RESEARCH FINDS MANY PRACTITIONERS FEEL UNDERPREPARED TO NAVIGATE MEN’S DISTRESS Movember launches national rollout of Men in Mind tools to build trust, foster openness, and improve outcomes for men seeking support
With
Dr Zac Seidler,
Clinical Psychologist & Global Director,Men’s Health Research,
Movember &
Associate Professor, Orygen,
The University of Melbourne
AUSTRALIAN HEALTH JOURNAL SEGMENT
Filmed in Sydney | June 2025
Movember’s Men in Mind expands nationally to equip mental health professionals with the tools to better connect with men before they reach crisis point. Research conducted by the Men’s Health Research team at Movember has found men account for three in every four suicide deaths in Australia, and more than 50% had sought help in the year before they died.
These confronting figures expose a critical disconnect between men reaching out and the mental health system’s ability to engage them in ways that keep them connected to care. Movember is taking action to help close that gap.
Led by the Movember Institute of Men’s Health, Men in Mind is an evidence-based training program developed by Dr. Zac Seidler, a clinical psychologist and Global Director of Men’s Health Research at Movember, that equips clinicians with the tools, confidence, and practical strategies to better connect with men before they reach crisis point.
Despite their best efforts, many practitioners feel underprepared to navigate men’s distress in clinical settings. Men in Mind addresses this gap by providing practical tools to build trust, foster openness, and improve outcomes for men seeking support. The program is specifically designed for mental health professionals, including psychologists, counsellors, and other frontline mental health workers.
Through a mix of self-directed online learning, video demonstrations, and reflective practice, Men in Mind teaches mental health professionals how to adapt their language, build rapport, explore emotional communication and respond to distress and suicidality in ways that resonate with men. It also includes interactive scenarios based on real client experiences.
Australian Health Journal spoke to Dr. Zac Seidler, Global Director, Men’s Health Research, Movember about the world-first randomised controlled trial his team conducted demonstrating significant improvements in practitioners’ confidence and competence to engage and respond to help-seeking men. After completing the program, 82% of practitioners reported increased confidence working with men experiencing suicidality, up from 47% at baseline, with these gains maintained over time.
The national rollout of Men in Mind follows strong interest from mental health services across Australia, with the program already being adopted in both public and private practice settings. Men in Mind is part of Movember’s broader commitment to changing the face of men’s health by backing scalable, evidence-based programs that support early intervention and work to improve the lives of men, their families and communities.
Practitioners can learn more and enrol in the Men in Mind course at meninmind.movember.com.
Source: Adapted from Movember Men in Mind Media Release 9th June 2025
-
Bridging the orthodontic knowledge gap
In recent years, the orthodontic sector has been growing rapidly due to success in B2C marketing and companies like Invisalign reaching the consumer, but there has also been a lack of knowledge sharing among general dental practitioners and specialists.
General dentists require mentorship and guidance from orthodontists to feel confident in providing orthodontic treatment to their patients, ultimately improving the quality of care in the community.
-
Indigenous physio leadership
On the eve of NAIDOC week 2023, Australian Health Journal met with Scott Willis, the National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, a proud Palawa man and the first Indigenous President of the Australian health peak body.
-
Lower back pain presentations in Emergency Department
Around 70 percent of people will experience lower back pain at some stage of their lives.
A recent study conducted over five years found one in three people suffering from lower back pain presented to hospital via an ambulance.In many cases people will attend an emergency department when they feel they can’t manage their pain or when treatments by community healthcare services have been ineffective or inaccessible due to location or cost. However, 90 per cent of people can get better on their own in a few weeks.
