I offer facilitation services for boys' and men's peer-led talking groups to help individuals navigate emotional challenges, build resilience, and foster meaningful connections. These groups create a safe space to process emotions, explore personal growth, and prevent mental health struggles from escalating.
What I Offer:
- Boys' Groups: Providing young men with a safe space to explore issues like self-image, school, and relationships.
- Men's Groups: Helping adult men build emotional resilience, explore vulnerability, and develop healthier connections.
- Facilitator Training: I train individuals and organisations to facilitate their own boys' and men’s groups.
Why Groups
Boys' groups provide a confidential, non-clinical space where young men can be heard, get real, and express themselves without judgment, learning from each other's mistakes and successes.
- It's a cheap and effective form of early mental health prevention (PMC)
- Unlike counselling can include multiple students
- Is more likely to engage with males
- Better mental health results in better academic performance (PMC)
- A study found that group interventions reduce depression and anxiety while improving emotional regulation and social connections (PMC).
- Another study showed that group therapy helps young men develop healthier coping skills and emotional resilience (PMC).
“1/10 young people have an emerging or more significant mental health disorder. There is evidence that many of these young people can be effectively supported by their peers to become more resilient and as a result not go on to develop more severe difficulties. Young people typically are much more likely to engage with their peers than an adult.
Dr Simon Munk, Children’s mental health service lead, London borough of Newham / Chair of More than Mentors peer mentoring board
Experience and Training
After training with MenSpeak, I co-facilitated an in-person men’s group for a year and launched YoungMenSpeak in 2020, an online group for men aged 18-35, which ran until 2024. I have been facilitating ad-hoc groups for MenSpeak throughout this time.
Case Studies:
- Boys' Group at a School: I helped a group of 12-14-year-old boys open up, connect with others, and learn from each other. Read more here.
- Young Men’s Group in East London: Facilitating a group of young men, I helped them explore healthier masculinity and emotional connections. Read more here.
Testimonials
Bertie was very useful and informative in helping the students set up their own peer-to-peer group. We are now very excited about putting into practice the advice and tools he gave us as we think they’ll be very effective in creating a safe space, enabling the students to open up, lower their stress levels, increase their emotional resilience and deepen their bonds with their classmates, while also reducing the pressure on the teachers, counselling and welfare services. I would recommend his services to other schools looking to create a space where students feel comfortable to discuss their issues and who are either struggling with providing enough support to students or not seeing as much engagement with welfare services as they’d like.
Bea Herbert, States of Mind CIC
“I wouldn’t have been able to talk about any of this stuff with the girls here”
Student, School21 in East London
Practical details
These can be facilitated in-person or online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. For in-person the only requirements are a private room. Minimum duration of a group is 30 minutes, ideally 1-1.5 hours. Maximum 10 students per facilitator per group – extra facilitators can be arranged if necessary.
Public Speaking
I’ve spoken at Being A Man (BAM) Festival, Heads Up, Speak Out Mental Health Open Mic at UCL, and various podcasts on mental health and the power of groups.
Contact me to learn how I can help facilitate groups or train others to do so, or for speaking opportunities. Let's work together to create safe, supportive spaces for boys and men.
If you are an individual wishing to train in men’s group facilitation I suggest you try the MenFacilitate workshop.