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Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions

Louis Bachaud Orcid Logo, Andrew Thomas Orcid Logo, Macken Murphy Orcid Logo

Psychotherapy Research, Pages: 1 - 15

Swansea University Author: Andrew Thomas Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/10503307.2025.2600546

Abstract

Objective: Men are more reluctant than women to engage with psychotherapy. Incels—an online community of involuntary celibates—have been identified as needing mental health intervention. Despite high rates of depression, suicidality, and social isolation, little is known about their therapy experien...

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Published in: Psychotherapy Research
ISSN: 1050-3307 1468-4381
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71073
first_indexed 2025-12-04T10:20:26Z
last_indexed 2026-01-23T06:51:47Z
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spelling 2026-01-22T13:53:32.8523247 v2 71073 2025-12-04 Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96 0000-0001-5251-7923 Andrew Thomas Andrew Thomas true false 2025-12-04 PSYS Objective: Men are more reluctant than women to engage with psychotherapy. Incels—an online community of involuntary celibates—have been identified as needing mental health intervention. Despite high rates of depression, suicidality, and social isolation, little is known about their therapy experiences or attitudes. Methods: We collected 100 psychotherapy discussion threads from incels.is, the largest incel forum. Inductive thematic analysis identified community attitudes toward psychotherapy. We also coded the experiences of 89 users who reported attending therapy, quantitatively assessing therapist gender, motivation, and satisfaction. Results: Among incels reporting therapy experiences, 70.8% reported negative outcomes and 7.9% reported satisfaction. None of those forced into therapy (25.8%) reported positive outcomes. Thematic analysis revealed barriers to engagement: (1) “blackpill” ideology attributing sexual/romantic deprivation to immutable factors; (2) conspiracy theories framing therapy as designed to sedate and control; (3) view of therapy as female-biased and hostile to men; (4) practical concerns including cost, privacy, and hospitalization. Conclusions: Incels present intervention challenges due to their fatalistic worldview, institutional distrust, and extreme misogyny. Findings suggest potential benefits of male therapists and clear therapeutic goals that acknowledge but do not promise to resolve romantic concerns. Journal Article Psychotherapy Research 0 1 15 Informa UK Limited 1050-3307 1468-4381 involuntary celibates, psychotherapy, masculinity, mental health, therapy resistance, online communities 19 12 2025 2025-12-19 10.1080/10503307.2025.2600546 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2026-01-22T13:53:32.8523247 2025-12-04T10:16:58.2876016 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Louis Bachaud 0000-0002-1542-7336 1 Andrew Thomas 0000-0001-5251-7923 2 Macken Murphy 0009-0003-7501-4693 3 71073__35878__214cc8b540ea4f5ea6fd0d17aabce3d7.pdf 71073.VOR.pdf 2025-12-19T15:43:18.9971631 Output 890967 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
spellingShingle Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
Andrew Thomas
title_short Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
title_full Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
title_fullStr Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
title_full_unstemmed Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
title_sort Incels and psychotherapy: Experiences, attitudes, and resistance to mental-health interventions
author_id_str_mv a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96
author_id_fullname_str_mv a43308ae6d7f5b8d5ab0daff5b832a96_***_Andrew Thomas
author Andrew Thomas
author2 Louis Bachaud
Andrew Thomas
Macken Murphy
format Journal article
container_title Psychotherapy Research
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1050-3307
1468-4381
doi_str_mv 10.1080/10503307.2025.2600546
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Objective: Men are more reluctant than women to engage with psychotherapy. Incels—an online community of involuntary celibates—have been identified as needing mental health intervention. Despite high rates of depression, suicidality, and social isolation, little is known about their therapy experiences or attitudes. Methods: We collected 100 psychotherapy discussion threads from incels.is, the largest incel forum. Inductive thematic analysis identified community attitudes toward psychotherapy. We also coded the experiences of 89 users who reported attending therapy, quantitatively assessing therapist gender, motivation, and satisfaction. Results: Among incels reporting therapy experiences, 70.8% reported negative outcomes and 7.9% reported satisfaction. None of those forced into therapy (25.8%) reported positive outcomes. Thematic analysis revealed barriers to engagement: (1) “blackpill” ideology attributing sexual/romantic deprivation to immutable factors; (2) conspiracy theories framing therapy as designed to sedate and control; (3) view of therapy as female-biased and hostile to men; (4) practical concerns including cost, privacy, and hospitalization. Conclusions: Incels present intervention challenges due to their fatalistic worldview, institutional distrust, and extreme misogyny. Findings suggest potential benefits of male therapists and clear therapeutic goals that acknowledge but do not promise to resolve romantic concerns.
published_date 2025-12-19T05:33:08Z
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score 11.09611

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