Hear Me Out: You Probably Don’t Need Therapy Forever

Slate Debates

Slate Podcasts

Society & Culture, News

4.6 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: talk it out. Talking about therapy isn’t taboo anymore — and that’s great, because everyone deserves help when they need it. The question is… do you really need it? Dr. Richard Friedman of Weill Cornell Medicine wrote a piece for The Atlantic last month, headlined ”Plenty of People Could Quit Therapy Right Now.” So why is that the case… and what are the consequences of getting therapy when you don’t need it? Dr. Friedman joins us to discuss. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: [email protected] Podcast production by Maura Currie. You can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus! Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Hear Me Out. I'm Celist Hedley. A piece out last month in the Atlantic asserted that a lot of people in therapy don't need to be in therapy.
0:11.0	There's been a movement among high-profile people, influencers,
0:14.4	celebrities, even politicians, to promote therapy in the same way you promote exercise,
0:19.9	something to do all the time even if your life looks and feels pretty good.
0:24.8	But our guest disagrees.
0:26.9	He says therapy is not designed for that.
0:29.5	It's the training wheels on your bike and at some point
0:32.4	they've got to come off.
0:33.8	Ideally the goal should be to end therapy because you've acquired this skill and knowledge
0:40.0	and when you stop it you bring it with you.
0:42.6	Dr. Richard Freeman of while Cornell Medicine joins Hear Me Out in just a moment,
0:47.1	stay with us. As always when we talk about mental health on this show, we want to offer a quick
0:58.8	warning. This episode will talk about mental illness, talk therapy, and being in crisis.
1:04.0	Listen or discretion is advised.
1:06.0	If you need help, the National Crisis Lifeline is reachable 24 hours a day,
1:10.0	seven days a week by calling or texting 988. You can get more information or chat
1:16.2	online by visiting 988 lifeline.org.
1:20.9	Welcome back to Hear Me Out. I'm Celeste Hedley. I've been in and out of therapy for the
1:26.4	majority of my life and I was in a conversation with somebody recently where they were
1:30.5	like well don't you think that's a problem?
1:32.8	Like maybe you need a different therapist and I was like, oh no, like this isn't,
1:37.2	I'm not in it to be done.
	...

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