Edward M. Adams: What The World Needs Now Is More Kind Men

Inner Truth with David Newell

Edward M. Adams, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice for over thirty years. He founded the nonprofit organization Men Mentoring Men and has facilitated over one thousand men's meetings, workshops, and retreats. As president of the American Psychological Association's Division 51, Adams helped usher in the landmark "APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men" in 2018. He has written or cowritten articles for Fortune, Inc., and Wired and is the coauthor of three books.

His latest book, Reinventing Masculinity: The Liberating Power of Compassion and Connection, explores the conventional notion of what it means to be a man. What he calls "Confined Masculinity"--traps men in an emotional straitjacket; steers them toward selfishness, misogyny, and violence; and severely limits their possibilities. As an antidote, he proposes a new paradigm: Liberating Masculinity. It builds on traditional masculine roles like the protector and provider, expanding men's options to include caring, collaboration, emotional expressivity, an inclusive spirit, and environmental stewardship.