Therapy as panacea meme and Bad Therapy

[borne_before]

So, I just read Bad Therapy by Schrier, and I found it to not be controversial or even interesting. I think the book does a good job articulating a reaction to therapy entering the mind of the populous and communicating that therapy does not necessarily solve everyone's problems and may even be iatrogenic in youngsters going through typical developmental stressors.

Personally, I love it when something terrible happens, like an act of mass violence, and people say, "if this kid would have gotten therapy, then this could have been avoided." I'm sitting over here like "therapy works best when a kiddo has a specific condition, is able to monitor their thinking, their environment isn't horrible, their parents are capable, functional enough, and willing to implement changes, and the therapist is competent - so good luck trying to implement that." The planets really need to align.

Like for years, I thought I was a no good therapist, because my patients, especially when I worked one on one with them, kept coming back. Finally, I switched to a more parent driven model, targeting certain conditions, etc, and my outcomes have improved. Therapy is hard, I think with kids, it's really challenging.

I also liked the part about social and emotional learning in schools being described as a teacher LARPing as a bad therapist. It's so true.

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[cara susanna]

I've noticed this fetishizing of therapy in modern (current) romance novels. I read this book where the characters give each other a list of things they have to do to essentially push their boundaries and become better rounded people, and both of them include "get therapy." Of course, they do and it's magical. I was like, imagine being that therapist and the patient says "I'm here because it was on this list of things I have to do" (actually, as a VA therapist it isn't that hard to imagine )

 

[futureapppsy2]

I’ve also seen therapy increasingly being weaponized—e.g., telling someone who disagrees with you to “get help” because anyone who disagrees with you must have some psychopathology.

 

[Sanman]

Now admittedly, I have not read the book. I did take a quick read of the Amazon preview and I have a few thoughts:

1. The book is poorly named. The author takes aim at everything from self-help books to screenings to schools and calling it "therapy culture". However, it is not that. She is often confusing therapy with pop-culture and self-help. If therapy was that popular, we would all be rich. Listening to a self-styled guru is not therapy.

2. For someone who purports that labeling normal behavior is iatrogenic, she sure paints Gen-Z with an awfully large and negative brush. Quite the thing to do to a group of people that are not yet 30.

3. There are consequences to all behavior, be it the "suck it up" culture of previous generations or the overly understanding "gentle parenting" culture of newer generations. Pick your poison. They may not be able to do certain things well, but their rates of ETOH abuse and teen pregnancy are far lower than previous generations.

4. Many people want to follow a leader, when there is a vacuum of proper guidance, any will do. That is how January 6th happened.

 

[psych.meout]

Now admittedly, I have not read the book. I did take a quick read of the Amazon preview and I have a few thoughts:

1. The book is poorly named. The author takes aim at everything from self-help books to screenings to schools and calling it "therapy culture". However, it is not that. She is often confusing therapy with pop-culture and self-help. If therapy was that popular, we would all be rich. Listening to a self-styled guru is not therapy.

2. For someone who purports that labeling normal behavior is iatrogenic, she sure paints Gen-Z with an awfully large and negative brush. Quite the thing to do to a group of people that are not yet 30.

3. There are consequences to all behavior, be it the "suck it up" culture of previous generations or the overly understanding "gentle parenting" culture of newer generations. Pick your poison. They may not be able to do certain things well, but their rates of ETOH abuse and teen pregnancy are far lower than previous generations.

4. Many people want to follow a leader, when there is a vacuum of proper guidance, any will do. That is how January 6th happened.

Would it surprise you that she's the author of a terrible, pseudoscience-laden anti-trans book as well?

 

[BuckeyeLove]

She has been making ALL THE ROUNDS the last few weeks. Every big right leaning podcaster has just been chomping at the bit to get her on and (implicitly and explicitly) denigrate our profession.

 

[borne_before]

She has been making ALL THE ROUNDS the last few weeks. Every big right leaning podcaster has just been chomping at the bit to get her on and (implicitly and explicitly) denigrate our profession.

We deserve it lol

 

[psych.meout]

We deserve it lol

How so?

 

[R. Matey]

She has been making ALL THE ROUNDS the last few weeks. Every big right leaning podcaster has just been chomping at the bit to get her on and (implicitly and explicitly) denigrate our profession.

Stoking both parental fear and right-wing outrage is a great way to make money.

 

[WisNeuro]

Stoking both parental fear and right-wing outrage is a great way to make money.

Angertainment is HUGE business these days. Heck, if you're willing to pander to the fringes, you can make money pretty easily if you're reasonably good at business.

 

[ThatPsyGuy]

I’ve also seen therapy increasingly being weaponized—e.g., telling someone who disagrees with you to “get help” because anyone who disagrees with you must have some psychopathology.

The weaponization of therapy is something that drives me up the damn wall.

If I have to keep hearing "You need therapy," "Seek help," "You're mentally ill," etc, I'm just going to wear a shirt saying "I don't want to be in a room with any of y'all."

 

[BuckeyeLove]

"Men need to go to therapy." - every millennial girlfriend since approx 2010.

 

[WisNeuro]

"Men need to go to therapy." - every millennial girlfriend since approx 2010.

"You can't be a good therapist unless you are also in therapy." Every midlevel, ever.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I’ve also seen therapy increasingly being weaponized—e.g., telling someone who disagrees with you to “get help” because anyone who disagrees with you must have some psychopathology.

Agreed. Same goes for misusing "gaslighting" in this context.

You disagree with me? You need therapy, and also stop gaslighting me.

 

[Shiori]

I spend a lot of time reeducating about "boundaries" too. Jonah Hill brought a little awareness to that issue.

 

[borne_before]

I spend a lot of time reeducating about "boundaries" too. Jonah Hill brought a little awareness to that issue.

While the therapyspeak was lil cringe, the timing of the release stuck out to me. His sat on them until he had something big happen, like the birth of his first child...

 

[Shiori]

While the therapyspeak was lil cringe, the timing of the release stuck out to me. His sat on them until he had something big happen, like the birth of his first child...

I didn't follow the event closely. I think my last interaction with any of Hill's work was "Get Him to the Greek." I just have a lot of clients who confuse boundaries with controlling someone's behavior. "You're not allowed to do this because I have a boundary" isn't how boundaries work. I work with a lot of estranged adult children/parents and their misunderstanding of boundaries undermines a lot of our work.

 

[cara susanna]

I didn't follow the event closely. I think my last interaction with any of Hill's work was "Get Him to the Greek." I just have a lot of clients who confuse boundaries with controlling someone's behavior. "You're not allowed to do this because I have a boundary" isn't how boundaries work. I work with a lot of estranged adult children/parents and their misunderstanding of boundaries undermines a lot of our work.

And people thinking validating means agreeing