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

by Jonathan Alpert

Therapy Nation has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Health, Mental Health

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 19, 2026

Reviews

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many thanks to Harlequin Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
★ 2.17 stars ★

oh boy.

What this book meant to be:
An intelligent critique of the therapy field and its weaknesses

What this book ended up being:
A heavily biased self-righteous rant about how therapists are all enabling their entitled, woke, weak clients.

Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme. Before I go into the issues this book had I want to acknowledge that there were some fair points. The author made to astute observations about issues of over-validation, arm chair psychology, and therapists supporting an external locus of control... unfortunately, these genuine and mature observations made up only about 10% of the book.

The rest of it was self-righteous ranting about how the author looked down upon all his fellow therapists for their "woke" therapy and focus on "trauma" etc etc.

The author claims not to be politically biased and identifies as a moderate but a brief use of critical thinking shows that that is obviously untrue. Both the book and who he's following on Instagram (why hello, Trump and Trump Cabinet!) show that he has a very strong right-wing bias.

The book very much reads as... well, what it is. A white man who's struggling to accept that his privilege has left him with major blind spots and rather than taking a moment to learn and have compassion and empathy, as a therapist should, he criticizes and tears down what he sees as dangerous and unhealthy rather than opening himself up to a new perspective.

Ironically, this statement would likely be met with the author writing it off as overly divisive and me buying into the political polarization that's plaguing our nation.

I cannot recommend this book for anyone just beginning their journey with therapy and mental health. The author is far too black and white and believes that the ideas and thoughts portrayed in this book are infallible truth.

I think the biggest issue is that Alpert wrote this as a therapy book that dipped into politics when it would've done much better as a politics book that dipped into therapy.

If you're more deep into your journey and have a strong relationship with your clinician(s), this book may be worth a read if you want to expose yourself to an opposing view point.

As I mentioned in the beginning, the book isn't all bad. There are certainly some ideas worth exploring and the author, despite his right-wing bias, is never explicitly bigoted. He's just tone-deaf and naive, likely due to his privilege and lived experience.

All in all, this book was a mixed bag and I'd only recommend it for people who have very strong critical thinking skills and won't easily be swayed by someone who claims to know what's best.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhh, mixed bag. My short review is that the thesis is interesting enough, and it's clearly a topic the author feels quite close to, but the book takes too much of a "one of my patients told me this happened, please believe me" and "stupid SJWs and their woke agenda" tact to feel useful.

A shockingly small amount of this is actually about bad therapy practice with any data to back it up--it's mostly just old-man-on-Twitter gripes about the sensitive libtards and their participation trophies. Which is annoying because I do overwhelmingly agree with him!!! But my dude, you can't be releasing a book in 2026 that unironically uses "social justice warrior."

---

My long review:

I was drawn to this book because therapy buzzwords have melted into every corner of my social life. I know more of my friends' diagnoses (or self-diagnoses) than their last names, not to mention the mental illnesses of half the strangers I scroll past on social media. I can't look up reactions to a new episode of a show without commenters theorizing on characters' neurodivergence (did you know not jaywalking is a sign of autism or perhaps childhood trauma regarding car accidents?). My decision to stop therapy (for what I suspect was a dishonest diagnosis of the mentie-illness-du-jour, ADHD) was met with friends assuming I'd search for another therapist, because how could I NOT be in therapy? Therapy-speak is being widely misused, and I was interested to know how actual therapists are reacting to or entrenching this cultural fetish for "trauma" and "dysregulation" and "neurospiciness."

And I guess I kind of got that......? Problem is--and I know this is not the best way to approach a book--I just did not believe his anecdotes. They sounded fake as hell. (Oh, yeah, totally an epidemic of therapists telling white patients that they're evil privileged monsters. Lucky those patients hired you right after, huh, Alpert?) So what am I left with?

Well, mainly a lot of complaining and willful misinterpreting of outrageous events to fit his thesis. (I dunno, man, I don't think Elliot Rodger or the Tree of Life shooter have the same issues as people taking too many selfies...) Plus a lot of "Back in my day we all supported each other and were mentally so strong! Remember 9/11?"

Alpert INCOMPREHENSIBLY starts with politics. I agree that we've lost basic tolerance for people with different political beliefs, because even a statement like that causes people to leap to the worst interpretation possible--"What, you want me to respect someone who wants to KILL ALL IMMIGRANTS?" I regularly see friends interpret minor misunderstandings, minor deviations in beliefs, as signs of outrageous bigotry. I recently read Adult Braces by Lindy West, a wonderful liberal whiner whose work I love very much, and it's stuffed with her automatically deciding "white people in the American south" are evil, ignorant, racist Trump voters, seemingly before they say a word to her.

However, Alpert loses all credibility for me on the topic when he writes this absolute gem:

Politics now influences who we date, where we shop, what shows we watch, and even which restaurants we're willing to support.

Sorry for the liberal hysterics, but, uhhh... Someone not wanting to give their cash to an organisation whose goals or beliefs they don't support is going too far? This can only sound reasonable to someone who has never, ever had their life changed by a political decision, and never will, and is extremely ignorant to those who have experienced otherwise.

Guys, is it totally woke nonsense to not shop at Hobby Lobby because I disagree with how they treat their employees? Is it pathetic and emotionally frail of me to not buy fast fashion because of the abusive labour practices? Is it ignorant and stupid of me to not want to build a life with someone who fundamentally lives their life according to different rules than me?

Imagine having an entire chapter implying there was no difference between Trump and Harris in 2026 I MEAN HOLY SHIT. Credibility for the entire book destroyed by the 15% mark lmfao.

I want this topic discussed by someone else, I honestly think that's the crux of my experience. A lot of repetitive page-space is devoted to the idea that we now see therapy as a long-term (or forever) thing, rather than a short-term project geared towards solutions, which leads people to depend on their therapists and ingratiate themselves in a culture of therapy. They've got the lingo, they think they have new skills, they diagnose strangers, they coddle themselves, they blame everything on their diagnoses...and their therapists have the endless flow of cash and a culture treating them like the only answer to a thousand different problems. Agree, agree, agree. And then he has a whole section unironically and at length comparing a therapist's office to a legitimate cult and I'm like nope nope nope nope goodbye. You aren't serious.

[Kuu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC/ARC.

This guy has his own company practice or whatever, apparently. So that's something worth noting when reading this book. He doesn't outright state it, but he does mention his practice and that he's trying to achieve a change with his work, so definitely seems like he is advertising his own content. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, but for transparency's sake, it's good to know that he has more financial incentives than just selling this book. We love transparency!

Apparently the guy is convinced therapists are nice, instead of holding patients accountable, and this also applies to other mental health professionals? Idk but have you ever been in mental health treatment sir? I'm not very inclined to believe someone who says the young generation is "too coddled". And implying that disagreeing with what he says means I should examine why I am uncomfortable with it (aka: you're too coddled too and in denial and it is time to confront the truth) is also... not a good argumentation tactic. "If you disagree with me, that's because you're part of the problem and definitely not because I just say things that might be false" certainly isn't a way to convince people that you're open to good-faith debate and conversation. Maybe YOU just want to be coddled, ever thought about that?

Idk, I also don't think claiming kids are getting too coddled in school through fake accommodations when they're not actually disabled or in need of accommodations and just need to suck it up, basically, isn't very based in reality. How I know this? I am disabled. The author does not appear to be.

There's just so many wild claims in the first 6% of the book already I really don't think the author can come back from this. Neighbours are shooting each other over neighbourhood conflicts because... therapy???? Also people are getting divorced because therapists convince women to set boundaries and NEGLECT their CHILDREN and not do A SINGLE HOUSEHOLD TASK and REFUSE to speak to their HUSBANDS about this!!! And we obviously know this is how it happened because the husband posted on it online, and certainly the husband's story should not be examined more crtitically, because he certainly cannot have a hidden agenda, because we all know that women being manipulated into becoming neglectful parents and spouses by their therapists is a LOT more common than weaponisded incompetence, a severely unfair division of household labour, a refusal to pick up slack by the husband, and a spinning of the story to make himself seem better by the husband when he recounts this story to the internet. That never happens. Therapists telling women to just stop doing anything at all, however? Daily occurrence.

I really wish the author had used some more critical thinking here when looking for the various examples. I cannot take this anymore.

There would have been so much potential in this topic. He could have, for example, looked at the weaponisation of therapy speak by abusers, he could have looked at the way in which misused mental health terminology is used to further spread ableism, he could have looked at how "I have depression" is used as a shield against any and all accusations of ableism towards those with more stigmatised conditions, he could have looked at the severe inequality when it comes to access to mental health care, he could have looked at an upsurge in ableism ("restarted", anyone?) and how that aligns with an increase of people attending therapy for non-stigmatised issues (think: being in therapy is fine and normal as long as you're not actually crazy, if you're in therapy for like, psychosis though, get the HELL away from me and you should be locked up). He could have looked at the ongoing abuse in mental health treatment, he could have looked at the racism, sexism and ableism in mental health treatment, he could have looked at the pathologisation of normal reactions to the state of the world... He could have looked at so many things and he simply didn't. And I am sad. I was excited about this book, but alas. One star from me.

[Ben De Bono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well the BookTok crowd isn’t going to like this one. Alpert recommends not cutting people out of your life solely because they voted for Trump and for that crime he’ll be labeled full MAGA.

Putting that (relatively minor point in the book) aside, Alpert has written a nuanced and well argued book. He’s arguing for targeted, goal based therapy for those who need it over endless, unstructured therapy for everyone forever.

As I read I kept thinking of Herzog’s quote that he’d rather die than go to an analyst. That’s hyperbolic, but his point is that there’s such a thing as too much introspection. Herzog makes the argument that just like you don’t want every corner of your house brightly lit, the same holds for your life. Alpert gives a more nuanced, fact based take but the two are, I think, hitting on the same core truth: therapy is a powerful tool and like many powerful tools becomes destructive when over or incorrectly used.

I’m giving this five stars: four for the book itself and one to piss off the BookTok fuckers

[Cav · Rating 5 out of 5]

"More Americans are in therapy today than ever before. You’d think this would make us a nation of the mentally strong. The rise of therapy was supposed to be a good thing... But instead of producing a healthier, more resilient population, modern therapy has become something else entirely..."

Therapy Nation was a super interesting read. The book lays out a contrarian take: As a whole, access and funding aimed at treating mental health has drastically ballooned in recent decades. Unfortunately, this sharp increase has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in mental health outcomes. It has, in fact, resulted in a similar rise in mental health issues. What's going on here??

The book opens with a great high-energy intro that effectively sets the tone for the rest of the writing that follows. The thesis of the book is a bold one, and you can see with a cursory glance at some of the top reviews here - that it has rubbed many people the wrong way. I found the book to be exceptionally well presented and argued. The book is the second that I've read that explores this topic, after Sami Timimi's 2025 book: Searching for Normal: A New Approach to Understanding Mental Health, Distress and Neurodiversity, which I also enjoyed.

Author Jonathan Alpert is a prominent Manhattan psychotherapist, executive coach, and author. He is well known for his action-oriented approach to therapy and made waves back in 2012 with his controversial New York Times op-ed challenging traditional, endless psychoanalysis.

Jonathan Alpert:


Alpert writes with a sharp, engaging style that exposes how the industry has bred codependency and fragility rather than actual strength and resilience. He drops the quote above at the start, noting that in 2023, American depression diagnoses hit a record high of 29% (up nearly 10 points from 2015), while the US simultaneously fell out of the top twenty happiest nations for the first time ever.

He lays out his core critique of the industry's incentives:

"Popular misconceptions reinforce the belief that therapy is about resting on a couch and talking about one’s problems. So that’s what patients often do. And just as often, this leads to codependence. The therapist, of course, depends on the patient for money, and the patient depends on the therapist for emotional support. And, for many therapy patients, it is satisfying to have someone listen, and they leave sessions feeling better. But there’s a difference between feeling good and changing your life."

He also brings the receipts when it comes to the data, busting the myth that "more therapy is always better":

"Contrary to what many believe, the longer therapy lasts, the less likely it is to be effective... A study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology assessed mental health in 1,868 patients before and after a set number of therapy sessions. The percentage of clients who got better decreased as the number of therapy sessions increased. A stunning 88% were improved after one session of therapy, but that percentage dropped to 62% after twelve sessions... Three years of therapy was no better than twenty weeks."

The book provides a thorough roadmap of how we got into this mess and where the industry went off the rails:
• Is Therapy Making Us Sicker? – How endlessly ruminating on feelings breeds vulnerability instead of building resilience.
• Social Media and Cultural Decay – The rise of self-diagnosis, "Munchausen’s by Google," and clout-chasing via mental illness.
• When Politics Became Our Identity – How political polarization invaded the consulting room.
• How Therapy Turned Into a Social Justice Crusade – The shift from helping the individual take agency to blaming systemic forces for personal problems.
• The Cult of Trauma & Validation Culture – Turning every minor life setback into "trauma" and prioritizing "feeling validated" over making actual behavioral changes.
• A Nation of Emotional Lightweights – How weaponized psychological jargon has stripped people of basic grit.
• The Elements of Bad Therapy & Back to Sanity – Practical advice on what actual, goal-oriented, short-term therapy should look like.

********************

I really enjoyed Therapy Nation. Alpert delivers a refreshing, no-nonsense critique of a culture that has replaced resilience with perpetual victimhood and endless navel-gazing. If you're tired of the "woo-woo" validation culture and want a rational, data-backed look at why modern therapy is failing so many people, this one is well worth your time.
4.5 stars.

[Cameron Barham]

“We live in a therapy-obsessed culture where it’s no longer simply a treatment option, but an expected—even mandatory—part of self-care. The belief that therapy should be a permanent fixture in one’s life has fueled a cycle of dependency, trapping people in a loop that breeds fragility instead of building strength.”, p. 2

[Travis Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Therapy Nation
By Jonathan Alpert
Pub Date May 19 2026

This book is very thought provoking. Therapy is definitely an individual bases thing. It is works for some and not for others.
The only thing I struggled with is this book is pretty dry. That being said it is very informative and I think anyone can get something out of it if they so choose to read this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this book early in return for my honest review.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLDR; Some fantastic and legitimate points made about modern therapy culture that were undermined by some polarizing viewpoints that seemed rigid and dismissive.

Ohhhhh boy. I don’t think I’ve ever had more polarizing thoughts at once about a book… especially a non-fiction one in my field of work. For a quick background on where I’m coming to this book from, I am an LMHC, licensed for 13 years and have worked in leadership and administration for over 5 years. I have been gently accused by colleagues, at times, of being too harsh or rigid in some of my philosophies and practices such as my insistence on charging no show fees and my refusal to write letters for things like emotional support animals. What I’m trying to say, is that, if anyone, I would be the therapist that aligns more with much of what this author said.

So all that being said, there were so many parts of this book where I was screaming YESSSS in my mind because I wholeheartedly agree with some points about therapy in our culture and the ways in which it’s gone wrong.

But this is heavily contrasted by other areas where I so strongly disagree with the author and was so frustrated that I almost metaphorically threw my digital audiobook. As such, it was hard to rate, but I decided to average what would otherwise be my 5 and 1 star reviews and give it a 2.5, rounded to 3.

The author posits that our culture has created a climate in which we glamorize therapy as a more superficial part of daily wellness and, in effect, remove the actual benefit of therapy, leading, instead, to increased dysfunction and societal decay. He calls it the “cult of therapy” and says that a culture where therapy is supposed to be ongoing indefinitely creates fragility in clients rather than strength. This, I can agree with. I agree that the practice of therapy has turned into one of “endless venting, complaining, and blaming”. I also agree with the various examples he provided of “bad therapy”, as I have seen it myself on so many occasions.

One piece, in particular, is misdiagnosis and pathologizing of regular behaviors or responses. I can’t tell you the number of conversations I’ve had challenging another clinician in a diagnosis that was provided to a client, only to learn they casually gave the diagnosis because the client believes that’s what they have or because a previous practitioner had provided it, but, upon discussion of actual criteria and presentation, there is not enough evidence to provide the diagnosis. I believe in challenging clients and holding them accountable to their treatment and moving toward actionable change. I agree that we’ve moved to a place of “catering to customers” rather than “treating clients”. And don’t get me started on the colloquial misuse of clinical terms like narcissism and gaslighting.

However, here’s an area I strongly oppose. While I might understand where the author comes from with not feeling he should be a direct advocate for social justice causes, I think he takes his beliefs against these causes so far that it makes me question his credibility. He mentions the reasons our field had to implement cultural competence standards, but he failed to mention that the new standard is cultural ‘humility’, which I don’t think he fully demonstrates. He may not necessarily be a direct supporter of our political administration, but his talking points seemed to echo their political rhetoric which I find concerning from a clinical context. Which, fine, we can disagree on that. But when you’re treating actual human beings, you can’t so readily dismiss societal realities. Of course it’s true that not every single client will be impacted in the same way by social injustices, even if they are of that demographic. But many actually are, and this author’s treatment of what he termed “woke therapy”, felt overly dismissive. I can agree that in many cases, the therapist should not be the one to bring up the social issues if it’s not necessarily relevant, but the attitude presented in this book felt so extreme. He gave one example of challenging a bisexual client who suggested that bisexual people were going to be rounded up and put in concentration camps. While I agree with challenging catastrophic thinking, like this author did, I also felt he minimized the very real increase in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, legislation, and fear many clients are currently experiencing.

It also makes me wonder whether his typical client base may be one that is generally more high functioning and/or of a higher socioeconomic class. This is just a guess. But this would also help explain his rigid alignment with CBT as the only real therapy (plus of course DBT, EMDR). The other therapy types he described can definitely be problematic. (Questioning the practice of past life regression hypnosis I get..) But CBT is also far from the only evidence based therapy available. And I think the way it was presented in this book, it was a bit of black and white thinking (see what I did there?) to describe CBT as essentially the only legitimate therapy.

So, what can I say.. I think that, if nothing else, this book opens up a ton of discussion points, positive and negative. He makes a lot of great points that we, as clinicians and as clients, should take seriously, but I really wish he would demonstrate more self-awareness into how his inherent privilege may limit his perspective in some areas. He spoke a lot about good therapy vs bad therapy, and I think a mark of a good clinician is someone who readily questions their own beliefs and practices as well.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is equally good and bad. Transparently, I have personal experience with the topic of this book for myself and someone close to me. I was deep in the mental health world for many years after getting sober in 2012, and my life got exponentially better once I realized I had the tools I needed and didn’t have to rely on therapy and support groups as much.

Alpert went viral for an opinion piece he published about how many therapists are doing a bad job, not working toward an end goal, and co-signing a lot of nonsense from their patients. This is the experience I had with a family member. They were in therapy for about 1.5 years, and each session was just them venting while the therapist listened. Once they realized this and left the therapist, they actually started getting a lot better.

I’ve noticed a lot of the trends Alpert discusses in this book, from weaponized therapy speak to people not being challenged enough in therapy. When I was younger, nobody discussed mental health, and I was glad when it started becoming more mainstream. Unfortunately, it seems like we’ve overcorrected, and people are becoming far less resilient and don’t trust themselves to not rely so much on therapists.

Now, you’re probably wondering where this book is bad. The simple answer is that the author starts talking about polarization and how people improperly use boundaries. We’re no longer in a time where “both sides are bad” is a valid argument. The whole “enlightened centrist” thing makes me think the person is either dumb, ignorant, or completely disingenuous.

There’s currently one party arresting people for protesting and deporting people for what they write for a college paper. There’s one party that supports tearing immigrant families apart and showing up at courthouses where people are trying to gain citizens the legal way. There’s one party that is trying to deny the existence of trans people, while also taking away women’s bodily autonomy.

Worst of all, in the last year, we’ve seen one party supporting ICE, which is shooting innocent people in the streets without any sort of consequences.

When an author acts like we’re simply debating fiscal policy, it makes me think the author is a stupid person. Unfortunately, this author makes these dumb arguments really early in the book, making it hard to take them seriously for the rest of the book.

Do you want to know why I don’t hang out with drug addicts anymore? Because they’re usually doing very bad things, so we don’t align morally. It would be insane to tell me, “Well, you guys can still be friends. You just don’t agree on whether or not it’s OK to lie, cheat, and steal.”

Anyway, I’m starting to rant. If you can look back the author’s ridiculous centrist opinions, this book discusses some very real issues with the modern mental health landscape.

Oh, and one more note: this author uses the word “woke” way too much, making it seem like he’s pandering to a very specific group of people. After remembering that, I decided to change my rating from a 3 to a 2.

[Victoria Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this thinking it would be an examination of therapy, not therapists. Unfortunately, this book is a big middle finger to all the "bad" therapists who listen and validate, but don't challenge their patients to actually get better. Okay, I can deal with that.

I agree that therapy should be short-term and oriented toward fixing a problem (in the less-extreme cases). I also believe that discomfort does not equal trauma and that the thera-speak we use and the validation of "boundaries" and such by these bad therapists have left many of us stuck in victimhood, perpetually in therapy but not getting any better.

His insistence that Trump is just the same as Kamala, and therefore our thoughts on him and unwillingness to engage with his supporters are divisive and harmful? Um, no. Trump is not politics as usual and starting the book out with an incredibly long chapter on politics, and then segueing into another long chapter about Covid was a big miss. He scorns "Social Justice Warriors" throughout and pretends that therapists are not trying to help people, but are actively trying to get them to recognize their racism and privilege instead. I mean, what? Yes, DEI programs in offices probably do this sort of thing and this is popular on social media, but therapists are ignoring a person's individual issues and instead trying to convince them about their role of oppressors?? No.

Throughout, the author kept repeating his basic tenet that therapy should be short-term and results-focused, as he practices it, and enough already! I get it! Really, this book could have been a magazine article and probably should have been. The author was arrogant, repetitive, and not engaging in the slightest. I'd skip this one!

Thanks to Edelweiss for this ARC!

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Duuuuuuude. The author is recommending less therapy for some, but I think I’m recommending a little more for the author.

I might not have had such a strong reaction if he hadn’t gone for politics right out of the gate. He declares himself a proud moderate (aka The Reason We Can’t Have Nice Things) and then announces that Trump is exactly like every other President the U.S. has ever had, doing the same things in the same way. I don’t know anyone, liberal or conservative, who would agree with that sentiment, but he says it like it’s objective, non-controversial fact. Is he willfully obtuse, or has his stock portfolio simply done well enough for him to develop selective blindness?

Shortly thereafter, he says that “something” happened in 2016, and suddenly people became a lot more anxious and a lot less mentally healthy. Gosh, I wonder what that could have been?

While castigating people for too much screen time and not enough connecting with other humans face to face, the author explains what a good move it was for him to close his office and begin practicing exclusively through online sessions. Don’t do as I do, do as I say!

The undercurrent through every topic is one of “suck it up, buttercup,” and is that what one wants in a therapist?

I looked forward to this book for a long time prepub-- I should have looked up the author. He’s been making headlines with controversial statements for a long time, and also phrasing his credentials in a way that makes it sound like he has more education than he actually does. He’s been beating the “therapy shouldn’t be a long term thing” drum since at least 2012.

Abandoned at about the 40% mark, still counting it as read for my pain and suffering.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of valid points here. The endless therapy trap. The danger of validation vs healing. The political divisions that therapy is likely depending.

Disappointing that the author didn’t provide more data vs. anecdote, though. Too many points were made with the “Hypothesis — Anecdote — Broad Conclusion” method. Although data / studies were mentioned in some places the high reliance on “my patient told me” leaves the book open to criticism and potentially to error.

I also found the tone got increasingly judgmental as the book progressed. Near the end as the author describes people who likely (his opinion) don’t need therapy he’s particularly harsh on that group. It may be true that they don’t need therapy and maybe even that they’re harmed by it but nothing wrong with treating them with respect and providing benefit of the doubt.

Overall, this reads like a collection of essays designed for the editorial page vs as a coherent book with a storyline and with factual claims. Not surprising given the author’s breakout moment was an editorial and that his publisher and editor likely encouraged a more of the same approach. I would have enjoyed a more cohesive and factual approach to the points that he raises though.

[Stef Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

“We can build that kind of culture again, one that faces uncomfortable realities, teaches our children to embrace struggle, and reminds us that pain is not a life sentence but a catalyst for change. This is about more than therapy. It is about the country we want to be.”

As someone who believes therapy can be incredibly valuable, I appreciated that this book wasn’t arguing against mental health support—it was questioning how therapy culture has evolved, especially on social media. The discussions around division, avoidance, self-diagnosis, overused therapy-speak, and the difference between healing and validated were especially interesting.

I didn’t agree with every point, but I don’t think I was supposed to. The best nonfiction challenges us to think critically, and this book did just that.

If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at someone casually diagnosing their ex as a “narcissist” after watching three TikTok videos, this might be worth reading. 😅📚

Thank you to Harper Collins & “The Hive” for my Advanced Reader Copy!

[Will Abrams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Hanover Square Press for this review copy.

There are some good criticisms concerning therapy culture, particularly in America. If we are the most therapy-positive culture ever, why are we taking steps backward in mental health? Alpert spends a lot of the book talking about social issues like politics, victimhood culture, COVID, and the rise of social media, all of which play into what's happening in this "industry." I felt like I had heard a lot of this stuff in books by Jonathan Haidt and Abigail Shrier and enjoyed those books more than this one. Still, it's an interesting read/listen for someone coming into the topic fresh. The author claims to be a political moderate, but his perspective seemed to lean right at most opportunities.

[Mama K · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book. It says what has needed to be said for decades. We need to stop pathologizing all the irritants life hands every single one of us. Doing so minimizes and victimized those who actually do suffer lifelong mental illness, instead of just having their feelings hurt, being stressed by busyness, or upset by having to hear something they disagree with.
The controversy I expected, though has already begun. Many reviewers are already decaying every aspect of the book. My guess is because they are guilty of the very criticisms raised.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Savannah Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In our relentless pursuit of mental wellness, self-validation, and "living our truths," we've abandoned the very qualities that sustain a healthy society: perseverance, resilience, and the capacity to engage opposing views without collapsing.
These core values have been eclipsed by a cultural obsession with personal comfort at the expense of collective well-being”

6 stars! 🌟

This book is an absolute stroke of genius and gives so many insightful thoughts about the state of our society’s current mental health.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alpert did a good job of making an argument for ongoing therapy with no resolution or forward progress. He did supply anecdotes and examples of how ongoing, co-dependency therapy has created the current culture of armchair mental illness diagnoses. Alpert also discussed how true mental health issues (PTSD, trauma, etc) are becoming lost among the flagrant use of these terms for what are truly lesser issues. Surprisingly, he doesn’t deal at all with trans therapy issues.

[Judy Colprubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author makes a lot of good points and I wanted to like this book more than I did. It felt repetitious at times. I think it could have been shorter and benefited from more examples to illustrate the points. But I applaud the author for being brave enough to point out the flaws in his profession and his belief that therapy should be more goal-oriented and shorter.

[Sarah Grace Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well-written, but I can’t help but give it 3 stars as a liberal therapist reading it. I feel like I can tell the author tries to be as apolitical as possible since he’s known for his Fox News appearances, and he succeeded in a lot of ways, but it still came across pretty boot-strappy in many ways throughout the book- quite possibly an intersection of political ideology and being a Gen X.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting topic but horrible execution, uninspired writing and no real structure or flow. Repeats the same concept over and over with less than interesting examples. Could get more from one article than this whole book. Sadly a waste of money.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really think some of the chapters are valuable to think about because the author raises good points about how health professionals should be thinking about long-term growth/support vs short-term comfort but there's also some trash chapters about politics that are unnecessary.

[Garrett Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very critical assessment of modern therapy told from a therapist’s POV. A lot of his analysis I feel like I already knew, but it was good to see it articulated well.

[Dylan Schouppe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has so much potential. Instead, it's mostly a rambling tirade on limp-wristed youngsters and the perils of seeking institutional change.