Therapy and The Economy
For many people who have never experienced therapy, they can have a very skewed idea of what it is about. I have been at functions where people have said to me, “Isn’t therapy a little self indulgent?” “What good does therapy really do?” I would often answer them by saying that therapy is not self indulgent and what it does is help people and even the economy to thrive.
In a recent study by Pro Bono Economics, it is said that for every £1.00 spent on therapy for the young, society can reap £6.20. The study in question looked at mental health improvement of 4,548 pupils from 251 primary schools across the UK who had received one-to-one support from children’s mental health charity Place2Be in 2016/17.
Now this is something I have written about many times, if we make children’s mental health a priority, we can really begin to reap the benefit later in life. As you know, if you read these posts regularly, I am very clear about the delineation of child and adult psychotherapy, this study, in my view validates that important difference. Yes, we need expert adult therapists, but just as much we need expert child and adolescent psychotherapists. It’s not just about an abstract future now, it is about economic well being.
