Men’s Therapy Podcast

The Identity Trap - How Workaholism Is Burning Men Out

Marc Azoulay unpacks a pattern he is seeing repeatedly in high-performing men. Success is increasing, but fulfilment is disappearing. Drawing on over a decade of clinical experience, Marc explains that many men are not actually chasing success. They are running from shame.
“You think making more money will finally make you feel secure,” Marc explains, “but every time you level up, you feel worse.” He describes men whose bank accounts are growing, yet whose inner lives feel hollow. Rather than feeling proud of achievement, they are experiencing numbness, burnout, and an ongoing identity crisis.
Marc notices that self-worth is becoming dangerously entangled with productivity, income, and performance in a capitalist culture that rewards output above all else. Men are being conditioned to equate value with work. “There’s no upper limit,” he says. “You can always do more, produce more, make more money. And there’s never a moment of enoughness.”
This episode focuses on how external validation quietly replaces identity, creating what Marc calls an “achievement addiction.” Promotions, praise, and financial wins temporarily soothe anxiety. They never resolve the deeper fear of failure or unlovability. Over time, this leads to workaholism, emotional disconnection, and eventually burnout.
Marc is guiding listeners through the invisible beliefs driving this cycle, while also offering practical ways to rebuild identity beyond career, income, and constant performance.
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How Male Vulnerability Gets Trained Out of Boys

Ya'Ron Brown is approaching men’s mental health from a place of lived experience, clinical insight, and cultural awareness. He is a licensed counsellor, clinical supervisor, trainer, and host of the Resilient Kings Podcast. Brown unpacks one of the most difficult yet essential topics facing men today: male vulnerability and why it is so deeply resisted.
Brown is speaking candidly about how patriarchy shapes men long before they enter therapy. “No matter who we are,” he explains, “to some degree, we are baked into patriarchy.” This conditioning quietly influences how men define strength, suppress emotion, and measure self-worth. Many men are never taught how to explore identity development beyond narrow expectations of toughness, performance, and endurance.
Throughout the conversation, Brown is sharing personal stories. He illustrates how emotional repression becomes normalized. He describes how men often grow up learning that masculinity exists in a single lane. This leaves little room for curiosity, softness, or emotional expression. As a result, many men are arriving in adulthood disconnected from themselves. They are caught in cycles of seeking validation through work, relationships, or external success.
This episode does not position vulnerability as weakness. Instead, Brown is reframing vulnerability as a missing developmental skill. One that directly affects male identity, relationships, and mental health. As Marc Azoulay guides the discussion, the focus remains on helping men understand why they feel empty, restless, or angry. It highlights how reconnecting with vulnerability can change everything.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Divorce and the Modern Man: A Survival Guide by Ralph Brewer

Ralph Brewer is the founder of the “Help for Men Brotherhood” and the creator of the “Dad Starting Over” community. Today, he is sharing a story that is becoming increasingly common among men. Yet still, it is rarely talked about openly. He is speaking as someone who has lived the full weight of divorce, rebuilding life, and single fatherhood. His story begins over a decade ago when he was navigating what he describes as “a giant holy-poop moment”. It was one defined by infidelity, uncertainty, and the sudden responsibility of raising three young children alone.
He reflected on the emotional upheaval men often face. “I can’t think of anything more emotional than the disintegration of a long-term relationship,” he says. Brewer has noticed that divorce is putting a mirror in front of men’s lives. It is forcing them to confront not just the loss of a partner, but the collapse of routines, identity, and stability.
Brewer explained how he begins coping by returning to the passions he abandons during marriage: guitars, writing, and creative expression. “It was part of my therapy,” he notes. Brewer described how rekindling old interests becomes his lifeline. This personal journey evolved into a platform that is now supporting thousands of men worldwide. Through YouTube, books, coaching, and the Brotherhood, Brewer is building a community for men who are facing divorce, breakup, co-parenting conflicts, and emotional rebuilding.
His message remains consistent: every great man he knows has a turning point. “Enough is enough,” he says. “This could be a big turning point for you.”
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Feeling Down or Awakened? Uncover Your True Purpose w/ Joe Hehn

Joe Hehn is living through a story that many men fear, and few ever speak about. Joe not only shared a personal narrative; he also revealed a blueprint for reclaiming purpose after unimaginable loss. He is a mentor, corporate speaker, and mindset coach. Joe is guiding men toward self-awareness and emotional resilience. He does so by openly describing how his own world collapsed and rebuilt itself.
Before his wife’s cancer diagnosis, Joe explains that “everything on paper looked perfect”. Yet, internally, he was constantly stressed, anxious, and disconnected. His life changed dramatically one afternoon in Chicago. It was when a routine meditation on a park bench became his first spiritual awakening. “Everything is alive,” he recalls. “It’s like I’m stepping into a painting.”
But that brief moment of illumination was only the beginning. After losing his wife to cancer, Joe plunged into an emotional wilderness. “I didn’t want to die,” he admitted, “but I didn’t want to live either.” This became the lowest point of his life and also the turning point. He began the long process of grief recovery and rebuilding his identity. He did so when he was travelling through South America. He volunteered and reconnected with spirituality.
What makes Joe’s journey distinct is not only the scale of his grief, but his relentless pursuit of meaning. “Is this the life I want for myself?” he asked in Bolivia, bedridden and empty. That question became the foundation of his life’s new mission. Helping men cultivate purpose through mindset coaching, emotional healing, and self-awareness.
Connect with Joe: 
Website: https://joehehn.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvkQI_b9ocQK-Kcabbqjycw
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joe.hehn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joe.hehn
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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The Hidden Grief Behind Divorce: Why Men Break Down?

In this episode of The Men’s Therapy Podcast, host Marc Azoulay is sitting down with two deeply respected clinicians. Jack Lambert, LMHC, and Ben White, LPC. They explore the emotional landscape men confront during divorce. Their conversation is opening a window into an experience many men are living silently: the grief, confusion, and emotional shutdown that divorce often sparks.
Jack is working extensively with gay and queer men navigating major life transitions, including separation, identity loss, and the struggle to rebuild after relationship trauma. He notes that “divorce is often felt as a rock bottom, not because it always is one, but because culturally men are not taught how to handle emotional rupture.”
Ben mainly works with straight men across multiple states. He shares a parallel observation: “It’s interesting how often divorce is the event that finally pushes men into therapy. Something really life-shattering happens, and suddenly the wheels that were in motion for years become undeniable.”
Together, they shed light on why divorce isn’t just a legal separation. It’s an emotional reckoning. Their clinical insights reveal how men often reach this stage feeling isolated, ashamed, or stuck in anger, and how the process of emotional healing must begin with confronting the grief they have long avoided.
This episode isn’t simply about divorce. It’s about reclaiming emotional intelligence, rebuilding identity, and learning what healthier masculinity looks like on the other side of heartbreak.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Breaking the Burnout Loop and the Fixer Cycle

In this powerful episode of the Men’s Therapy Podcast, Marc Azoulay sits down to explain the “fixer mentality”. It is a pattern many men fall into when they compulsively help others, avoid emotional intimacy, and ultimately burn out. He explains, “When you’re always fixing, you’re not asking for help. That’s how the cycle begins.” Marc is guiding people to see how these patterns, rooted in dopamine addiction, stress response, and codependency, silently shape one’s identity and your relationships.
As the discussion unfolds, he highlights how men can become trapped in what feels like a heroic role. However, it’s actually a mask covering deeper emotional wounds. He says, “The fixer is addicted not just to helping, but to being seen as valuable.” Over the course of the episode, he explores emotional avoidance, the martyr complex, and why many men struggle to form genuine emotional intimacy. With clear, professional, yet compassionate insight, Marc is helping his audience understand these dynamics. He is offering practical steps to break free.
Whether you suspect you’re stuck in the fixer loop or you’re feeling chronically stressed and burnt out, this conversation offers clarity, validation, and a roadmap toward healing.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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The Hidden Challenge: Why Men Lack Words for Their Emotions

For over five decades, Dr. Ronald Johnson has dedicated his career to understanding the emotional lives of men. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a lifelong commitment to men’s psychological development. “I come from a good family,” he recalls, “but you know, typical dysfunctional family as well. And so I have for a long time been interested in just, how do I feel, how do I think, what do I do?” 
 
Interestingly, his focus on men doesn’t start with men at all. In the 1960s and ’70s, therapy was mostly a female space. And it was through working with women that he became captivated by what wasn’t being said. “I saw these women, and what do they talk about? The men in their lives… I thought, I need to meet these guys.” When he eventually did, the revelation surprised him: “What do you know? They weren’t awful. I liked them.” 
 
From there, a practice was born. He famously placed a Yellow Pages ad that read, “Practice limited to men,” unintentionally pioneering one of the earliest male-specific therapy practices. Over the years, he has seen patterns repeat: anxiety, addiction, avoidance, grief, emotional shutdown, the father wound, and the profound hunger for emotional intimacy and male connection. His decades of work culminate in his book Balls: Men Finding Courage. In this episode, he is sharing raw, timely insights for men navigating emotional intelligence, healing, and growth today.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Why Calm Is Toxic: The Danger of False Peace in Men (3 practical steps)

Many men describe themselves as “chill,” unbothered, or simply “fine.” But as Marc Azoulay explains in this episode, fine is not always peace. It is often an emotional shutdown. Marc reflects on the quiet epidemic of emotional numbness shaping men’s lives today. “What if your fine is not peace? It’s shut down. What if it’s an emotional shutdown? It’s not strength, it’s numbness. And the cost is everything.”
Marc is guiding listeners through one of the most misunderstood emotional states men experience: numbness. Through relatable examples from his clinical experience, he tells the story of men who lose touch with their emotional worlds without even realizing it. One client, for example, comes in reporting low intimacy in his marriage only to realize that the issue is not desire. But a complete emotional flatline “across the board, not just in his relationship, but in workouts, hobbies, friendships and everything.”
This episode tells the story of how numbness develops, how it disguises itself as composure, and why so many men mistake shutdown for resilience. Marc shares how cultural conditioning trains boys to “man up”. It sheds light on how men often push emotions away, allowing the nervous system to slip into detachment and dissociation. He also describes the moment many men can pinpoint as the beginning of their emotional shutdown. Such as the client who realized he “stopped feeling” the day his father was diagnosed with cancer.
In this unfolding narrative, Marc is guiding men back to themselves. He is helping them understand numbness not as a flaw, but as a protective strategy that has simply worn out its usefulness. And more importantly, he is showing listeners how to feel again.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Burnout & the Modern Man: Why Doing Less Might Save You?

In today’s fast-paced world, burnout is becoming the silent epidemic among men. Whether it’s the pressure to excel at work, maintain relationships, or keep up with physical fitness, the weight of “doing it all” often leaves men emotionally drained and disconnected.
Today’s Men’s Therapy Podcast roundtable hosts a variety of competent guests. Marc welcomes Desmond Cohen. He is a psychotherapist and coach. Aidan Lee and Silvan Erb-Summers also join. Aidan Lee is the founder of FitRoots and Silvan is a somatic therapist. They unpack what work-life balance truly means for modern men.
“Most of the men I see are looking for relief from fear,” says Desmond Cohen. “And that fear isn’t about dying physically. It’s about social death. It’s the fear of losing connection, status, or belonging.” This profound insight captures the essence of how deeply emotional wellness is tied to identity and social perception for men today.
For Aidan Lee, balance begins with the body. “The first thing men let go of is their health,” he explains. “It’s not about becoming an athlete. It’s about having the energy to go from AM to PM without crashing.” Meanwhile, Silvan Silvan emphasizes the mind-body connection: “We can’t think our way out of imbalance. We have to feel it, in the body, to release it.”
Together, they present a holistic framework that blends psychology, fitness, and community to help men rebuild resilience and redefine strength in an age of relentless productivity.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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Breaking the Male Ego w/ Jayson Gaddis: What Strength Means

In this episode of The Men’s Therapy Podcast, host Marc Azoulay sits down with Jayson Gaddis. He is the founder of The Relationship School and a pioneer in men’s emotional health and relationship education. Gaddis opens up about his own journey, one marked by pain, disconnection, and a hard-earned path toward self-awareness.
“Pain got me into finally getting my own shit together,” Gaddis admits. At 29, after another breakup in a Whole Foods parking lot, he experiences a profound moment of clarity: “Maybe I’m the problem.” That realization sparks a turning point that led him to graduate school in psychology, a move that changed the trajectory of his life and career.
Gaddies suggests that most men interpret success as money, status, or control. It is often masked by deep-seated insecurity. “I was chasing validation on social media, chasing money, chasing approval,” he says. “And that outside-in approach was killing me.” His reflections form the foundation for an honest conversation about modern masculinity. It sheds light on the urgent need for men to confront their inner worlds.
For more podcasts, blogs, and to get involved in the Men's Therapy Online Community, visit www.menstherapy.online.
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