This Isn’t Therapy

Tune in to the NOW HOLIDAY CLASSIC, Rizzdolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and hang around for the past two years of holiday remixes: 'Twas The Night Before Therapy and How The Grinch Stole Therapy.

This Isn't Therapy... it's an essential guide for detoxing from our digital devices and a discussion about the roles of social change. Asking for a Friend: https://forms.gle/LofZNaNzGe22W7XG7 Follow us! Instagram & TikTok | @thisisnttherapypod Jake | @mswjake Simon | @directedbysimon Listen to This Isn’t Therapy: Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/0gvAhpRsaI8lDip7B1Jpi9?si=HIWUpJYbRiu...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a discussion about this Fall's most popular Netflix show, Wayward, and therapeutic treatment programs. Then we discuss the controversial identity of "the performative male" and what that means for modern masculinity. Asking for a Friend: https://forms.gle/LofZNaNzGe22W7XG7 Follow us! Instagram & TikTok | @thisisnttherapypod Jake | @mswjake Simon | @directedbysimon Li...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a convo about fans and fandoms, trends and crazes, and the recent fanaticism about Labubus. Next up, we'll cover JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out and how that differs from FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out. Asking for a Friend: https://forms.gle/LofZNaNzGe22W7XG7 Follow us! Instagram & TikTok | @thisisnttherapypod Jake | @mswjake Simon | @directedbysimon Listen to This Isn’t...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a long-awaited discussion of Wicked: For Good! But first, we discuss the emerging phenomenon of touch deprivation and how skin hunger keeps us locked into cycles of disconnection. Asking for a Friend: https://forms.gle/LofZNaNzGe22W7XG7 Follow us! Instagram & TikTok | @thisisnttherapypod Jake | @mswjake Simon | @directedbysimon Listen to This Isn’t Therapy: Spotify:...

We're back!! This Isn't Therapy...this is a fun, flirty, fab convo about K-Pop Demon Hunters and Mushroom Mommies. Both have more therapy themes than you think… Asking for a Friend: https://forms.gle/LofZNaNzGe22W7XG7 Follow us! Instagram & TikTok | @thisisnttherapypod Jake | @mswjake Simon | @directedbysimon Listen to This Isn’t Therapy: Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://open.spotify.com/show/0gvAhpRsaI8...

This Isn't Therapy...this is an episode about some hard truths learned in therapy. Ever wonder how to give your therapist some feedback?! Or even how would my therapist react if I gave them some feedback?! Through a story posted by an anonymous reddit user, Jake and Simon examine a therapists' struggle after they received some challenging feedback from a client. Then, through some lovely listener...

This Isn't Therapy... it's an *encore* episode about the pursuit of endless bliss. Many people arrive to therapy with a "fantasy goal" thinking they want to be calm, happy, and relaxed all the time. Through two #lovelylistener stories, Jake and Simon talk about how to find a realistic sense of joy, happiness, purpose, and pleasure and what we can (or should) expect from life. This episode is for t...

This Isn't Therapy...this is an *encore* critical look at the argument that children need less therapy, not more, and how this "mental heath culture" is stripping parents of autonomy, ultimately causing more harm than good. In this episode, Jake and Simon dive into a review (written by Anna Nordberg for Slate) for a book by a right-leaning conspiracy theorist titled Bad Therapy. "In Bad Therapy, S...

This Isn't Therapy... it's the *encore* episode about the pressure to be happy. In this episode, Jake and Simon talk about how to feel authentically happy when there's a lot of pressure to perform positivity or force happy feelings. Jake and Simon hear from two Lovely Listeners who wonder about the true meaning of happiness and how to spot the difference between authentic joy versus fake happiness...

This Isn't Therapy... it's the *encore* surprise solo session with Jake! In this episode, Jake shares two snippets from his weekly newsletter Just Trying To Help . Jake walks us through his theories for how social media is re-wiring our brains, reshaping our moods, and changing how we connect. P.S. Happy Leap Year! Ribbit Ribbit! Read the full articles here: How Social Media Re-Wired Us All The Ri...

This Isn't Therapy... it's an *encore* doomy episode about the ever-evolving landscape of doomslang. Doomslang, coined by author and linguist Amanda Montell, is a term used to describe dystopian jargon like “dumpster fire” and “doomscroll” and “bed rot”. In this episode, Jake and Simon talk about how the constant conjuring of End Times is having surprising, unintended, and maybe even dangerous, co...

FROM THE VAULT: This Isn't Therapy... it's the *encore* episode about AI therapists and if they can ever replace the real thing. In this episode, Jake and Simon discuss a recent BBC article about why teens are seeking out AI therapist bots and what that means for the future of mental health. Conversational AI or, in other words, "chatbots with a personality" are gaining more attention and users ar...

This isn't therapy... and it's not working out, either! In this *encore* episode, Jake and Simon discuss what to do when therapy isn't working. Importantly, they talk about how to know if therapy is actually working and what to do when you feel like it's not. This episode is based on a Lovely Listener question: "If I cry in therapy, does that mean it's working?" Strap in! Got a quandary, query, or...

This Isn't Therapy... it's the episode about the four F's: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. In this episode, Jake and Simon discuss the four threat responses and how to move through tough situations and face what's in front of us. This episode is for anyone who feels trapped by their reactions or is left feeling overwhelmed by stressful situations. These responses are what make us human; it is bet...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a long overdue convo about the two most essential skills in relationships. In this episode, Jake and Simon discuss a statistic about emotional availability: on average, we are only emotionally available for our partners about 9% of the time. With that in mind, they discuss how to get closer to the 9% using the two essential skills of attunement and repair. Throughout the...

This Isn't Therapy... it's the episode about one of the things that robs kids of a care-free childhood: being parentified. When kids are forced to grow up too soon and become adults in childhood, kids can take on adult-like responsibilities and burdens. In this episode, we talk about the difference between healthy responsibility for kids and parentification and talk about the impact of having chil...

This Isn't Therapy... it's the episode about parasocial relationships; the one-sided emotional connections we have with casual acquaintances, people we "know" online, characters we watch in television and movies, and people we admire from afar. In this episode, Jake and Simon talk about some examples from pop culture, such as Chappell Roan's desire to set boundaries as a celebrity and Sabrina Carp...

This isn’t therapy… it’s part three in our series about the war on human connection. In this episode, we talk about how overwhelming people with tragic and distressing information about the world leads to a decline in empathy. Jake and Simon discuss how a decline in rates of empathy affect our ability to practice perspective taking and experience empathic concern. Article: Empathy Is Dying And So...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a follow up to last week's episode about the attention wars. In this episode, we explore the concept of "agree to disagree" and how there seems to be a war of opinions playing out in our culture. Is it really possible to find common ground when opinions clash? We discuss strategies for navigating disagreements and the key differences between opinion-based and values-base...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a frank discussion about the "attention economy"—where companies compete to capture our focus to sell us products. We break down the difference between attention, focus, and concentration, and examine how the constant battle for our attention impacts our mental health, productivity, and relationships. We discuss the hidden costs of a world where attention is monetized, a...

This Isn't Therapy... it's our *encore* eppy from our first episode BACKKKK (from last year!!) This week, we're talking about why finding hope can often feel so hopeless in hopeless in times. We peel back the curtain on an article from The New Yorker called "Do you have hope?" which looks at the ways hope can live alongside despair, pain, and grief. We discuss what hope is, how hope can be active...

This Isn't Therapy... it's a thought-provoking *encore* episode about the growing influence of artificial intelligence in our personal lives. We ask the big question: Can AI truly replace human relationships? From AI companions and virtual therapists to chatbots that promise emotional support, technology is reshaping the way we connect. But what happens when machines become more accessible, predic...

This Isn't Therapy...this is a flirty fab *encore* conversation about loneliness versus being alone. Through two #lovelylistener stories, Jake and Simon explore feelings around how we can feel lonely even though we're surrounded by people we love. Also, how being alone does not always mean you are lonely. P.S. Don't forget: Submit a quandary, query, or question to Asking For A Friend... Contact: t...

This Isn't Therapy...it’s the ENCORE to our episode about emotions and emotionality. Am I overacting? Under-reacting? In this conversation, Jake and Simon chat about the normal, human, everyday emotions that show up in our lives. How do we know if our reactions are within a healthy range? They use the Window of Tolerance model to discuss big and small emotions, how to widen our windows, and what t...