2024-03-21 11:20:36
BOLZANO. Never before have so many clients turned to Caritas Men’s Counseling in 2023: have used the service 366 menabove all between 40 and 60 years old, 101 more compared to the previous year. The main concerns concern relationship problems, life crises or an overload of demands. “They often have to do with being a father“, he reports Guido Osthoffhead of Caritas’ men’s counseling service, in a press conference ahead of Father’s Day tomorrow.
“Knowing that more and more men are going into crisis may seem worrying. However, it is reassuring that they seek advice and help without keeping everything inside themselves, and that they talk to other men about their feelings, worries and personal problems, especially when things become unsustainable. This was precisely the idea that led to the birth of the Men’s Counseling service 23 years ago: speaking from man to man”, states the director of Caritas Beatrix Mairhofer.
Today there are more men between the ages of 40 and 49: “The age limit has therefore been significantly lowered: in the past our main clientele belonged to the 50-59 age group, now in second place. Getting closer to the middle age, doubts may arise about the path taken so far and other difficulties may arise”, says Guido Osthoff, head of Men’s Counseling at Caritas. It is in these cases that the meetings of the men’s groups, offered both in Italian and in German, have proven to be valid”, we read in a note from Caritas.
The Caritas Men’s Counseling service also deals with violence, especially through anti-violence training, with whom 100 men approached in the past year, 42 more than in 2022. “One of the reasons is certainly due to the tightening of legal provisions that force violent men to attend this type of course”, explains Osthoff. According to the “Red Code” legislation, anyone convicted of violence must participate in these courses, paying the costs. For everyone else, Men’s Counseling services are free. There are 10 psychologists and psychotherapists available for individual consultancy, 2 teams (one man and one woman) for anti-violence training and 2 collaborators who facilitate meetings of men’s groups. There are also 2 other collaborators available for prevention work and a collaborator in anti-violence training, for contact with female partners, concludes Caritas.
2024-03-21 11:20:36