Greg Hasek has more than 20 years of clinical experience helping men heal from addiction and trauma, with special focus on healing from abortion. He has discovered just how differently men process trauma and grief than women and has found ways to connect them to their emotions using techniques better suited for how their minds work.
“For years as therapists, we have been told we just need to talk to our clients and use talk therapy. But it’s so limited in connecting with males in their trauma,” explains Hasek. “Therapy has been modeled for so long on how women process their grief but men don’t grieve the same way as women.”
Right and left brain therapy
Through Hasek’s experience with men and trauma, he has found they often store their emotions connected through trauma in the right side of their brain. These are where memories that connect with music and video are also stored. So when Hasek was only using talk therapy, he was attempting to connect with the wrong side of the brain of these men – and it didn’t work.
“About 15 years ago, I started using PowerPower slides to add music and video to counseling sessions with men and found that men were connecting to this more than they were in just talk therapy,” said Hasek.
Now, Hasek looks for the right opportunities to use audio and visual components to help men walk through healing from an abortion experience. One of the videos he uses is a rap music video about a man who has lost a child from an abortion decision. The video has more than eight million views yet culture continues to tell us that men don’t hurt from abortion. The rap video demonstrates the grief the artist is going through by showing the decision of lost fatherhood as it plays out with empty swings and hand-drawn Father’s Day cards he will never receive.
At Support After Abortion, we are developing new curriculms to help men heal from abortion with input from experts like Greg Hasek. We are aiming to get at both the heart and mind of a man who has experienced abortion. We currently have extensive content to help men who are wanting to explore healing from past abortion wounds at our website.
Caution on sharing resources
While men absolutely do need healing resources when it comes to addressing hurt caused by an aboriton experience, even people who have good intentions can unintentionally cause more trauma if they choose to share compelling videos about an abortion experience like the rap video we share in our interview with Greg Hasek.
Videos like this are used in counseling sessions with Hasek, who uses years of experience and proven methods to help men heal from their abortion experience. No matter how well-intentioned people are who want to help men heal, these videos should not be haphazardly sent to anyone. Hasek is careful and methodical in how he handles the emotions men have been handling.
“By showing videos like this to men without proper therapy and healing resources in place, it can put that person into more trauma,” Hasek explains.
For those who work in healing ministires and for those men who don’t know where to turn for help after an abortion experience, Support After Abortion is hosting experts like Greg Hasek at the Unraveling Roots of Men’s Trauma conference and his presentation is available to watch online. We’ll be exploring this issue, as well as others that are overlooked when it comes to men healing from abortion trauma. They need to connect to their emotions in order to start healing and connection to feelings isn’t always easy for men.
If you or someone you know has been impacted by abortion, you are not alone. Call or text our confidential hopeline at 844-289-HOPE (4673). Women, this is your call: if your partner, male loved one or friend has had an abortion, visit us at www.supportafterabortion.com to learn how to create a safe space, and create dialogue so more men can receive hope and healing after abortion.