Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked On Therapy and Why It’s Left Us More Anxious and Divided

Psychotherapist Alpert (Be Fearless) turns the world of modern therapy on its head with this provocative challenge to what he sees as a flawed system stoking rising rates of anxiety and depression. Alpert catalogs some of the forces that have shaped today’s mental health crisis, including social media, political divisions, and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, but assigns most of the blame to a type of ineffectual therapy where clinicians validate patients’ self-diagnosed problems and allow them to engage in endless cycles of venting without helping them grow. This, he writes, fosters a fragile, dependent mindset that harms individual patients while shaping a society that’s generally more selfish, less resilient, and socially disconnected. Good therapy, however, still has the power to help those who need it—by equipping patients with concrete tools, challenging them to grow, and helping them develop the independence needed to ultimately leave therapy. While Alpert sometimes stretches his thesis too far in arguing for how therapy has amplified today’s crisis of polarization, he provides a refreshing and well-reasoned look at the ways the practice falls short of its goals in the paradoxical interest of making patients feel good. This will be of interest to those on both sides of the couch. (May)