“Strong, Silent, and Suffering”: The Emotional Education Men Never Got
Most men aren’t taught how to care for their mental health. They’re taught how to perform masculinity.
From early childhood, boys are conditioned to embody a narrow version of manhood: be tough, don’t cry, stay in control. Vulnerability is treated as a liability, and tenderness as a threat. The result? A dangerous emotional straightjacket — one that leaves men silently suffering under the weight of feelings they were never allowed to name.
I needed a change: My path from lawyer to therapist…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a deep desire to help people. I’ve always enjoyed talking and, according to my parents, debating. At one point, I thought law might be a natural fit for me, especially given my passion for advocating for others. But alongside that, I was also drawn to psychology, literature, music, and art— all of which I saw as powerful expressions of the human experience. Growing up, I found myself torn between pursuing law or psychiatry, but at the time, mental health wasn’t as widely discussed, and I didn’t know much about becoming a therapist beyond psychiatry. By the end of high school, I realized medical school wasn’t for me, so I decided to pursue law school instead.
Pride is a Protest: Mental Health, Liberation, and Queer Resistance
It’s June, we hope to still see across cities and towns, the rainbow flags flying high, fluttering from windows and storefronts. Pride Month is a celebration — yes, but let’s never forget that it began as a protest. The first Pride was a riot by people who were tired of hiding, tired of policing themselves to survive.