men who have tried therapy for men and felt like something was off, and for men who have been putting it off without quite knowing why. If you have ever walked out of a session feeling unseen or misunderstood, this conversation is naming what happened and what to do about it. It is also for clinicians who want to do better work with male clients.

Why is the mental health industry failing men?

It is operating on assumptions that are no longer accurate. The original therapeutic modalities, like CBT, DBT, and others, were built around men, but that was three or four decades ago. The field assumed men’s issues were already covered. Men’s mental health awareness has grown, but counselor training hasn’t kept pace.

Only 19 to 22 percent of licensed clinicians are men. That means most therapists are completing their practice training without ever sitting with a male client, without learning to hold space for a man expressing emotional vulnerability in ways that do not fit the textbook. Tim’s also noting that many clinicians carry personal histories involving harm by men, and without training to hold that, it can quietly interfere with the work. “There just isn’t a lot of discussion on it,” he is saying.

What does good therapy for men actually look like?

Tim is arguing that the biggest miss is one of cultural competency, not technique. Cross-cultural communication training already exists as a requirement in counseling programs, but no one’s applying those same skills to the male–female therapy dynamic. Masculinity and mental health are more connected than the field has been acknowledging, and emotional intelligence and emotional expression in men need to be drawn out in the right environment, by a clinician who understands how men communicate.

Tim makes a case for starting with a male therapist, but is clear it’s not a hard rule. Reparative experiences with a female clinician can also be powerful, especially for men who have been hurt by women. “There’s plenty of good female clinicians that want to do better,” he’s saying. “It’s just a matter of how to screen that.”

How to find the right therapist as a man?

It comes down to connection, not credentials. Get on the phone. Most therapists are offering free consultations. You’re looking for someone you can respect and who respects you back. Tim went through five therapists before finding the right fit, and he’s not framing that as failure. Marc adds one thing worth carrying: find a therapist who’s done their own work and examined their own blind spots.

“When a guy finds the right space and the right help,” Tim is saying, “his life trajectory completely shifts. You go from a downward slope to just taking off like a rocket.”

Where can I find Tim Wienecke and the American Masculinity Podcast?

You can find Tim on LinkedIn, Instagram, subscribe to his podcast on YouTube, and explore all of his work at his Website. If you are located in Colorado and are looking to work with Tim directly as a therapist, the same website has everything you need. Note that Tim is not currently offering coaching, so in-person sessions are limited to Colorado residents.

If you are outside Colorado, Marc and the Men’s Therapy team are offering individual therapy, couples therapy, group sessions. You can explore everything at the website. There is also a free Slack community with over 250 men having real conversations about growth, identity, and men’s mental health.