Everyone can benefit from counselling, not just those typically thought of as mentally ill, the Hamilton Rotary Club was told this week.

Mr. David Gosling said men were particularly reluctant to seek help, but they needed counselling just as much as women.

"Men are expected to be strong, capable, self-sufficient, and in control,'' said Mr. Gosling. "They can express anger, but not pain.

"We believe that we should be able to handle our problems. This false belief prevents us from getting the help that we need.'' Mr. Gosling, who recently returned to Bermuda and began practice after completing a Masters degree in counselling at Indiana University, said he had started a therapy group which focused on men's issues.

"This is not a group for sick people, but for healthy people who want the freedom to experience their lives more fully,'' he said.

Bermudian men are more prone to "macho'' notions than those in America, and "I felt that in Bermuda there was a real need for a group of that sort,'' Mr.

Gosling said in an interview after his luncheon speech at the Princess Hotel.

But as is often the case, the six men who have joined the group are on the healthier end of the continuum between mental health and insanity, he said.

"Those who are acting out the male stereotype, they don't come near the group,'' he said.

The group did not bear much resemblance to the type of male groups spawned by the recent bestselling book "Iron John'', he said.

"It's along those lines, but Iron John tends to be a little bit more about developing some idea about what men should be like,'' he said. "This group is aimed more at helping these men be who they would like to be.'' While everyone can benefit from counselling, not everyone needs it, Mr.

Gosling emphasised.

But in general, people should view mental health in much the same way as physical health, he said.

"Being in a therapy group is similar to being in an aerobics class.

Unfortunately, we tend to view it as an admission of insanity.''