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The Rise of Therapy-Speak
In the United States, basic mental-health care remains a luxury item; there’s a reason that the most fluent speakers of the trending argot tend to be wealthy and white. This may explain some of the irritation that therapy-speak occasionally provokes: the words suggest a sort of woke posturing, a theatrical deference to norms of kindness, and they... See more
Katy Waldman • The Rise of Therapy-Speak
Therapy-speak, with its first-person narratives of pain, assumes a similar link between vulnerability and identity. Its confessional aspect doubles as an affirmation of humanness, which is always both empowered and frail.
Katy Waldman • The Rise of Therapy-Speak
Consider “holding space,” a standout in the new vernacular. The words often appear as a verb phrase, which the
Gender and Sexuality Therapy Center
defines as “putting your focus on someone to support them as they feel their feelings.”
Gender and Sexuality Therapy Center
defines as “putting your focus on someone to support them as they feel their feelings.”