Meet Cody B – a 43-year-old professional ESPN sports cameraman.
Cody has an inspiring career, two lovely daughters, and some solid guy friends. So why would he need a men’s group?
Well, Cody has been navigating the end of a rocky marriage. Being a newly single dad, dealing with the end of the relationship, and having his career get completely sidelined by COVID, has created a stretch of new challenges. Realizing that he had a lot on his mind and few people to talk with about it, he longed for companionship and a healthy masculine perspective.
Cody began to search for men’s groups online. He came across MensGroup and figured he’d give it a try. He likes how it seemed less intense than the other groups out there online.
When Cody was signing up he felt concerned. He was afraid that his group might be full of guys that are macho who wouldn’t validate his experiences and feelings. He didn’t want to be a part of any woman-hating like he found in other men’s groups. He also did NOT want to be told what to do.
When Cody attended his first group he was pleasantly surprised by a few things:
- The diversity: there were guys from all different ages, races, and sexual preferences. Guys were scattered around North America and on different continents.
- How accepting everyone was: every member was supportive of the other’s experiences and situations. Noone expressed judgment or ridiculed anyone else.
- The guys were sharing perspective, not advice: he didn’t want to be told what to do. What he found was guys just sharing their own experiences and hard-earned wisdom, but they let Cody connect his own dots and figure out how he wants to move forward.
- The vulnerability: guys were sharing sensitive situations and feelings right off the bat.
- How smoothly the meetings were run: Cody feels that the format and Sean as the moderator really make it easy to get started, participate, and get value.
Cody says MensGroup helped him:
- Gain different perspectives on his situations from a wide-range of guys
- Navigate the end of his rocky marriage with regular conflict in a healthy way
- Become a more present father and friend
- Get stuff off his chest (vent) so he doesn’t take it out on the people around him
- Connect with his guy friends more, realizing that he’s not going to get judged or ridiculed for being vulnerable
- Realize that he doesn’t have to be the happy guy all the time. He’s allowing his full range of emotions to be there.
- Feel more normal, knowing that other guys are going through the same thing. He realized that everyone is going through stuff.
- Stay away from common vices that most guys cling to (porn, junk food, booze, drugs, etc)
- And he’s made some new friends through the group that have been supportive
We couldn’t be more proud of Cody. His openness to feedback and his dedication to his daughters and his own personal growth has been an everyone in his group and our MensGroup team!
So, do you want to see this kind of growth in your own life? Get through a breakup faster? Overcome unhealthy habits or addictions? Get better at managing your feelings? Make guy friends?
If you do — Click here to try out a men’s group to see if it’s the right fit for you!
