Stephen Wester, PhD

Stephen R. Wester earned his BA in psychology from the University of Toledo in Toledo Ohio, his MA in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in Cincinnati Ohio, and his PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Florida in Gainesville Florida. Wester completed his professional internship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s student counseling center and is as a licensed psychologist in the State of Wisconsin.

Wester teaches at both the MS and PhD levels in the areas of counseling theories, psychometric assessment, theories of personality, abnormal psychology, and the psychology of men.

His area of research involves the psychology of men and masculinity, specifically the degree to which society socializes men into gender roles that, while appropriate in one setting, may be inappropriate in another setting. Most recently this has involved exploring how men of color, as well as men in specific vocational contexts, navigate their gender roles, as well as the degree to which specific variables may either mediate or moderate any predictive relationship between male gender role subscription and outcomes such as psychological distress or help seeking behaviors for all men.

Wester also researches gender differences in emotionality, the degree to which counselors reinforce stereotyped gender behaviors, and the ethical and professional issues involved in the training of counseling psychologists.

In 2006, Stephen R. Wester was awarded the title Researcher of the Year by the American Psychological Association’s Division 51 (the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity) and he was recently named Fellow by that same division.

Current Research/Projects

Wester's research team is currently working on three lines of inquiry, in addition to several smaller projects. First, they are working to overcome men's socialized reluctance to seek counseling through the use of role induction techniques. They began, and are continuing with, the use of role induction in career counseling, and are in the process of designing role inductions to be used in psychotherapy. Second, the team is working to understand how male gender role socialization affects the choices made by specific groups of men to seek (or not seek) psychological help. Specifically, they are looking at the role played by stigma, and its impact on help-seeking behaviors of men in multiple contexts. Third, the exploration of multicultural masculinity continues. Smaller projects include a short form of the Gender Role Conflict Scale, as well as an overall psychometric exploration of the Gender Role Conflict Scale with populations of color.

Professional Service (Editorial Boards, Offices)

• Editorial Board Member - The Counseling Psychologist, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Psychology of Men and Masculinity.
• Licensed psychologist in the state of Wisconsin.

Honors

• The American Psychological Association's Division 51 (Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity) Researcher of the Year (2006).
• Fellow, American Psychological Association’s Division 51 (Men and Masculinity; 2008) and Division 17 (Counseling Psychology; 2009).

Selected Publications

Wester, S.R., & Vogel, D.L. (2012). The psychology of men: Historical developments, current research, and future directions. In N.A. Fouad, J. Carter, & L. Subich (Eds.), Handbook of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 1, pp. 371-396. Washington, DC.: American Psychological Association.

Wester, S.R., Vogel, D.L., O’Neil, J.M., & Danforth, L. (2012). Development and evaluation of the Gender Role Conflict Scale Short Form (GRCS-SF). Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 13, 199-210.

Vacha-Haase, T., Wester, S.R., & Christianson, H.F. (2010). Psychotherapy with older men. New York, N.Y.: Routledge

Groeschel, B.L., Wester, S.R., & Sedivy, S.K. (2010). Gender role conflict, alcohol, and help-seeking among college men. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 11, 123-139.

Wester, S.R., Arndt, D., Sedivy, S.K., & Arndt, L. (2010). Male police officers and stigma associated with counseling: The role of anticipated risk, anticipated benefit, and gender role conflict. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 11, 286-302.

Wester, S.R. (2008). Multicultural advances in the psychology of men: Implications for counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 294-324.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)