What is the obsession with therapy/counselling?

You've presumably not struggled in a way where you personally felt therapy would help.

But why judge others who do feel that help would work?

People don't have the community support of previous generations, people are more isolated.

You don't have to go to therapy.

Other people's need for therapy is none of your business.

Does that help at all?

You sound like my mother :-)!

For me, I found therapy useful for having a trained, neutral set of ears to listen to me without judgment, but also to be able to label some things that had gone on in my life as abuse (whereas to me, it was just normal life because it was what I had grown up with), to help me identify my own toxic behaviours, and try to come up with healthier ways of coping, to feel less isolated, and supported (whereas in my family, isolation and a lack of support was a means of control and a way of reinforcing the status quo).

It definitely wasn't just about agreeing with everything I said, it was bloody challenging and hard work, and sometimes I literally had to be hauled into therapy by my wonderful other half. Scraping the scabs and scar tissue off psychological wounds can be as painful as physical ones, and leaving you feeling just as raw. But it made me a better person, and later along the way, a better parent, who was determined not to allow cycles of abusive and destructive behaviour to continue.

I didn't succeed with all, or even enough of that, but I definitely did better than I would have without that.

Why you’re getting irrationally angry with total strangers online about something you clearly don’t understand or have any experience of?

It might blow your mind that I fit therapy in around a demanding FT job, raising a child, having a social life p, dealing with elderly parents, and all the other normal time constraints on the average person.

Good, ethical counselling can be life changing, because it can bring changes to how a person deals with or responds to a situation.

Yes, important to avoid unqualified and unregistered therapists.

Have you struggled to the point where you've been too overwhelmed to face the day?

It's funny but I was only thinking about this the other day.

At times it seems as though almost everyone on MN has had counselling or therapy of some sort.

I guess it's better than years ago when doctors would try to dish out medication like Smarties.

I found it very helpful when going through a tricky divorce.

did I strictly need it? Probably not in the sense ai could have coped without it but it was bloody helpful.

I agree with you to some degree (and I am a trained psychotherapist)

Therapy can be very helpful for many people, but it is not for all and it can be long term. Many people are stuck in a cycle of feeling they need to see their therapist and a lot of money is being exploited from vulnerable people.

I think at times when people have recently been to therapy and it has been helpful they can be almost evangelical about therapy and how it can solve everyone's issues (and this is work a therapist should be exploring with their clients as this is often tied in with putting their therapist on a pedestal)

Agreed OP. It’s sold as some kind of cure for any kind of trauma. It’s not. It may be helpful for some people to talk deeply about certain things from their past to help them process it, but IME it’s better to be proactive and practical- make positive changes in your life that are going to improve it, rather than dwelling on everything that’s wrong with it

You're very lucky that you've never needed it.

That’s fair enough that you’re being honest, but as a therapist myself, I have seen lots of very ordinary folk find it very, very helpful. It sounds like your mental health is good / stable atm, and I’m happy for you, but please don’t judge others for accessing support. It’s not really your business.

Well done for never struggling enough in life that you’ve had seek professional help. I have, guess I need to get a bloody grip.

I used to feel like this until something happened in my life and I needed to offload to a professional who knew the right questions to ask.

My circumstances remained the same but i dealt with the situation without feeling overwhelmed.

Mental health is a monetised industry. There’s a multimillion pound industry aimed at pathologising normal human behaviour and emotions and encouraging people to think they need to pay for therapy, courses, books etc in order to solve things they’re unhappy about. It results in a lot of people thinking that often fairly ordinary stuff going on in their lives are things they need to “work through” in order to achieve an idealistic portrayal of happiness and therapy is what they need to get there.

I’d start with your lack of time and need to be busy. Are you trying to stay away from the quiet and your inner life?

*original post was tongue in cheek

I'm a therapy convert! Transformed my life. And it was as easy as picking up milk from the supermarket in some ways because I could afford to pay for it. Did about 6 months.

That said, previous marriage counselling was useless.

Therapy helps a lot of people with severe issues. If you don’t feel you need it, no one is forcing you.

What a really mean thread.

Sadly a lot of people have really difficult lives and have been through lots of trauma and do have “something to talk about”.

You're fortunate in that you don't have any problems that you can't fix yourself. That's brilliant. But don't assume everyone else is in the same position.

(As an aside, Piano Marvel is excellent.)