I’ve been hearing it more and more in professional circles, complaints from therapists about how we need to get back to when therapy was “real,” when we did “the deep work,” when outcomes actually mattered.
Personally, I don't hear these laments in the spaces I am in. The focus is more on deconstructing and reimagining the tools forged in bedrock theory, into new applications and forms... the ideas are emergent in weaving new ways that include the body, the mind, the soul, the past, the past as present and the singular now as encompassing past, present and future. At least, that's how I am holding some of these ideas. I do find the echo chamber of bite sized self diagnosis and scripting very tiresome, and the product of a generation rooted in tech consumption which includes being consumed by tech. Much in the way you describe your patients, armed with their stories of the past, folks are armed/defended with diagnosis and symptoms that leave little room for inquiry. And thus the unwinding begins. The "past" is critical, as it informs our perceptions of the present. Telling our stories, and how they are held, is a fundamental part of the work in helping us see the present in its aliveness and potency. Same could be said of our current politic. Thanks for sharing your insights and questions Chris!
I really appreciate your observation regarding the "echo chamber." I couldn't agree with you more.
I am a client. I am also a facilitor of peer-led support groups. It saddens me to see how many people "have feelings of...(ADHD, OCD, BPD, etc.) and have neither been diagnosed nor properly screened, armed only with symptoms someone else has discussed or something that was read online. It seems, at times, these sentiments are ECHOED based on resonation or similarities. While I rarely disclose my diagnoses to anyone, when I do, I say " I manage...", it's not my identity, not are they things with which I " suffer."
For what it's worth, the ailments I manage weren't diagnosed in a 45 minute session. They were old school screenings that took place over a period (in some cases, periods) of time. By old school psychiatrists.
I deeply appreciate your keen insights to our profession. I became an LPC in 2020 after 30 years as a football/baseball coach and now really new to the profession. Your wisdom and insight is extremely helpful as I am still an apprentice in the field of counseling and desiring to master my craft as a therapist. Thank you.
This really resonates with me. I've noticed this trend in a lot of professional circles - not just therapy but other fields too. The idea that nostalgia isnt neutral but actually coercive is brillant. It's like we create this mythical golden age to avoid dealing with current chalenges. Your question about what opportunities we're missing while looking backward hit hard.
I have been following your substack for a bit and think that you are very insightful. I've been in practice since the late 80's and have seen many cultural shifts, from behavior therapy , and psychoanalytic to family therapy , and have been involved with all of them. I use a variety of tools to help to get my clients to a new level of living in their present life, to get them to accept that that they are here and the only reason to talk about the past is to move thru it to the present, using a variety of techniques from act, cbt, mindfulness and straight on talking to goal setting. It is real, the pain is real, the stuckness is real and the point is to move forward here and now in the present . It works, not always as there are those who we cannot help. We are not here to rescue. We are relevant, and I believe we will continue to be necessary , in whatever form we eventually morph into, .. Thanks Joyce Colburn, lcsw
This is a really important piece, and I appreciate you sharing it.
"When therapists talk about returning to “real therapy,” what they’re actually doing is retreating into a nostalgic narrative that protects them from having to reckon with present realities"
Agreed. And very often, just as the case with any human (e.g., clients), this insistence on clinging not only to an old narrative, but one spun in a subjective light, is not only about fear, but insecurity and even shame.
But battling what we all know is a matter of relevance with arguments of fantasy do nothing but, as you said, keep us stuck.
I don’t think therapy was ever great. It has been plagued from the beginning from wanting to be recognised by science when its proven efficacity is about equal to a tarot reading. Therapy’s main attribute is providing relational and nervous system reparation by the therapist’s capacity to provide non-conditional kind regard, non judgement and authentic presence and this, irregardless of the techniques used (merci Carl Rogers, Buddha, etc).
There is nothing wrong with nostalgia, but being in the present moment is the only place where change is happening. For me, we must return to the body. Somatics and off line is the future. Come and visit me and we’ll have tea in the garden. But I will no longer do zoom calls.
I recently ended my relationship with my therapizer, I like her, and I'm sure she's a great therapizer, just not for me.
I am the client who is very self-aware, knowledgeable does/enjoys doing the work, and through NAMI, have supported countless others.
I feel like I get "stuck" at times, get frustrated, and have left sessions feeling like I've had more training than the person who was guiding the session. Short of sounding arrogant, I feel like I know/am more informed than they.
I'm not sure if it's burnout among professionals or if they are taking the safe and familiar road, and again, from a client's perspective, this article resonates.
I dunno. It's kind of hard to read an article like this without it presenting any answers at all to the questions you pose. I get it. Maybe you don't have answers. But your logic is pretty absolutist. And I know you have been writing on all the ideas you address here for awhile. I guess as a movement educator with a former career as an artist (professional choreographer and dancer), I've been out here on the "curiosity" edge for about 50 years. No one wants to pay for it or sustain it, and no one is really interested in the intelligence that is being carried by my community of fellow explorers. If anything, there is disinvestment. That's part of the reason I've been working in the business coaching space. Not because I love it (though oddly I have ended up loving it despite myself!) but because I feel that movement experts have some of the necessary knowledge and if they don't have sustainable businesses, that knowledge will die.
And PS, people have been dancing and singing through their joy and pain for millions of years. Have therapists tried it ? :-) Why do we keep our fields separate? I am working on classes and a book on movement for mental health, with no license to do so except aforesaid 50 years of living.
Personally, I don't hear these laments in the spaces I am in. The focus is more on deconstructing and reimagining the tools forged in bedrock theory, into new applications and forms... the ideas are emergent in weaving new ways that include the body, the mind, the soul, the past, the past as present and the singular now as encompassing past, present and future. At least, that's how I am holding some of these ideas. I do find the echo chamber of bite sized self diagnosis and scripting very tiresome, and the product of a generation rooted in tech consumption which includes being consumed by tech. Much in the way you describe your patients, armed with their stories of the past, folks are armed/defended with diagnosis and symptoms that leave little room for inquiry. And thus the unwinding begins. The "past" is critical, as it informs our perceptions of the present. Telling our stories, and how they are held, is a fundamental part of the work in helping us see the present in its aliveness and potency. Same could be said of our current politic. Thanks for sharing your insights and questions Chris!
I really appreciate your observation regarding the "echo chamber." I couldn't agree with you more.
I am a client. I am also a facilitor of peer-led support groups. It saddens me to see how many people "have feelings of...(ADHD, OCD, BPD, etc.) and have neither been diagnosed nor properly screened, armed only with symptoms someone else has discussed or something that was read online. It seems, at times, these sentiments are ECHOED based on resonation or similarities. While I rarely disclose my diagnoses to anyone, when I do, I say " I manage...", it's not my identity, not are they things with which I " suffer."
For what it's worth, the ailments I manage weren't diagnosed in a 45 minute session. They were old school screenings that took place over a period (in some cases, periods) of time. By old school psychiatrists.
I deeply appreciate your keen insights to our profession. I became an LPC in 2020 after 30 years as a football/baseball coach and now really new to the profession. Your wisdom and insight is extremely helpful as I am still an apprentice in the field of counseling and desiring to master my craft as a therapist. Thank you.
This really resonates with me. I've noticed this trend in a lot of professional circles - not just therapy but other fields too. The idea that nostalgia isnt neutral but actually coercive is brillant. It's like we create this mythical golden age to avoid dealing with current chalenges. Your question about what opportunities we're missing while looking backward hit hard.
Hi chris
I have been following your substack for a bit and think that you are very insightful. I've been in practice since the late 80's and have seen many cultural shifts, from behavior therapy , and psychoanalytic to family therapy , and have been involved with all of them. I use a variety of tools to help to get my clients to a new level of living in their present life, to get them to accept that that they are here and the only reason to talk about the past is to move thru it to the present, using a variety of techniques from act, cbt, mindfulness and straight on talking to goal setting. It is real, the pain is real, the stuckness is real and the point is to move forward here and now in the present . It works, not always as there are those who we cannot help. We are not here to rescue. We are relevant, and I believe we will continue to be necessary , in whatever form we eventually morph into, .. Thanks Joyce Colburn, lcsw
This is a really important piece, and I appreciate you sharing it.
"When therapists talk about returning to “real therapy,” what they’re actually doing is retreating into a nostalgic narrative that protects them from having to reckon with present realities"
Agreed. And very often, just as the case with any human (e.g., clients), this insistence on clinging not only to an old narrative, but one spun in a subjective light, is not only about fear, but insecurity and even shame.
But battling what we all know is a matter of relevance with arguments of fantasy do nothing but, as you said, keep us stuck.
I don’t think therapy was ever great. It has been plagued from the beginning from wanting to be recognised by science when its proven efficacity is about equal to a tarot reading. Therapy’s main attribute is providing relational and nervous system reparation by the therapist’s capacity to provide non-conditional kind regard, non judgement and authentic presence and this, irregardless of the techniques used (merci Carl Rogers, Buddha, etc).
There is nothing wrong with nostalgia, but being in the present moment is the only place where change is happening. For me, we must return to the body. Somatics and off line is the future. Come and visit me and we’ll have tea in the garden. But I will no longer do zoom calls.
From a client's perspective...
I recently ended my relationship with my therapizer, I like her, and I'm sure she's a great therapizer, just not for me.
I am the client who is very self-aware, knowledgeable does/enjoys doing the work, and through NAMI, have supported countless others.
I feel like I get "stuck" at times, get frustrated, and have left sessions feeling like I've had more training than the person who was guiding the session. Short of sounding arrogant, I feel like I know/am more informed than they.
I'm not sure if it's burnout among professionals or if they are taking the safe and familiar road, and again, from a client's perspective, this article resonates.
I dunno. It's kind of hard to read an article like this without it presenting any answers at all to the questions you pose. I get it. Maybe you don't have answers. But your logic is pretty absolutist. And I know you have been writing on all the ideas you address here for awhile. I guess as a movement educator with a former career as an artist (professional choreographer and dancer), I've been out here on the "curiosity" edge for about 50 years. No one wants to pay for it or sustain it, and no one is really interested in the intelligence that is being carried by my community of fellow explorers. If anything, there is disinvestment. That's part of the reason I've been working in the business coaching space. Not because I love it (though oddly I have ended up loving it despite myself!) but because I feel that movement experts have some of the necessary knowledge and if they don't have sustainable businesses, that knowledge will die.
And PS, people have been dancing and singing through their joy and pain for millions of years. Have therapists tried it ? :-) Why do we keep our fields separate? I am working on classes and a book on movement for mental health, with no license to do so except aforesaid 50 years of living.