“Mothers are vitally important in encouraging their boys to keep connected to their emotional selves. Mothers teach boys how to respect women and build loving caring relationships with women.”

Boys are in trouble. They are socialised to deny all emotions except anger in a male culture that dictates that emotions are feminine and so not masculine. Rosjke sees older mothers who are grieving because their adult sons hardly ever call them. Mothers who are at the end of their wits in trying to help their adolescent sons who have locked themselves away in an angry “won’t talk to anyone about what I am feeling” mood. And she sees far too many wives and girlfriends who are struggling with emotionally unavailable and non-communicative husbands, partners, and boyfriends.  

On the surface, these three issues may look unrelated, but they all speak of the same problem – how boys are taught from youth that to be male they have to disconnect from their emotions. This process of emotional disconnection creates silent angry adolescents and emotionally unavailable men.

Mother-son counselling can help sons to remain connected to their feelings and learn how to say what is going on inside of them. It creates a safe place in which mothers and sons can talk about what they feel and need from each other. Building this mutual understanding helps build a relationship that is emotionally connected and respectful of each other.

Counselling, either with the mother individually, or as a mother-(step) son couple helps with many common issues like –

Communication problems
Problems setting boundaries
Not understanding each other
Feeling shut out of each other’s lives
Not feeling heard, accepted, loved, or respected Feeling controlled or manipulated
Feeling used or abused
Generational or family issues
Distant or estranged mothers and (step) sons

Click here for a mother-son book list

Click here for tips on how to increase communication between mothers and sons.

Click here for a more extensive mother/son book lists