Rebuilding Dignity After Loss: Grief and Shame in Men – The Lesson of Philoctetes
In Philoctetes, shame tries to turn a visible wound into a verdict about the man. After grief or loss—death, divorce, redundancy, illness—shame does the same for many men. It tried to turn what we have been going through into a verdict about who we “are” now. The lesson we learn from grief is the power […]
Continuing Bonds for Fathers After a Child Dies: The Osiris and Horus Myth and How Fatherhood Continues
This article is about continuing bonds for fathers after a child dies and how the Osiris and Horus myth gives language for how fatherhood continues. An ancient myth of rupture and legitimacy — read as a structure for living after the world has split into before and after. Continuing bonds for fathers after a child […]
Father Grief After Child Loss: What the Daedalus Myth Reveals About Paternal Rupture.
Main Points This article traces the impact of a child’s death on a father, not through emotion alone, but through the disruption of identity, direction, and the internal map he once relied on. It follows the early shock, the break between the outer world and the inner one, and the ways fathers move through devastation, […]
Post Traumatic Growth in Men: How Sudden Loss Changes Thinking, Identity, and Direction
Main Points Sudden or traumatic loss disrupts the internal stability men depend on to function. Post-traumatic growth in men refers to the practical changes that occur when a man works with the reality of what happened rather than avoiding it. These changes appear in his thinking, his boundaries, and his sense of direction. PTG and […]
Male Grief in Australia: Understanding How Men Grieve and Rebuild
Male Grief in Australia: How Men Reclaim Themselves Through Loss At-a-Glance Summary Core idea: Australian men grieve differently, often through silence, work, and duty — and these expressions deserve recognition, not correction. Why it matters: Misunderstanding male grief leaves many men unseen, unsupported, and silently suffering under outdated masculine scripts. What helps: Understanding instrumental vs. […]
Migration and Grief: How Displacement Shapes Men’s Hidden Sorrows
Seven Faces of Male Grief – Part 4 This is the fourth in my Seven Faces of Male Grief series, where I explore the hidden ways grief shows up in modern men’s lives — often masked as ambition, withdrawal, rage, or numbness. This article explores how migration and grief intertwine in men’s inner world. […]
Grief Support for Quiet Men: How Silence Can Be a Way to Heal
At a Glance Quiet men process grief and reconnect through silence, not speech. Quiet isn’t avoidance — it’s often protection. Talk therapy can feel performative for reflective men. Healing comes through presence, pacing, and trust. Support must learn to meet men where words can’t yet go. “Silence is not the absence of something, but the […]
Identity After Leaving Religion: How Men Rebuild a Sense of Self.
Understanding Identity After Leaving Religion Main Points Identity after leaving religion rarely begins with clarity. It begins with a quiet disorientation — a realisation that much of what you once called “yourself” was not formed from within, but shaped through doctrine, fear, emotional restriction, and the expectations of a system that reached into the deepest […]
Understanding Male Grief: The Orpheus Myth and How Men Carry Grief
Male Grief and the Orpheus Myth: The Pattern Men Live In understanding male grief, we need to recognise that men often hide their grief in high performance and being dependable. Many men keep working, solving problems, and showing up while carrying a weight that is often unexpressed. This article uses the Orpheus myth as a […]