The Therapy Trap: Who Really Holds the Power? | Mark A. Michaels

Mark A. Michaels joins Grimerica Outlawed to challenge some of the assumptions sitting beneath modern therapy, including the rapidly expanding world of psychedelic-assisted treatment.A writer, conceptual artist, and self-described “uncontrolled experiment,” Mark argues that therapeutic systems can unintentionally centralize authority in clinicians, experts, and established frameworks while diminishing the agency of the person seeking help.Drawing on his own unconventional therapeutic experiments, Mark explores what happens when the client becomes the primary authority on their own experience. We get into the limits of therapeutic paradigms, the professionalization of healing, psychedelic culture, trauma, AI-assisted self-reflection, and why skepticism, humor, and irreverence may be valuable tools when confronting systems that demand too much reverence.We also ask whether people can question the assumptions of therapy without rejecting care altogether.Topics include:Therapy and authority • Psychedelic therapy • Client agency • Trauma • Expertise and institutional power • AI and self-reflection • Punk culture • Creativity • Healing without dogmaLearn more about Mark at MarkAMichaels.com.