To think therapy-speak has ruined how people talk to each other?

Therapist Notes (confidential):
Client: Macbeth M. Presents with acute prophecy-triggered ambition. Partner is highly enabling. Possibly co-narcissistic dynamic at play.
He intellectualises violent ideation while maintaining a surface-level moral conflict (“If it were done when ’tis done…” etc). We discussed his tendency to catastrophise and his reliance on external validation, particularly from three ambiguous female authority figures (possibly early maternal projection?)

The widespread use of the words triggered or triggering to describe something that mildly upsets people is a pain for people who actually work in Mental Health or related fields. We've been talking to people with very genuine mental health issues about the importance of understanding and avoiding their "triggers" for decades. Not as in "things that upset you" but "things that are likely to cause or exaccerbate the symptoms of your mental illness". For example, lack of sleep could trigger an episode in someone with Bipolar Disorder, or using cannabis could trigger a relapse of Psychotic symptoms, or the sound of a door slamming loudly could trigger a flashback in someone who has PTSD from Domestic Abuse. But now whenever you mention the word "triggers" people roll their eyes, because they think they're about to be patronised, they associate it with people being overly sensitive or getting upset about trivial things.

I'd say that's a very shallow understanding of both history and psychology.

Actually this is a good point, Ive read threads about (real) historical figures and how some people seem to put a diagnosis or modern spin on figures from old, its completely disconnected.

A thread recently had people talking about Henry VIII as if he had a variety of different diagnoses, he was this, he was that etc etc

No, he was King and one of the most powerful people in the world at the time so he literally was entitled to do what he wanted, there was no 'rights and wrongs' of it because what he said went.

Same here. Even therapists I know don't talk like that, let alone other people I know.

Try being an English teacher:
“No Jayden, I don’t think we should refer to Macbeth as a narcissist…”

No, my friends, acquaintances, colleagues and family don't use therapy speak. Even though MIL was a counsellor. Can't say as I've heard it from anyone else I meet either.

😀😁😂

Nobody has ever talked to me about holding space. You're talking to the wrong people.

That's entirely true. But my point still stands.

Also I wish they'd regulate, and do more to educate people about the different kinds of therapy, what a session of phycoanalytic psychotherapy looks like in comparison to a session of councilling, or CBT, or EMDR. What conditions each help with best; how long they take to effect change; how long the change lasts for; which would work best for a person looking for understanding of themselves versus a person wanting set of tools and techniques to draw on. Make it clear to the public what kind of training each of the different professions have; what experience they have once qualified; what personal therapy the therapist had; what ongoing supervision or support they have from their peers; the complaints procedure if you're unhappy with how they behave.

Resonate, my truth, the narrative: bleugh!!

Oh I hate it! I can fully understand people using therapy and counselling as a great tool, but my god it gets tedious listening to people self diagnose others and try and have to label every emotion and feeling. People diagnosing others as “classic narcissist” and the likes.
The word I find the most annoying is “triggering/triggered” (and I see the irony) but it infuriates me.

I’ve never heard of holding space.
Having said that, I hear loads of phrases now which I don’t really get.

Maybe you can 'reach out' to us (or just ask).

Sure. But the number of good therapists is a small fraction of the whole industry.

Therapy is a Wild West of high-charging, largely unregulated, snake oil sellers.

People use a therapist or anonymous online forum because they are more likely to get a truthful answer. Friends don’t want to upset you and make things awkward so are less likely to tell you things like strangers will.

It also works the other way too. It’s easier to tell a therapist or forum what’s going on because there’s no chance that they’ll tell people that you know and if they judge you, then it matters less as they don’t know who you are. It’s tough being flamed on a forum but you can name change or change forms and nobody will know it was you. Your friends’ opinions of you usually matter and not everyone is brave enough to risk tarnishing their reputation.

Before deconstructing your very authentic ask and formulating my own self-curated worldview to reflect back to you, I'd like to articulate that I think it's very engaged of you to have taken the affirmative stance of sharing with the wider group your lived experience of the non-directive vocabulary of the therapy paradigm, even if you've internalised some kind of counter-positive resonance from your real-world connection with it.

I can't make it much clearer than that.

I've read every reply and still have no idea what Holding Space means. It reminds me of Touching Cloth though 😂😂😂

What does it mean?

Is it like holding a reservation - keeping a space in which to do something?

YANBU OP, as evidenced by thread after thread after thread on here of terms used out of context, hyperbole, pathologisation of normal human behaviours and traits, people who make mistakes are crucified, the list is endless

Damn straight!
But a good chat with trusted friends isn't a replacement for a weekly session with a good therapist. Not even in the same ballpark

But it is true, there's a lot of shit therapists out there.....

That’s about the only context I wouldn’t mind it used in!

That's the first time I heard it! I am old and un-therapied.

The expression now just reminds me of that odd Ariana Grande interview for Wicked. Very cringe.