From Boys To Men:
Professional Certificate in Working with Male Development
A Threshold Practice Training with James Byrne
€575 | 4 Days | Live Online via Zoom
18–19 April 2026 & 2–3 May 2026
Recordings available for 2 months
Lifetime access option: €675
Payment plan: €125 deposit + 3 × €160
Overview
The Professional Certificate in Working with Male Development is a comprehensive, clinically grounded, relational training designed for therapists and professionals who support boys, adolescents, and young adult males.
This programme explores the complex transition from boyhood into early manhood — a threshold marked by identity upheaval, emotional inhibition, shame, collapse, anger, digital overload, and deep longing for connection.
Rooted in The Threshold Practice ethos, the programme weaves together clinical theory, cultural awareness, developmental psychology, and lived therapeutic experience. Participants will deepen their understanding of male emotionality, relational patterns, social pressures, and internal worlds — and learn how to work skilfully with boys and young men in contemporary practice.
The programme integrates the REPT model (Relational–Emotional–Processing–Transition), an approach developed by James Byrne to support clients at critical identity edges.
Why This Work Matters Now
Boys and young men are navigating unprecedented pressures:
emotional shutdown
social isolation
digital dependency
internalised shame
performance culture
fractured masculinity norms
lack of belonging
difficulty expressing vulnerability
Professionals frequently report feeling under-equipped, unsupported, or uncertain about how to reach male clients — especially those who present with silence, anger, resistance, or collapse.
This certificate responds to a growing clinical need: a deeper, more nuanced understanding of male development that honours complexity, relational safety, and the real lives of boys and young men.
Training Format
Live Online via Zoom
Two immersive weekends:
18–19 April 2026
2–3 May 2026
9:30 am–4:30 pm each day
Recordings available for 2 months
Optional lifetime access personal use only (€675)
Payment plan available
Who This Programme Is For
This certificate is for:
psychotherapists
counsellors
psychologists
youth workers
school wellbeing teams
social care practitioners
allied professionals working with male clients
Ideal for practitioners seeking both clinical depth and practical, immediately applicable tools.
Course Content
Weekend 1 — Understanding Male Development
Day 1 — The Emotional & Developmental Landscape
The developmental arc: boyhood → adolescence → early adulthood
Shame, anger, collapse, silence, and emotional overwhelm
Masking and emotional armour
Relational wounds & attachment patterns
The male nervous system
Identity, belonging, and the early shaping of masculinity
Introduction to the REPT model
Clinically grounded case vignettes
Day 2 — Masculinity, Culture & Complexity
Modern masculinity and the loss of initiation
Loneliness and the performance of “being fine”
Online worlds: porn, gaming, social identity
Neurodivergence & male coping styles
Gender, sexuality & GSRD considerations
Fathers, mothers, mentors
Cultural pressures and internal conflicts
Clinical formulation for male development
Weekend 2 — Applied Therapeutic Practice
Day 3 — Clinical Work With Boys & Young Men
Building connections with shut-down or reluctant boys
Joining without collusion
Developing emotional literacy
Working with anger, shutdown, and high-intensity states
Somatic & body-based approaches
Boundaries & parental involvement
Shame-informed relational practice
Day 4 — Integration, Casework & Therapeutic Identity
Integrating REPT into male development work
Working with loyalty binds, ruptures & transitions
Case explorations (anonymous submissions)
The therapist’s stance at the threshold
Consolidation, reflection, and closing
**Included Resources
(The Threshold Practice Toolkit)**
Participants receive the Male Development Toolkit, including:
Clinical Templates
Male development case formulation
Developmental arc tracker
Session structure guide
REPT-informed clinical mapping sheets
Worksheets & Tools
Anger mapping
Shame cycle visual
Behaviour → emotion mapping
Digital life reflection prompts
Engagement guides for resistant boys
Parental session prompts
Reflective Practice Materials
Threshold inquiry prompts
Masculinity narrative reflections
Therapist self-assessment sheets
Identity & countertransference reflections
Reading & Resource List
A curated collection of recommended books, articles, and media on:
masculinity
adolescent psychology
shame
somatic work
identity development
GSRD considerations
culture & digital life
These materials extend your learning long beyond the live training.
Investment
Full Payment
€575
Includes all 4 days + 2 months recording access.
Lifetime Access Upgrade
€675
Includes lifetime access to all materials and future updates.
Payment Plan
€125 non-refundable deposit
3 × €160 instalments
Your Trainer: James Byrne
James Byrne is a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, educator, and founder of The Threshold Practice.
He holds: adegree in Counselling and Psychotherapy and a Master’s degree in Adolescent Psychotherapy (University of Northampton).
James specialises in adolescent development, male emotionality, shame, GSRD identities, relational depth, and somatic-informed practice. His work blends clinical rigour, reflective practice, and a uniquely human, poetic understanding of the developmental thresholds young men navigate.
The Threshold Practice Approach
The Threshold Practice is built on the understanding that human beings live at the edges — in the moments where identity shifts, relationships change, and we step into a new way of being.
Male development is one of the most profound of these crossings.
This certificate gives you the knowledge, tools, and relational stance to work at that threshold with clarity, confidence, and depth.
Register Your Place
Spaces are limited to maintain an intimate, relational learning environment.