Toxic/problematic masculinity: A critical appraisal of its role in CBT

Recent years have seen the psychological community focus on traditional masculinity as a problem that needs to be addressed. Concurrently, cognitive behavioral therapists have increasingly been women or men who identify with feminist theory. Concerns have been raised that good intentions to address women's issues have transmogrified into open anti-male bias even as men's functioning has declined, including their enrollment in the behavioral health professions. Portraying traditional masculinity as "toxic" is likely to cause harm, not only in stigmatizing many men and their families, but also by reducing trust in the profession. As such, many men who would have benefited from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) will decline to get it. Suggestions for a path forward that do not portray men's issues and women's issues as a zero-sum game are offered.