E391. The Dark Side of America's Therapy Obsession | Jonathan Alpert - Walk-Ins Welcome

Bridget sits down with Jonathan Alpert, therapist and author of Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It’s Left Us More Anxious and Divided, to dig into something most mental health professionals won’t say out loud - that the therapy industry may be making people worse, not better. They cover how therapists are trained to validate rather than challenge, why the explosion of diagnoses tracks more with social media trends than actual illness, and how therapy culture has quietly become one of the most divisive forces in American life. They also discuss political bias in the consulting room, therapists coming between parents and their kids, how to tell the difference between good therapy and bad therapy, and how Jonathan was nearly de-licensed for an op-ed he wrote in the New York Times in 2012 arguing that if therapy isn’t working, you should probably leave. He still believes it — more than ever.Buy Therapy Nation here: https://bit.ly/WiW-TherapyNation#MentalHealth #TherapyCulture #walkinswelcome Topics covered: therapy culture criticism, mental health over-diagnosis, bad therapy warning signs, political bias in therapy, wellness influencers and self-diagnosis, COVID isolation and youth mental health, gender dysphoria and therapist overreach, grievance culture, good vs bad therapy🎙️ New episodes every week. Subscribe for more deep-dive interviews.---------------------------------------------------------------------Sponsor Links:- Discover how care in every detail transforms simple routines into moments of true comfort and ease. Head to https://cozyearth.com/ and use code WALK for up to 20% off- Quest offers 100+ lab tests to empower you to have more control over your health journey. Choose from a variety of test types that best suit your needs, use code WALKINS25 to get 25% off - https://www.questhealth.com- If you love Walk-Ins Welcome become a supporter at https://phetasy.com---------------------------------------------------------------------Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy - PodcastBridget Phetasy admires grit and authenticity. On Walk-Ins Welcome, she talks about the beautiful failures and frightening successes of her own life and the lives of her guests. She doesn’t conduct interviews—she has conversations. Conversations with real people about the real struggle and will remind you that we can laugh in pain and cry in joy but there’s no greater mistake than hiding from it all. By embracing it all, and celebrating it with the stories she’ll bring listeners, she believes that our lowest moments can be the building blocks for our eventual fulfillment.----------------------------------------------------------------------PHETASY IS a movement disguised as a company. We just want to make you laugh while the world burns. https://www.phetasy.com/Buy PHETASY MERCH here: https://www.bridgetphetasy.com/For more content, including the unedited version of Dumpster Fire, BTS content, writing, photos, livestreams and a kick-ass community, subscribe at https://phetasy.com/Twitter - https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bridgetphetasy/ Podcast - Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/walk-ins-welcome/id1437447846 https://open.spotify.com/show/7jbRU0qOjbxZJf9d49AHEhhttps://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/I3gqggwe23u6mnsdgqynu447wvaSupport the show