There are few words in the English language more loaded, more despised, more untouchable than ‘hate.’ Yet, for all of the hatred for this emotionally loaded word, I’ve discovered that few things have greater power to unlock healing, relief, peace, lightness, release, and a sense of ‘Aha!’ like hate (when it is channeled properly). In an odd way, while there seems to be a glut of hate in the world, there is a silencing of the actual usage of the word, itself. ‘Hate’ has become more taboo than the normal four-letter swear words, such as the f-word and the like. How odd is that? Yet, it is an extraordinarily powerful healing word, because of the power we give it. Few things relieve soul constipation like use of the strongest language in the counseling setting, which includes words like hate and ‘f*ck you.’

People come into the area of getting healing with all sorts of prejudices and fears, some of which do tilt towards genders. It demands no stretch of the imagination to see how a great many men have struggled and do still struggle with the idea of going inside themselves and unlocking, seeing, feeling, and talking about the deeper stuff of life, particularly their own personal histories.

There are all sorts of fears that corrupt the therapy/self-therapy process for many men, many of these same fears afflict others, too, not just men.