‘I would like to thank all the group members for their participation.

The sessions helped me to discover and rediscover myself.

Attending group sharing sessions was like a relief from the outside world

but at the end of each session, I would feel strong again and ready to face real life challenges.

It made me never to lose hope but to be confident of myself and my capabilities’. (Men's group participant, 2009)

Psychotherapy for all by involving all (Patel, 2014)

This writing started on a personal note of needing to resolve concerns of my experience of professional alienation in the discipline of psychology. A psychotherapy group which was, by chance, populated by males only was, over time, adapted to the treatment preferences of diverse male audiences by myself, a female group facilitator. The process of modifying therapeutic interventions to take the needs of boys and men into consideration seemingly simultaneously integrated me into the profession of psychology. I went on to carve out a niche for myself as a provider of male gender conscious psychotherapy, having learnt from boys and men how to be a masculine-affirming psychotherapist to male clients.

The culture and practice of group psychotherapy operated as a ‘Trojan horse’, in which to transfer indigenous beliefs and practices into the psychotherapy treatment for a predominantly young black student population. Group psychotherapy created flashes of pragmatism and a client base of responsive ‘test subjects’ apparently receptive, conversant with and most importantly, welcoming of the African (relational-ethical) discourses inserted into the psychotherapy process.