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Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It's Left Us More Anxious and Divided
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Expected 19 May 26Therapy Nation has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication May 19, 2026
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March 21, 2026Uhhh, 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 really feel useful.
A shockingly small amount of this is actually about bad therapy practice/education 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."
This could have made a great essay but the book needed some restraint. More stats, please. More research. Less repetition.
---
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 people's 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 and medication (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 who I liked more, because how could I NOT be in therapy?? I knew that therapy-speak was being misused by people (both accidentally and maliciously), but I was interested to learn about how actual therapists are reacting to or entrenching this weird cultural fetish for having "trauma" and "dysregulation" and "neurospiciness."
And I guess I kind of got that......? Problem is--I know this is not the best way to approach a book, but--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.) And it's like ALL anecdotes, 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's or the Tree of Life shooter's issues were the same thing as what makes people take selfies at dangerous waterfalls...) 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'll focus on that because it was such a mood-killer, and also because I think it summarizes my experience with the entire book.
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?" No, I mean 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:
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.
A shockingly small amount of this is actually about bad therapy practice/education 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."
This could have made a great essay but the book needed some restraint. More stats, please. More research. Less repetition.
---
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 people's 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 and medication (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 who I liked more, because how could I NOT be in therapy?? I knew that therapy-speak was being misused by people (both accidentally and maliciously), but I was interested to learn about how actual therapists are reacting to or entrenching this weird cultural fetish for having "trauma" and "dysregulation" and "neurospiciness."
And I guess I kind of got that......? Problem is--I know this is not the best way to approach a book, but--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.) And it's like ALL anecdotes, 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's or the Tree of Life shooter's issues were the same thing as what makes people take selfies at dangerous waterfalls...) 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'll focus on that because it was such a mood-killer, and also because I think it summarizes my experience with the entire book.
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?" No, I mean 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.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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!
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!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews