For men who still consider entering couples therapy a stroll into a lion’s den of shame, humiliation and failure, a men’s groups can be both a crucial source of support and a kick in the pants.

This issue doesn’t try to resolve all the myriad challenges of couples work. Instead, it opens up a conversation about the things couples therapists rarely talk about with clients or with each other, a conversation that we need to encourage if our profession is to keep its cultural relevance.

The election of Donald Trump and the resurgence of populism throughout the West were fueled by a renewed pull toward certain notions of traditional masculinity. Although therapists have remained largely silent about this revival of patriarchy in the culture, is neutrality really in the best interests of our clients?

Helping emotionally closed-off men embrace vulnerability without getting lost in shame requires not only empathy but good timing.

Taking on the largely unnamed complexities of the #MeToo movement for men, this issue explores how therapists can help men respond to women’s experiences in healthy ways, rather than going silent, stewing in guilt, feeling helpless, or loudly protesting their own innocence.

Most men publicly support #MeToo, but privately—very privately, often too privately even to share with their intimate partners—some are disoriented and wrestling with questions about the changing norms that shape their relationships with women. Meanwhile, therapists are examining how to bring issues raised by this movement more directly into their clinical approaches.

The #MeToo movement has returned the field to many of the issues feminists raised decades ago. This time, however, there’s a new focus on avoiding us-versus-them thinking and exploring the great terra incognita of couples work—the inner world of men and their vulnerability. *Includes an interview with Esther Perel.

The conflict between an older, more traditional view of masculinity and a newer, more progressive one is the underlying issue in many marriages today. Helping these couples means violating many of the fundamental principles in the traditional therapy playbook.

How do you work with a client who intentionally tries to break every rule of therapy, spoken and implicit?