Must reads - Economics of therapy and Being Mankind

The economics of therapy: caring for clients, colleagues, commissioners and cash-flow in the creative arts therapies

Edited by Daniel Thomas and Vicky Abad Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017 ISBN 978 1 84905 628 1

This book answers a need within arts therapies literature by focusing on how it is possible to be both an arts therapist and business person at the same time. I found this book very interesting to read as there were striking similarities between my own experience of being a drama therapist and running my own business.

The book has 11 chapters written by different arts therapists looking at different aspects of arts therapies in relation to business. There a few themes which run through many of the chapters. Perhaps the most glaring is the experience of arts therapists whatever their modality – art, dance, drama, music – wherever they are in the world, having to first fight for creative therapies to be understood and recognised. The fight of coming up against blank stares as they try to make their way in the medical model world. In this way there is a clear need for more research to be conducted on the value both economically and clinically of this work. Interestingly, it is argued in many chapters that there are characteristic links between arts therapists and business leaders.

The book also touches on the ethics of being a therapist and asking for money – how do we do this and is it fair to do so? It gives practical advice on starting up a business, how to gain funding and at the end of most chapters there are useful practical exercises that can help to shift thinking around business ideas, thoughts and feelings. It touches on the fact that there is a lack of business education in arts therapists training and this is something that is very much needed. A sentiment I fully agree with.

The chapters are heavily weighted toward the experience of music therapists. While it would have been interesting to gain a wider view of the experience of different disciplines of arts therapies, it is clear to see the issues faced are very much the same for most arts therapists and the skills and advice given are transferable across modalities. The work includes experiences of arts therapists around the world and it is interesting to see how issues faced are similar in different countries. I would recommend this book to training arts therapists and practising arts therapists. However, the book’s usefulness is not limited to arts therapists as it would be useful reading for other practitioners wishing to build a business. The stand out chapters for me were those in which I got a real sense of the passion of the work, businesses and the authors. There is a sense of honesty and openness running through the book which is comforting and what would be expected as it is written by arts therapists. I have enjoyed reading it and have found some useful advice and plenty of food for thought for my own business.

REVIEWER: Christine Northey

Being ManKind

-www.beingmankind.org/stories

This fine-looking large format book of portraits and biographical sketches is a treasure chest of stories from positive male role models. Being MankKind is much more than a book though; a social entreprise aiming ‘to inspire young boys and men to grow into kind and confident humans, who break gender stereotypes and strive for equality’. As world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua says in his foreword, ‘It’s easy to follow the crowd rather than make your own decisions. Be open, be honest, and be an individual thinker. We have the blueprints of those before us to build our own futures.’ This is community-building, culture-changing talk, for the project is primed to start young people thinking about this early. The role models in this book will inspire boys but the conversation will be broader than that, because ‘being human is complex, diverse and should never be constrained by gender stereotypes. It’s the only way we can aim for an equal society’.

Projects such as this are rays of hope; real evidence that as the world gets more troubled, sparks of goodwill spring up to push back the gathering darkness. So I’m writing this more as a fan letter than as a review because I’m convinced that young men need positive role models. To that end Being ManKind has set up a website using some of the book’s stories, collected under the headings identity, loss, mental health, body image, adversity and growing pains. I hope they will add video clips to the current texts and expand the library as this valuable initiative grows, as I’m sure it will.

Meanwhile the site invites visitors to share their own thoughts and experiences and respond to themes raised. The idea is to connect with the Being ManKind writers so they hear how they have influenced readers, and to encourage others to join the conversation. For every book bought, another will be sent free to a school or youth organisation. The ultimate goal is for donated books to be read by young people throughout the UK and to spark conversations around the important themes raised. Being ManKind is a model for getting a social movement going, a movement men, not just young men, desperately need to take part in.

www.beingmankind.org/stories