ManKind Project

1. Introduction

Version followed: the ManKind Project USA (MKP USA) public descriptions of the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA), the Primary Integration Training (PIT) and Integration Groups (I-Groups) as published in 2026, with the MKP USA 2017 training catalogue and MKP International history timeline; earlier practice (Houston chapter, mid-2000s) as news reports describe it. Local communities vary, and MKP itself says practices such as nudity differ by location. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "What to expect"; MKP International timeline]

The ManKind Project is a non-profit men's organisation, not a therapy. It runs a weekend initiation, the NWTA, followed by peer-led men's groups and a ladder of further trainings. MKP describes the NWTA as "a hero's journey" and a "weekend initiation", "not a workshop or a retreat", and states its programmes are "not a clinical intervention" and "not a substitute for professional mental health services". [source: MKP USA "What to expect"; MKP USA "Referring Clients"] Its own account of change: an intense, experiential weekend "opens a crack" in a man's defences around emotion, accountability, childhood needs and life purpose ("mission"), and lasting change comes from continuing in peer groups afterwards rather than from the weekend itself (MKP: no training is a "fix all"). [source: MKP USA FAQ]

This guide is therefore written for the psychotherapist whose client is considering, attending, or returning from an MKP weekend or group: what the organisation publishes, what has gone wrong as reported in news and court-filed settlements, and the clinical work of screening, consent, preparation, debriefing and aftercare. The therapist does not run, imitate or lead NWTA processes, and no exercise wording or confrontation scripts are given here; MKP treats the weekend's processes as confidential, and only its published outline is described. [synthesis]

Evidence status in one line: MKP cites a longitudinal study of participants (Burke, Maton, Mankowski and Anderson, 2010, American Journal of Community Psychology) and earlier unpublished studies by MKP participants reporting gains in depression, life satisfaction and emotional expressiveness; no randomised controlled trial is reported by MKP, and the study's design and effect sizes are [uncertain: not verified]. [source: MKP International "Published study"; MKP USA "Referring Clients"]

2. Framework

2.1 The organisation as it publishes itself

Founding: MKP names three co-founders: Bill Kauth, Ron Hering and Rich Tosi. Its timeline gives the first NWTA as both 1985 (at the Haimowoods site in Wisconsin) and 1987 (Chicago, after five "Wildman Weekends"), without reconciling them [uncertain: sources conflict]. Influences the timeline names include a 1982 feminist therapists' conference, Patricia Clason's Understanding Yourself and Others training, Justin Sterling's men's training (1984), Robert Bly's Iron John (1990; cross-refer 246 mythopoetic men's work) and King, Warrior, Magician, Lover (1991). Names: Inner Resource Development Corporation, then New Warrior Network (1991), then ManKind Project (1998). [source: MKP International timeline]
Structure: MKP USA unified over 30 non-profits in 2019 into one organisation with 23 Areas and 120+ chartered Communities; trainings run internationally (UK from 1995; Canada, South Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, India, Israel and others). [source: MKP International timeline]
Founders' income: the FAQ states the two surviving founders receive royalties of under $20,000 a year each for the NWTA process they gave to the non-profit. [source: MKP USA FAQ]
Policies: a "Stand on Abuse" adopted in 2010; multicultural trainings; a GBTQ "Gateway" weekend from 2001; a stated policy for transgender men (living as a man and on testosterone for at least a year, a strong support system, ideally a trans-experienced therapist, a private peer-led conversation). [source: MKP International timeline; MKP USA FAQ]

2.2 The NWTA weekend, outline only

Format: Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon ("48-hour"), 15–40 participants at a camp or retreat site, guided by 25–50 mostly volunteer staff who have all done the weekend, led by a 4–6 man certified leadership team. Most staff "do not hold credentials in the helping professions". [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Cost: 2019 US average a little over $700 (range $575–$995); the 2017 catalogue gives about $675 and says financial assistance and payment plans are often available; tuition is MKP's main income. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP training catalogue 2017]
Published stages: MKP's "What to expect" page names Separation (paperwork, being asked whether one is ready to commit, a physical search of person and belongings with some items held, waiting in a dark silent room; MKP says the energy "may feel confrontational"), Descent (visualisations, individual and group exercises, life and mission planning, late-running processes, reduced sleep, cold showers, lighter meals), Ordeal (each man's central individual "bio-energetic" process, often with loud voices, physical interaction and movement), Return (a closing outdoor fire process, review, gratitude, preparation to go home) and Integration (afterwards). The FAQ uses a three-stage version: Descent, Ordeal, Reintegration. [source: MKP USA "What to expect"; MKP USA FAQ]
Rules published: no alcohol or drugs; phones stored, with an emergency contact number given to family; medications labelled and kept with the participant; some processes involve blindfolding; some processes include nudity, which MKP states is never sexual, varies by location, and can be declined, including by choosing a weekend without nudity; any man may pass on any process. [source: MKP USA "Important Info"; MKP USA "What to expect"]
Leaving: the FAQ states a leader will probably challenge a man once to stay, then return his keys, arrange transport or drive him home; "Important Info" says a man who wants to leave asks for a leader, who helps him home safely, and he cannot return to the site. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Important Info"]
Content not published: the processes themselves, including the central individual process, are not described in detail by MKP, and this guide does not describe them. [source: MKP USA "What to expect"]

2.3 Screening as published

Registration questionnaire ("Readiness Form"), a pre-weekend interviewer's call, and in many communities a phone or in-person interview. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Important Info"]
MKP's clinician page says a state-licensed physician reviews each confidential pre-weekend packet and flagged applications go to a volunteer Mental Health Resource Team of licensed clinicians; further interviews may include contacting the applicant's care providers. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Stated exclusions: active substance use or very short sobriety; suicidal ideation; "unstable mental states"; an active condition that could lead to self-harm or violence; significant untreated, undisclosed or "unexamined" trauma or abuse. Men in treatment are told to consult their provider. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Referring Clients"]

2.4 After the weekend

PIT: included in the NWTA fee; online (8 or 10 weekly sessions of 2.25 hours), a two-day in-person intensive, an eight-week in-person series, or hybrid. It teaches I-Group processes MKP names as check-in, "the Shield", accountability, clearings, the "Work Round" and closing the circle, and a four-round I-Group format. [source: MKP USA PIT page]
I-Groups: peer-facilitated groups, weekly or fortnightly, 2–3 hours, often in private homes; mostly free or low-fee. A Washington DC study cited by MKP reported a median group survival of 4.5 years. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP training catalogue 2017; MKP International "Published study"]
Ladder: I-Group Facilitator Training, Staff Trainings 1 and 2 (ST1 required before a man's fourth time staffing an NWTA), Leadership Trainings 1–3, multicultural "Issues & Isms", and paid online courses and coaching. Men are invited to staff future weekends. [source: MKP training catalogue 2017; MKP USA FAQ]

2.5 The therapist's own phases [synthesis]

Deciding (client raises MKP): explore meaning, screen, consider timing. Move on when the client has made an informed decision and any clinical contraindication has been discussed.
Preparing (weeks before): consent review, opt-out and leaving plan, grounding, crisis plan, liaison with MKP screeners if the client consents. Move on when the plan is written and the client can state his limits.
Debriefing (first session after): structured review of experience, sleep, mood, safety. Move on when acute reactions are absent or being treated.
Integrating (following weeks or months): meaning-making, any surfaced memories, group fit, pressure to recruit or staff, family effects.
Repair (if harmed): assessment and treatment, complaint or legal routes. Session numbers are set by clinical need; no source gives a count.

3. Guiding principles

MKP is a peer initiation, not therapy, by its own statement. Meaning: treat it as a significant life event the client chooses, not as a treatment you prescribe or endorse. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Autonomy and informed choice. Meaning: your job is to help the client know what is published and what is not, then decide; never to recruit, forbid or shame. [synthesis]
Describe, do not replicate. Meaning: you do not rehearse, re-enact or coach NWTA processes in session, and you do not press the client to break confidentiality about exercises; you ask about his experience and safety. [synthesis]
Screening is clinical, not just organisational. Meaning: MKP's own exclusions (suicidality, unstable mental states, active substance use, unexamined trauma) are a floor; add your own knowledge of the client's history of psychosis, bipolar disorder, dissociation, PTSD, recent loss and physical health. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"; synthesis]
High-arousal group events can precipitate psychiatric reactions in some people. Meaning: case reports after another large-group training (est) describe new psychotic symptoms, mostly in people without prior history, so preparation and follow-up matter even for well people. [source: American Journal of Psychiatry case report, Part I; see Sources]
Sleep loss, cold, physical intensity and lighter food are stressors. Meaning: weigh them for clients with bipolar disorder, epilepsy, cardiac or eating-disorder histories, or recent hospitalisation; route physical questions to the client's doctor. [source: MKP USA "Important Info"; synthesis]
Consent to touch and nudity is ongoing and can be withdrawn. Meaning: help the client decide limits in advance and practise saying no; any process can be passed. [source: MKP USA "Important Info"; synthesis]
The right to leave is real. Meaning: the client should know that MKP says he may leave and that a leader may first challenge him to stay once; plan what he will say and do. [source: MKP USA FAQ]
Non-pathologising curiosity about masculinity and spirituality. Meaning: the wish for male community, initiation and purpose is legitimate; explore it in the client's terms. [synthesis]
Memories that surface are material for careful exploration, not verified facts or proof of nothing. Meaning: avoid suggestion either way; offer trauma-focused assessment. [synthesis; cross-refer Domain VI 110]
Safe messaging about suicide. Meaning: discuss reported deaths factually, without method or glamorising, and always with crisis routes (US 988; UK and Ireland Samaritans 116 123). [synthesis]
No dual role. Meaning: you are not the client's initiator, sponsor, group brother or staff member; if you are an MKP member yourself, disclose and manage that boundary or refer. [synthesis]
Money and time are clinical topics. Meaning: tuition, follow-on courses, travel and unpaid staffing time are discussed openly, as with any commitment. [source: MKP training catalogue 2017; synthesis]
Name people only as reliable sources name them. Meaning: in conversation and notes you discuss reported events without naming participants. [synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

These are the psychotherapist's procedures around an MKP weekend and groups. The NWTA's own processes are not therapist interventions and are not reproduced. [synthesis unless tagged]

4.1 Exploring what the client is seeking

Purpose: understand why MKP appeals now (isolation, a relationship crisis, shame, fatherhood, sobriety, purpose, wanting male friendship) before any decision. Use when the client first mentions the weekend or a friend's invitation. MKP's clinician page lists confidence, masculinity, isolation, relationships, boundaries and shame as typical issues men bring. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Steps: (1) Ask what he has heard and from whom (sponsor, friend, employer, partner). (2) Ask what he hopes will be different afterwards, in concrete terms. (3) Ask what is pulling him now (a recent event?). (4) Reflect the underlying needs and note which can also be met in therapy, a men's group or elsewhere. (5) Agree to look at fit and timing together.
Example language (illustrative): "What would tell you, a month after the weekend, that it had been worth it?" / "Who invited you, and how do you feel about saying no to them if you decide to?"
Watch for: invitation pressure from an employer or sponsor (a California lawsuit reported in 2010 alleged workplace pressure linked to MKP attendance, stated as an allegation [source: Houston Press 2010]); hopes that the weekend will fix a crisis quickly, which MKP itself disclaims. Working: the client can state needs in his own words and options beyond one event.

4.2 Cultural Formulation Interview, including gender, spirituality and community

Purpose: place MKP in the client's cultural, religious and masculinity frame without pathologising; use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) and its spirituality, religion and moral traditions supplementary module. MKP invites participants to consider what is "sacred" to them, states no religious affiliation, and the Houston settlement required disclosure that the weekend includes elements of Native American traditions. [source: MKP USA "What to expect"; Throckmorton 2008 on the settlement; CFI wording [uncertain: not verified]]
Steps: (1) Use the core CFI to explore how the client defines his problem and help sought. (2) Use the spirituality module to ask how ritual, initiation or the sacred fit his own tradition. (3) Ask how manhood was modelled in his family and culture. (4) Ask how his faith community, partner or family would view the weekend. (5) Note any concern he has about borrowed ceremonies; let him weigh it.
Example language (illustrative): "In your family, how did a boy become a man, if anyone marked it?" / "Does a weekend with ritual elements sit comfortably with your own faith, or is that something to think about?"
Watch for: conflict with the client's religion; distress about cultural appropriation (for Indigenous clients especially); rigid masculinity scripts that the client hopes the group will confirm or dismantle. Working: the client can say what the weekend means within his own values.

4.3 Clinical screening before attending

Purpose: identify contraindications. MKP's stated exclusions are active substance use or very short sobriety, suicidal ideation, unstable mental states, active conditions risking self-harm or violence, and significant untreated or unexamined trauma or abuse. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Referring Clients"] Large-group training case reports describe new psychotic symptoms after an intense weekend (est), mostly in people without prior history. [source: AJP case report, Part I]
Steps: (1) Review history of psychosis, bipolar disorder (including family history), dissociative disorder, PTSD, suicide attempts and self-harm, eating disorder, substance use and sobriety length. (2) Check current state: sleep, mood, suicidal thoughts (use your standard risk assessment), recent bereavement, separation or job loss. (3) Ask about physical health relevant to reduced sleep, cold showers, lighter meals and physical activity (for example cardiac conditions, epilepsy, diabetes); route medical questions to his doctor, and do not advise on medicines. (4) Ask about trauma that could be activated by being physically searched, blindfolded, held, shouted at or nude. (5) Share your view honestly: proceed, defer, or not advisable for now.
Example language (illustrative): "Given that the weekend involves short sleep and strong emotion, and you had a manic episode two years ago, I'd like us to think hard about timing." / "MKP itself says it's not for men with unexamined trauma. How examined does your trauma feel to you?"
Watch for: minimisation to secure a place; a friend coaching him through the questionnaire. Working: the client discloses accurately to MKP and the decision reflects his clinical state.

4.4 Timing decisions

Purpose: avoid attending during acute instability, early sobriety, early bereavement or a crisis. [synthesis; MKP: not for very short sobriety, source: MKP USA FAQ]
Steps: (1) List current stressors and their likely course. (2) Agree markers that would make attending safer (sleep stable for some weeks, no suicidal thoughts, sponsor support in recovery, medication stable per the prescriber). (3) If deferring, frame it as a choice about when, not whether. (4) Diary a review.
Example language (illustrative): "This isn't a no. It's a question of whether this is the month you want to be sleep-short and stirred up, three weeks after your father's funeral."
Watch for: urgency created by limited places or a group of friends going together. Working: the client chooses a date for reasons he endorses.

4.5 Informed-consent review of what is published

Purpose: close the gap between what the client imagines and what MKP publishes, since its processes are confidential and news reports describe participants who were not told details in advance. [source: Houston Press 2008; MKP USA "What to expect"; MKP USA "Important Info"]
Steps: (1) Read MKP's own pages with the client or ask him to. (2) List the known elements: physical search and items held, dark silent waiting, reduced sleep, cold showers, lighter meals, no phones, loud physical processes, blindfolding in one process, optional nudity varying by location, waivers and confidentiality agreements, a challenge to stay before leaving. (3) Ask which elements worry him. (4) Encourage him to ask his local community questions in writing (what the nudity involves locally, how leaving works, who screens). (5) Note what remains unknown and that he is consenting to that uncertainty.
Example language (illustrative): "Here's what MKP says will happen, and here's what it keeps private. How do you feel about agreeing to the part you can't see yet?"
Watch for: the client treating not knowing as part of the appeal while being someone who panics with loss of control. Working: he can list the elements and his own questions.

4.6 Opt-out and leaving plan

Purpose: make MKP's stated rights usable under pressure: any process can be passed, and a man may leave, though a leader will probably first challenge him once to stay. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP USA "Important Info"] The Houston settlement required that a participant asking to leave be allowed to do so immediately unless leaving created further risk, and excused from further activities. [source: Throckmorton 2008; Houston Press 2008]
Steps: (1) Agree the signals that would mean "I want to stop" for him (panic, dissociation, flashback, a limit crossed). (2) Have him write one short sentence he will use to pass on a process and one to ask for a leader to leave. (3) Rehearse saying it twice, calmly, including after being challenged (no role-play of confrontation, just his own words). (4) Plan transport home: own car keys, a friend on call. (5) Agree he can phone you or a crisis line after leaving.
Example language (illustrative): "If you're asked to stay once and you still want to go, what's the sentence you'll repeat?"
Watch for: belief that leaving equals failure or unmanliness; the client's trauma history around being prevented from leaving. Working: he can state his plan without hesitation.

4.7 Touch and nudity consent plan

Purpose: prepare for physical interaction, blindfolding and optional nudity. MKP states nudity is never sexual, varies by location, can be declined, and a weekend without nudity can be chosen; news reports describe naked group discussions of sexual histories in a mid-2000s Houston weekend. [source: MKP USA "Important Info"; MKP USA "What to expect"; Houston Press 2008]
Steps: (1) Ask about body image, sexual trauma, religious modesty and experiences of being held down or searched. (2) Have him decide his limits for touch, being held, blindfolding and nudity before he goes. (3) Suggest he asks the local community whether a no-nudity weekend is available. (4) Agree that a limit can be added at any moment, even if he agreed earlier. (5) Agree to review any touch that felt wrong afterwards.
Example language (illustrative): "You get to decide now, and you get to change your mind there. Which of these would you want to say no to straight away?"
Watch for: sexual-abuse history, body-dysmorphic or eating concerns, shame. Any sexual touch is outside MKP's own stated rules and is a matter for complaint and, where relevant, police. Working: limits are concrete and he expects to be able to use them.

4.8 Grounding and arousal skills before the weekend

Purpose: give the client ways to notice and lower overwhelming arousal during loud, physical or emotional processes. [synthesis]
Steps: (1) Teach two or three portable grounding methods he already finds useful (naming objects, feet on the floor, slow ordinary breathing, cold water on hands). (2) Map his early warning signs of dissociation or panic. (3) Practise in session until he can use them without prompts. (4) Link them to the opt-out plan in 4.6.
Example language (illustrative): "When you notice the room going far away, what's the first thing you'll do to come back?"
Watch for: skills used to override clear signals to stop. Working: he can describe exactly when he would ground and when he would pass or leave.

4.9 Safety and crisis plan

Purpose: cover the days during and after, when reactions may appear. A wrongful-death suit followed a participant's suicide weeks after a 2005 Houston weekend. [source: Houston Press 2008; Houston Press 2010]
Steps: (1) Write a standard safety plan: warning signs, coping steps, people to contact, professional contacts, crisis lines (US 988; UK and Ireland Samaritans 116 123), and means safety (storage or removal of means at home). (2) Confirm medications are labelled and kept with him, as MKP requires, and that the prescriber has been asked any questions. (3) Give a trusted person the MKP emergency number and your contact route. (4) Book a debrief session for the first days after the weekend.
Example language (illustrative): "If you come home and feel worse rather than better, or have thoughts of not wanting to be alive, here's exactly who you call and in what order."
Watch for: reluctance to tell anyone he is going; no follow-up booked. Working: the plan is written, shared and booked.

4.10 Liaison with MKP screeners (with consent)

Purpose: MKP says further interviews may involve contacting the applicant's care providers and that flagged applications go to a Mental Health Resource Team. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Steps: (1) Discuss with the client what, if anything, he wants shared. (2) Obtain written consent specifying content and recipient. (3) Share only relevant risk information and your view on timing. (4) Do not endorse the training as treatment or certify him as "fit". (5) Record the exchange.
Example language (illustrative): "MKP may ask to speak to me. What would you be comfortable with me telling them, and what not?"
Watch for: requests for a clearance letter that shifts responsibility onto you. Working: communication is limited, consented and documented.

4.11 Talking about secrecy and confidentiality agreements

Purpose: MKP asks participants to keep processes confidential, and news reports describe signed confidentiality agreements and waivers. [source: Houston Press 2008; Houston Press 2010] The client may feel torn about telling a partner or you.
Steps: (1) Clarify that therapy is confidential and that you will not press him for exercise details. (2) Agree he can always tell you about his own experience, feelings and anything that harmed him. (3) Help him decide what to tell his partner beforehand.
Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to tell me what the exercises were. I'm interested in what happened inside you and whether anything crossed a line."
Watch for: confidentiality being used to stop him talking about harm. Working: he discusses his experience freely while keeping what he chooses private.

4.12 Structured debrief after the weekend

Purpose: review the experience soon after return, when a "peak" or a crisis may be unfolding. MKP says over 90% of attendees call it life-changing (its own claim). [source: MKP USA "What to expect"; synthesis]
Steps: (1) Ask for his overall account in his own words. (2) Ask specifically about sleep since returning, mood, energy, appetite, thoughts racing, suicidal thoughts. (3) Ask what was most moving and what was most difficult. (4) Ask whether any limit was crossed (touch, nudity, being kept from leaving, being shouted at). (5) Ask what he has promised himself or others (mission statements, commitments, staffing, recruiting). (6) Agree the next step: integrate, monitor, or treat.
Example language (illustrative): "Tell me about the weekend however you want to. Then I'll ask some specific questions about how you've been sleeping and feeling since."
Watch for: euphoria with little sleep; numbness; intrusive images; regret or shame. Working: he can hold both the meaningful and the hard parts and is sleeping normally.

4.13 Distinguishing a meaningful high from hypomania or psychosis

Purpose: after intense group events some people develop grandiosity, mood swings, paranoia or delusions; the est case reports describe these. [source: AJP case report, Part I] Most strong positive experiences are not illness, and spiritual or emotional meaning is not itself a symptom. [synthesis]
Steps: (1) Track sleep need, speech, activity, spending, risk-taking, and fixed or bizarre beliefs. (2) Ask partner or family, with consent, whether they see changes. (3) Separate content (new sense of purpose) from form (pressure of speech, no sleep, impaired judgement). (4) If features of mania or psychosis are present, arrange urgent psychiatric assessment and involve the prescriber; consider ICD-10-CM Z65.8, Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances, which includes 'Religious or spiritual problem' [source: Unbound Medicine ICD-10-CM], only where the problem is not a disorder; DSM-5-TR wording [uncertain: not verified].
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like something important opened up for you. I also notice you've slept about three hours a night since. Can we look at that part together?"
Watch for: major decisions (quitting work, ending a relationship, large purchases) in the first weeks. Working: sleep normalises, beliefs remain flexible, decisions can be delayed.

4.14 Working with memories and emotions that surfaced

Purpose: MKP describes its work as touching childhood needs and emotional pain; news reports describe a participant recalling a traumatic childhood memory at a weekend. [source: MKP USA "What to expect"; Houston Press 2008] Such material needs careful, non-suggestive work.
Steps: (1) Stabilise first: grounding, sleep, safety. (2) Let him describe what came up without you adding detail or interpretation. (3) Avoid confirming or dismissing the memory's accuracy; explore its meaning and current impact. (4) Assess for PTSD or dissociative symptoms with standard measures. (5) Offer evidence-based trauma treatment if indicated, at a pace he controls.
Example language (illustrative): "Something from childhood came up very strongly. We don't need to decide right now exactly what happened. What is it doing to you today?"
Watch for: pressure from the group to name a perpetrator or confront family; sudden certainty built during a high-arousal process (cross-refer Domain VI 110 on suggestion and false memory). Working: distress is reducing, and decisions about family are made slowly and in therapy.

4.15 Monitoring delayed reactions in the following weeks

Purpose: reactions may come later than the debrief; the reported Houston death occurred weeks after a weekend. [source: Houston Press 2008]
Steps: (1) Agree check-ins over the following weeks. (2) Repeat brief mood, sleep and suicide-risk questions each time. (3) Revisit the safety plan. (4) Increase contact or escalate care if risk rises.
Example language (illustrative): "It's been three weeks. Some men feel a dip after the high wears off. Has that happened for you?"
Watch for: withdrawal, shame, fear of the group, feeling he "failed" the weekend. Working: mood is stable or improving.

4.16 Assessing fit with an Integration Group

Purpose: I-Groups are peer-facilitated, often in homes, using processes MKP names (check-in, the Shield, accountability, clearings, the Work Round). [source: MKP USA PIT page; MKP training catalogue 2017] They can offer friendship and accountability; they are not therapy groups and facilitators are peers. [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]
Steps: (1) Ask what happens in his group, in general terms, and how he feels before and after meetings. (2) Ask whether he can decline a process or leave a meeting. (3) Ask how conflict and confidentiality are handled. (4) Clarify how group work and therapy differ and how he will use each. (5) Agree what he will bring back to therapy.
Example language (illustrative): "What do you get from the group that you don't get here, and what do you get here that you don't get there?"
Watch for: the group becoming his only support; peers offering clinical interpretations; pressure to do intense process work every meeting. Working: the group adds connection and the client keeps his own judgement.

4.17 Pressure to recruit, staff, volunteer or buy further courses

Purpose: MKP invites graduates to staff future weekends, join a leadership ladder and buy online courses and coaching; men are encouraged to carpool and enrol others. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP training catalogue 2017]
Steps: (1) List what he has been invited to and its cost in money, weekends and family time. (2) Ask how each fits his goals. (3) Explore any guilt about saying no. (4) Help him set limits and speak them to the group.
Example language (illustrative): "You've been asked to staff three weekends this year. How does that fit with the time you said you wanted with your kids?"
Watch for: debt, neglect of family or work, invitations aimed at vulnerable friends or recovery-group members (critics quoted in news reports say the group targets vulnerable recovery-group members, stated as an allegation [source: Houston Press 2008]). Working: commitments are chosen and affordable.

4.18 Working with partners and families

Purpose: partners may worry about secrecy, nudity reports or sudden change; families of men who were harmed may seek help. [synthesis]
Steps: (1) With consent, offer a joint session. (2) Let the partner voice concerns; let the client share what he chooses. (3) Help the couple agree on time, money and confidentiality limits. (4) If a family member comes alone, focus on their own distress and options, not on diagnosing the man.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like the secrecy is the hardest part for you. What would you need to know to feel less shut out?"
Watch for: coercion in either direction; domestic abuse indicators, which take precedence. Working: the couple can talk about MKP without escalation.

4.19 Supporting a client who feels harmed

Purpose: respond to reports of coercion, being kept from leaving, unwanted touch, humiliation or sexual misconduct. MKP adopted a "Stand on Abuse" in 2010 and lists a community contact for safety concerns. [source: MKP International timeline; MKP USA "Important Info"]
Steps: (1) Believe and validate his account; assess safety and symptoms. (2) Treat trauma or anxiety reactions with standard care. (3) Inform him of options: complaint to MKP leadership or community contact, police for any crime, a lawyer for civil remedies. (4) Support him to decide; do not make the decision for him. (5) Follow your mandatory-reporting duties where they apply.
Example language (illustrative): "What happened to you there wasn't what you agreed to. Let's look after you first, and then look at what you might want to do about it."
Watch for: self-blame ("I signed the waiver"); fear of losing friendships in the group. Working: symptoms ease and he feels he made his own choice about any complaint.

4.20 Discussing reported deaths and lawsuits safely

Purpose: clients or families may raise the Houston case. Reported facts: a participant died by suicide weeks after a 2005 NWTA; his parents filed a wrongful-death suit in Harris County, Texas, in August 2007, also alleging unlicensed psychotherapy; it settled in 2008 for $75,000 with changes binding the Houston chapter (licensed mental-health review of questionnaires, website disclosure of screening, optional nudity and Native American elements, and a leaving protocol). MKP's attorney called the death "a very unfortunate accident" and said changes were made willingly; MKP denies practising therapy without a licence. [source: Houston Press 2008; Houston Press 2010; Throckmorton 2008]
Steps: (1) Give the facts plainly, without method detail or the participant's identity. (2) Ask what the news means to the client. (3) Check his own suicide risk if he identifies with the account. (4) Link the facts back to his own preparation (screening, leaving plan, follow-up). (5) Give crisis numbers (US 988; UK and Ireland Samaritans 116 123).
Example language (illustrative): "There was a tragic death after one weekend, and a lawsuit that led to changes in screening. As you read about it, what came up for you?"
Watch for: rumination, fear, or identification; avoid speculation about causes. Working: the client can use the information to make choices.

4.21 Managing your own boundaries

Purpose: the client may ask you to approve, attend, staff or refer him, or you may be an MKP member. [synthesis]
Steps: (1) Decline roles as sponsor, staff member or group brother to a current client. (2) If you are a member, disclose relevant affiliation and consider whether to refer. (3) Offer information, not endorsement. (4) Seek supervision when your own experience of the training (good or bad) colours your advice.
Example language (illustrative): "I can help you think it through, but I'm not the right person to tell you to go or not to go, and I won't be there."
Watch for: your enthusiasm or scepticism steering the client. Working: the client's decision is his own.

4.22 Gender-diverse and gay, bisexual or queer clients

Purpose: MKP publishes a policy for transgender men and has run GBTQ Gateway weekends since 2001. [source: MKP USA FAQ; MKP International timeline]
Steps: (1) Explore what a men's initiation means for his identity. (2) Review the published policy with him. (3) Plan for nudity, searches and body-focused processes in the light of dysphoria or past discrimination. (4) Discuss whether a specific weekend type fits better.
Example language (illustrative): "How do you imagine being in a room of 40 men will feel, given what you've told me about locker rooms growing up?"
Watch for: minority stress, outing risk, exclusion. Working: he chooses a setting where he expects respect.

5. Handling problems

MKP's sources do not address most of these clinical situations; guidance is [synthesis] unless tagged.

Client insists on attending despite a clear contraindication (recent mania, active suicidal thoughts, weeks into sobriety). State your concern and its basis once, clearly, and record it; note that MKP's own criteria exclude these states [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]; encourage full disclosure on the questionnaire; strengthen the safety plan and book follow-up. Older reviews of large-group trainings are reported to have advised that people with psychotic or borderline conditions not take part [uncertain: secondary, unverified; Finkelstein, Wenegrat and Yalom 1982 via Wikipedia]. Respect his right to decide; do not withdraw care because he goes.
Rupture after you voiced caution. Name it: "I think my worries came across as disapproval." Restate that the decision is his and that you will help either way. Repair before the weekend if possible.
Client returns in crisis (no sleep, racing thoughts, paranoia, suicidal thoughts). Assess risk immediately; arrange same-day psychiatric or emergency assessment where needed; involve his prescriber; give crisis numbers (US 988; UK and Ireland Samaritans 116 123); with consent, involve a support person. The est case reports describe acute psychotic symptoms after a weekend training [source: AJP case report, Part I], and a prospective Lifespring study is reported to have found stress reactions in a small minority of participants [uncertain: secondary, unverified; Lieberman 1987 via Wikipedia].
Client left early and feels he failed. Normalise: MKP itself says many men want to leave at some point and that leaving is permitted [source: MKP USA FAQ]. Explore what his body was telling him; frame leaving as using the plan, not as weakness.
Client was not allowed to leave, or felt intimidated into staying. Treat as a possible boundary violation: assess fear and trauma reactions, record his account, and support complaint or legal options (4.19). The Houston settlement required a leaving protocol, which suggests leaving had been a contested issue there [source: Houston Press 2008; Throckmorton 2008].
Client will not talk about the weekend ("it's confidential"). Respect that; ask about his experience, feelings, sleep and anything that harmed him, which no agreement prevents him discussing in therapy.
Client becomes evangelistic and wants you or his partner to approve, attend or enrol. Acknowledge the importance of the experience; decline roles; explore the pull to recruit; check for hypomania (4.13).
Client wants to repeat NWTA-style processes in therapy. Decline to re-enact or improvise them; offer the established therapy methods you are trained in for the same goal (for example emotion-focused or trauma-focused work), with consent.
Peer group gives clinical advice or pushes intense process work. Help him set limits in the group; clarify that peers are not clinicians [source: MKP USA "Referring Clients"]; bring the issue into therapy.
Surfaced memory leads to plans to confront family immediately. Slow down; stabilise; explore meaning before action; cross-refer Domain VI 110 on suggestion and memory.
Client in recovery referred by a sponsor. Check sobriety length and relapse risk; involve the sponsor only with consent; MKP advises men in recovery to talk with their sponsor and is not for very short sobriety [source: MKP USA FAQ].
Employer or colleague pressure to attend. Treat as a workplace issue; support him to decline; a 2010 California lawsuit alleged workplace pressure linked to MKP retreats (allegation) [source: Houston Press 2010].
Religious conflict (a faith community objects to ritual or Native American elements). Use the CFI spirituality module; with his consent, consider involving his faith leader; respect his resolution.
Money strain from further courses, travel or staffing. Budget openly; explore guilt; link to his stated priorities.
Partner ultimatum or escalating conflict over secrecy. Offer a joint session (4.18); screen for domestic abuse and prioritise safety.
Leaving the organisation or a group ending. Treat as a loss; help him keep friendships he values; work with any shame or anger.
Bereaved family of a man who died after a training. Offer postvention support at their pace; avoid speculation about cause; refer to suicide-bereavement services; do not name the deceased in records shared outside the clinical file.
Therapist's own MKP history colours advice. Disclose where relevant, use supervision, and refer if the dual role cannot be managed.

Sources

Web pages:

Further works cited:

Burke, C. K., Maton, K. I., Mankowski, E. S., and Anderson, C. (2010). Healing men and community: Predictors of outcome in a men's initiatory and support organization. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45(1–2), 186–200 (citation as given by MKP International). [uncertain: not verified]
Finkelstein, P., Wenegrat, B., and Yalom, I. (1982). Large group awareness training. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 515–539. [uncertain: secondary, unverified]
Lieberman, M. A. (1987). Effects of large group awareness training on participants' psychiatric status. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144(4), 460–464. [uncertain: secondary, unverified]
DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview [uncertain: not verified].
ICD-10-CM Z65.8, Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances (includes 'Religious or spiritual problem')

Cross-references: 246 mythopoetic men's work; Domain VI 110 (regression, suggestion and false memory); other large-group trainings in this family (225 est and Landmark; 226 Lifespring).

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