Toxic Masculinity Is Making Men Lonely, With Glenn Ross
A single father and psychotherapist on why men have to hit rock bottom before they'll ask for help
Glenn Ross is a single father who splits custody of his ten-year-old daughter, Lara, right down the middle, playing both parenting roles in a home he's built on his own. By day, he works as an integrative psychotherapist and brain coach, spending years helping people untangle the belief systems and thinking patterns sitting underneath their behaviour.
Glenn explains why so many men end up isolated by the very traits society rewards them for, structure, drive, and control, and why that same wiring leaves little room for the connection they actually need. He talks openly about raising Lara without a partner to share the load, and how her sense of safety with him has become the real measure of whether he's getting it right.
As he puts it, "Toxic masculinity is what's leading men to loneliness." Glenn's approach draws on neuroscience and emotional literacy, and on what he calls empathetic inquiry, looking past a person's behaviour to find the emotional cause sitting behind it. That same instinct, symptom first, then the emotion, then the belief underneath, runs through this entire conversation.
Quotes
"Toxic masculinity is what's leading men to loneliness."
This Episode Is About
Psychotherapist Glenn Ross joins Naroop for a long, wide-ranging conversation about why men end up disconnected from themselves and everyone around them.
It starts with masculine and feminine energy and the chemistry behind toxic masculinity, then moves through emotional literacy, asking for help properly, holding space, and what Glenn calls the cause sitting behind every effect.
Glenn also opens up about raising his daughter as a single father, and what it actually means to be a protector when you're doing both parenting roles alone. The conversation closes on belief systems, self-fulfilling prophecy, and how the stories we carry about ourselves quietly steer the choices we make.
Who This Episode Is For
- Men who feel lonely despite doing everything right
- Single fathers juggling both parenting roles alone
- Men who don't know how to ask for help
- Men trying to understand masculinity and emotional intelligence
- Anyone supporting a partner or friend through addiction or shutdown
What You'll Takeaway
- Toxic masculinity comes from too much dopamine and not enough oxytocin or serotonin
- Men tend to change out of desperation far more often than inspiration
- Asking for help works better when you say exactly what kind of support you need
- Behaviour is always an effect, the real work is finding the cause underneath it
