I first heard about “Man Therapy” when I read an article in 2019 and reached out to Dr. Mahogany. It took me awhile before I met Joe Conrad, the man behind ManTherapy.org, and learned about the team that developed their successful program. Joe is a creative entrepreneur and a digital health pioneer who believes in the power of innovation, creativity and technology to solve any problem. I recently interviewed Joe about his work in support of men’s mental health, how the Man Therapy program was developed, and about his new book, Man Therapy: Therapy The Way a Man Does It.
I was interested in the “origin story” of this unique and innovative approach for helping men and their families. Here’s what Joe shared with me:
“At some point in my life, I went from acting like a boy to behaving like a man. For me, it happened at Colorado State University sometime during my senior year. I had a job writing for the Rocky Mountain Collegian, which is where I found my voice. I wrote a series of stories about US military veterans returning from Vietnam and their difficult transition back to civilian life. I covered issues around the growing environmental movement. I was creating something, putting it out into the world, and it felt great.
In 1990 I started Cactus, a purpose-driven ad agency focused on working with nonprofit organizations, foundations, and brands to help bring a powerful voice to their work. One day while leading a workshop for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, I was approached by the director of the Office of Suicide Prevention. He said, “Joe, do you know that there is an epidemic out there and that working-age men are killing themselves at an alarming rate?”
I had no idea that five out of seven suicides were men from all walks of life, demographics, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Against all odd and on a shoe-string budget, my team at Cactus created our agency’s best and most impactful campaign. We treated this challenge like we do every project and gave the campaign the same love and attention to creativity, production craft and a meaningful digital experience where therapy happens.
We explored a number of creative approaches, but one idea stood out and was the obvious choice –– Man Therapy, which was launched on July 9, 2012. The centerpiece of the campaign is a website, ManTherapy.org, hosted by a fictional therapist named Dr. Rich Mahogany. However, Dr. Rich is not your typical therapist. He tells it like it is and uses humor to convince guys that taking care of their mental health is the manliest thing a man could do.
Man Therapy was created by a team of suicidologists, mental health experts, marketing strategists, creatives, and technologists to destigmatize mental health through humor, straight-shooting, and practical tools. And we know it works because the results of a 4-year, $1.2 million CDC-funded study show that Man Therapy not only reduces depression, suicide risk, and bad mental health days — it also improves help-seeking behavior in working-age men.
While we’re proud of the impact we have had to date, we believe we’re just getting started. Today, Man Therapy is the world’s leading men’s mental health brand and we believe it can be a powerful force for good in the world. Much more than helping reduce suicide, we hope to help men flourish.”
Man Therapy is Relevant to My Personal and Professional Life
When I was five years old my father took an overdose of sleeping pills. He had become increasingly depressed because he couldn’t support his family doing the work he loved. Luckily, he didn’t die, but our lives were never again the same. I grew up wondering what happened to my father, when it would happen to me, and what I could do to help other men and their families to avoid the suffering our family experienced.
For more than fifty years I have been a leader in the emerging field of gender-specific medicine and men’s mental, emotional, and relational health. When I came across Man Therapy and Joe Conrad, I immediately knew this was a program that could help men like my father and millions of other men and their families to live fully healthy lives, to love deeply and well, and to make a personal difference in the world.
The publication of their new book Man Therapy: Therapy The Way a Man Does It is the next step in this important men’s health movement. Man Therapy gives men straightforward tools for dealing with real-life challenges, without the lectures, jargon, or awkward therapy speak. You can watch the book trailer here.
The book is powered by the engaging and popular Man Therapy® brand and includes contributions from today’s leading men’s mental health experts. This guide delivers concrete strategies for managing stress, depression, anger, and the everyday pressures men face.
Think of it as a mental health tune-up for your brain: part therapist, part drill sergeant, and part wise uncle who tells it like it is.
In this book, you’ll find powerful strategies to:
- Manage stress, anxiety, and burnout before they take over.
- Deal with depression, low motivation, and feeling stuck.
- Control anger and emotional reactions without blowing up relationships.
- Navigate loneliness, friendships, and romantic relationships.
- Build mental resilience when life knocks you down.
Grounded in evidence-based psychology, this guide includes the key basics of mental health, simple exercises, reflection prompts, and practical skills you can start using immediately. Whether you’re dealing with work pressure, family stress, relationship problems, or just trying to get your head on straight, these tools help you act, not just think about it.
You don’t have to pretend everything’s fine. And you don’t have to figure it out alone. This first-of-its-kind guide helps men take charge of their mental health with grit, clarity, and maybe even a few laughs along the way.
This is the book I wish my father had available when he was struggling with these issues. It is the book I am excited to give to my clients, family, and friends.
To find out more about Joe Conrad, the book, and the Man Therapy movement, you can visit him at https://mantherapy.org/.
If you would like to read more articles about men’s mental, emotional, and relational health, come visit me at https://menalive.com/.
The post Why Men’s Mental, Emotional, and Relational Health Is Needed Now More Than Ever appeared first on MenAlive.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by healthlydays.
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