The Evolving Masculine Soul with Jed Diamond, Ph.D.

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In today’s culture, men are under extreme stress and too many have become anxious, angry, lonely, and depressed. We all know that men and women are different, but not always in the simplistic ways our society would have us believe. This dialogue explores a deeper understanding of the awakening masculine soul and what it means to be a good man in the 21^st Century. It explores how men can shed the crippling effects of what many have come to call the “man box” and also delves into the effects of what our guest calls the Father Wound. Many men are evolving and embracing the complexity, strength, and beauty of being a man and what that means for the women who love them. Jed has worked with thousands and thousands of men who are angry, irritable, and to some degree violent. “There isn't one man that I've ever worked with that when you get to the root, when you look at his early life experience, violence is part of his experience. He's been wounded in some way. He offers the importance of looking at the underlying health problem. “Adverse Childhood Experiences affect our physical health: higher rates of asthma, lung problems, cancer, and heart disease. We're seeing that these things have core issues that go all the way back to childhood. We're creating a whole new way of healing and a whole new understanding of healing. Instead of looking at what's your diagnosis, we're asking what happened to you? What were the wounds that may be the ultimate core causes of these later problems that we have as adults?” Diamond describes the power of men’s groups and their coming together for initiation and rites of passage. He tells of being transported and picked up by a man who previously experienced the ritual. “Being in that rite of passage circle where we learned some depth of connection, being reconnected to ourselves and other men, and then having that special man come back for us and calling out ‘Jed Diamond, it’s Howard La Garde. I’ve come back for you.’ It's still very, very moving as I described it to you. I get emotional when I talk about this. The experience so many men have had and women as well, is the men who did not come back for us, men who may have harmed us, or men who may have abandoned us, or men who left us, or men who we've been longing for our whole lives for that man to come back for us, whether it was our father, or our good buddy, or our friend, or the man that died before we could hold him or be held by him.” (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Jed Diamond, Ph.D., is a licensed psychotherapist, a founding member of the American Society of Men’s Health, and an internationally respected leader in the men's health movement. He’s the Founder and Director of MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Though focused on men’s health, MenAlive is also for women who care about the health of the men in their lives. 

Jed Diamond is the author of many books including: 

• The Irritable Male Syndrome (Rodale Press 2004)
• Mean: Saving Your Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome (Numina Press 2010)
• MenAlive: Stop Killer Stress with Simple Energy Healing Tools (Fifth Wave Press 2012)
• My Distant Dad: Healing the Family Father Wound (Lasting Impact Press 2018)
• 12 Rules for Good Men (Waterside Productions 2020) 

To learn more about the work of Jed Diamond go to www.menalive.com. 

Topics explored in this dialogue include: 

• What is cultural pattern of “The Man Box” and the pressures it puts on men to feel adequate and manly
• Why it is hard for men to ask for help, most especially psychological help
• What was the shoe box incident in Jed’s early childhood that opened his eyes to cultural gender categorization between little boys and little girls
• What is the root cause of male violence
• How will naming the problem of male violence lead to healing
• Why is it harder for men to stay connected to friends as they age
• What was Diamond’s first experience of a men’s group
• How can men’s groups support men to be powerful contributing citizens in relationships and community
• What is the Father Wound
• What is the research on Adverse Childhood Experience (ACES)
• What is Diamond’s story of his own father’s battle with depression and suicide
• What is the importance for men to experience rites of passage that may lead to “male cells singing” 

Host: Justine Willis Toms   Interview Date: 5/27/2021   Program Number: 3733

Music Playlist

From Album:  Call of the Mystics
Artist: Karunesh

Opening Essay:  Track 03 Monsoon’s Dance
Music Break 1: Track 03 Monsoon’s Dance (continued)
Music Break 2: Track 04 Mount Kailash
Music Break 3: Track 04 Mount Kailash (continued)