What is the obsession with therapy/counselling?

I think it’s the people who resist therapy or denigrate it who aren’t that robust tbh - they’re scared of what they’ll find out about themselves!

Therapy has been hugely important to me. Both traditional talking therapy and CBT.

Because without it - and my cats I had back then who were probably the only ones who could put up with me - I wouldn't be here today. Simple.

Don't blame me for having mental health problems and struggling to even do simple things like make a cuppa or put a cardi on sometimes- I didn't ask for these problems and I tried. For context I was also dragging myself to work each day and most ppl didn't know how much I was struggling. On the surface I was ok. Therapist knew otherwise and helped me stay safe.

What a mean thread

Also though - some people have therapy because they want to tackle a problem head on and make progress or change.

Going to therapy doesn't mean people 'aren't that robust' - that suggests those who don't seek therapy are more robust - this is not true.

Many people who would clearly benefit from therapy resist going, preventing themselves progressing.

I think this explains your original post. If you had deep seated or serious problems then you'd have plenty to talk about. Think childhood trauma, abuse, coming to terms with physical or mental disability, divorce, parental or sibling estrangement, emotional dysregulation, being in or leaving an abusive relationship... The list goes on.
Honestly OP you're very lucky if you've never suffered any of these things, or if you're so resilient that you've come through unscathed. But some of us just aren't that robust. Especially those of us who didn't get the foundation that comes with a stable childhood.

Therapy is known to help people develop resilience.

I think maybe you've misunderstood what resilience is.

I don't mean time to relax and watch telly or play tennis etc.
I mean time to talk about your issues.
But it doesn't appear that you have the need for this. What you do have a need for is to see that there are times in life, for some people, that they need to do this. You need to see the world from another point of view

The fact that you think alcohol etc would help just highlights the fact that you've never been in a position to need therapy

Saved my life. I had trauma-based EMDR therapy and no the trauma wasn’t after a fight with a partner, or being pissed off with my boss, or just feeling a bit fed up.
We are all different and all deal with things in our own way.
If you have resilient mental health, good for you. I applaud you. I’m not saying ‘lucky you’ because being resilient takes work.
There are lots of different types of therapy and no, you can’t just say you are a therapist.
Yes, there are some awful ones out there.
Yes, there are people who go and use it as a listening service, never really making that much progress.
A good therapist will challenge you and work with you. They don’t want you to be their client for too long. They want you to build resilience so that when the sessions are done, they are no longer needed.
I agree there is too much ‘therapy’ speak around, it is irritating.
Posters often suggest it on here because very few of us are professionals and we run out of road in terms of our own advice.
I can remember being up in the middle of the night thinking well do I end my life or do I give myself a proper chance?
Only I could make that decision. I did, I got some help, it changed my life.
Never judge what someone else is going through or question how they stay well.

A lot of people don’t ‘need’ counselling. Until they do…

In my case, as well as helping me understand and deal with a truly awful situation I found myself in, therapy uncovered a fair bit of ‘issues’ associated with my upbringing which I had buried/ignored for decades. So it turned out to be life-changing. I just wish I had done it a lot sooner.

I've found it incredibly helpful. My son has also found it incredibly helpful.

If it helps some people, which it does, I'm really not seeing the issue.

Probably as a lot of people do t seem to have friends anymore to chat things through

Because it’s the only treatment option for a lot of things. People don’t want to be told to just sort their head out themselves (and that’s often not possible) so people suggest therapy instead.

There is often threads on MN which are a lot of drama over much of nothing.
Hence posters will ask, why make a thread about this? Do you really need to ask if yabu? I think too many peeps confuse real life with what they see on line.
The number of posters who admit they over think things and tie themselves up in nods is amazing.

For me it transformed my life. I was raised by emotionally negligent parents and put in horribly dangerous sustains that resulted in me being repeatedly raped by a family friend. My mum didn’t believe me as she wanted to keep him as a friend and it reflected badly on her. I loved my mum, it screwed my up beyond belief. I ended up in a violent relegation with a drug dealer with two babies by age 19. I was a disaster and a drug addict with zero qualifications. I was a terrible person.

Therapy helped me to learn boundaries and accountability. It taught me to heal my mother wound by self soothing and replacing her awful critical mean voice with my own words and feelings. It taught me that it’s ok not to be ok and it’s ok to ask for help. By the time I was 25 I was clean and stable. By 40 I’d worked my way up to a BA and an MA. I still have ptsd from the sexual abuse and I still need therapy top ups every few years. I’ve probably done 2000 hours all together but without it my kids would have been in care as I’d likely have been a heroine addicted prostitute.

Instead I’m happy and loved and I love wholly and completely and without reserve. I fundraiser and deliver free meals within my community. I’m a good person. Without therapy I wouldn’t be.

Because a lot of people live in their own heads these days and have a complete lack of self awareness. Completely failing to see the impact of their selfishness on their loved ones/families/co workers. They need constant validation. It's so draining.

We all have good times and bad times, resilience is self taught.

Well, disproportionate numbers of Mners are friendless or struggle with friendships, and are NC with family, or describe as ‘friends’ peiole they don’t like and who aren’t nice to them, so often don’t have the option of running it by someone they’re close to. It does often also mean they have little basis for comparison on things like abusive or unhappy relationships.

I actually think this is a really good discussion.

Therapy is a booming business and yet resilience is much lower than it's ever been so is there a correlation?

In my own professional and personal experience many therapists have very little self awareness, and younger ones (particularly those in their 30's interestingly) often seem to get muddled with therapy, drama and real life.

I have received integrative style therapy several times but am yet to find one that doesn't just want to agree with me, and tell me how 'lovely' I am. My issue with self esteem, it's rock bottom, and always has been so i don't need to be told I'm lovely, I don't feel lovely.

I know what you mean OP, the posters are really quick to suggest therapy, and apparently often multiple therapies should be tried - individual, couple, family... Do people in real life even have funds for therapy??
If not therapy, then LTB

It’s easy to be skeptical about it until something happens that has an affect on your mental health to the point where you realise you cannot cope and need help with it

Yes, because insulting peeps makes you such a better person doesn't it?🙄
I've been through childhood abuse and dv, not all of us want therapy or want to talk about it with a stranger. If it helps someone that's good but it is over done on MN, like some sort of have a spa day used to be the answer for every thing, or a glass of the shitty prosecco.

People are less resiliant now now, in the past possibly relied on family and friends as a support network. Life is more fragmented with work, kids, bills and a internet [phone addiction getting in the way.

Some communities are the reason therapy is needed.

Therapy provides a neutral & private place
Excuse me but some of us have work place eap which is a great safe healthy way to deal with work issues or relationships.
Years of therapy no, several vists.
Oh what about sexual abuse victims, roxic relationships still parenting together, divorce..so many instances.
Some of us beliece it is a healthy way instead of drinking or self abuse.
I work with many a damaged divorced man.. poor buggers tell me alot... i pushed one to go to eap..he rung and thanked me to get out of his rut..his insecurities his issues to be a decent Dad.
Go play the piano lol.

Yes we all work function and have social life..hobbies but we dont all share or hide our issues.
Fark never ends on here.

People usually like to help and offer advice when someone has a problem.
But via social media there is a lot of diagnosis, prescribing and suggestion to all manner of things for people they have never met on the basis often of only one ‘side ‘presented. But it can go too far.
I often see adults and children diagnosed by people they haven’t met on the basis of a paragraph or two. Which clearly isn’t okay.
I suspect whether counselling works depends on the ability of the counsellor.