Therapy has been becoming increasingly popular over the recent years. Due to the self-care trends that have also gained popularity or the hectic pace of modern life, the number of people who begin to acknowledge the benefits of therapy grows every day. The video that has been chosen for this reaction paper is a TEDx presentation given by Dr. Emily Anhalt, a psychologist and emotional fitness consultant. In her speech, Dr. Anhalt states that therapy is necessary and highly beneficial for everyone, including the individuals who consider themselves mentally and emotionally fit, self-aware, and think that they do not need therapy sessions (Anhalt, 2019, 9:15). However, while making a strong and convincing statement about the advantages of professional psychological help, the speaker understates the fact that this service remains inaccessible to a large segment of the population.
In her opening statement, the author claims that many people nowadays think they do not need therapy. As she mentions the time she has scheduled her first therapy session, she says that she “was not in crisis, had no pressing mental health issues, and considered herself a particularly self-aware individual” (Anhalt, 2019, 0:18). This was a thought-provoking statement for me; I could relate to the speaker’s image of herself, as I often consider myself to be an individual with no serious mental issues. Research shows, however, that people with similar views of themselves can have underlying factors, such as various beliefs and situations that caused them to form skewed perceptions of their own personalities (Tramonti, 2018). In addition, internal psychological factors that can cause one to avoid therapy may include fear of stigmatization, lack of trust, sensitivity to criticism, and other reasons.
Therefore, a large number of potentially dangerous and destructive issues can be hidden, and the person avoiding therapy may be unaware of them. This point made me think about the unconscious convictions I might have about myself and the world around me. Having researched the sources on the subject, I have discovered that one in five adults living in the US has mental and emotional health issues (Dilgul, McNamee, Orfanos, Carr, & Priebe, 2018). However, more than a half of them do not receive or try to seek psychological help from a professionally trained and objective specialist (Dilgul, McNamee, Orfanos, Carr, & Priebe, 2018). As the speaker proves her point, she addresses many of the fears people can have through the lens of her own experience. That is arguably why it was easy for me as a viewer to relate to her, recognizing internal traits and issues that prevent me from attending therapy. These include pride, doubt, as well as fears of judgment and self-exposure to the therapist.
Dr. Anhalt’s speech is also impressive and thought-provoking because it addresses different aspects of mental health. For example, as she criticizes self-help books and the modern culture that “fetishizes happiness”, she provides her listeners with a new perspective of a happy and fulfilling life (Anhalt, 2019, 10:02). This allows creating an understanding that happiness is only one emotion in the wide spectrum of positive and important feelings that people can learn to experience more deeply and at a higher level of awareness. Therapy can help to increase this level of awareness and prevent numerous issues that can arise in one’s personal and professional life. Additionally, sharing one’s thoughts and feelings openly and honestly, realizing that no judgment will follow, allows creating a favorable environment where a person can heal and treat their mental and emotional health issues.
Nevertheless, the speaker seems to understate the inability of some people to attend therapy sessions. The fact that a major part of the presentation is devoted to promoting the importance of therapy may cause a feeling that the speaker is indeed “selling the product” (Anhalt, 2019, 0:32). It should be noted that at the end of the talk Dr. Anhalt does state that she acknowledges “that therapy requires time and money, and that can be a prohibitive factor” (Anhalt, 2019, 8:40). Time and money are in fact some of the major issues that often prevent people from attending therapy sessions, even if they realize the importance of professional psychological help and are willing to receive it (Jesser, Muckenhuber, Lunglmayr, Dale, & Humer, 2021). Even if individuals manage to find psychotherapists who can provide them with affordable service, the latter may lack professional training, which results in inefficient sessions and a waste of the patient’s financial and time resources.
While Dr. Anhalt briefly offers some solutions for such individuals, these measures seem insignificant and ineffective when applied to real life. The fact that “there are sliding scale clinics in every major city” may not be helpful for those who do not live in major cities (Anhalt, 2019, 8:45). The speaker seems to ignore the fact that a large part of her viewers may be living in smaller cities and towns and may not have an opportunity to visit sliding scale hospitals. In addition, they may not be able to afford to pay for therapy sessions for long enough to ensure successful results.
It should be noted that this paper does not aim to state that there are no options available to individuals who are unable to attend professional therapy sessions due to financial or other practical reasons. Instead, it states that a more realistic view could be taken by the speaker in the given video to address the issue of the lacking resources in relation to professional psychological help. For instance, she could have discussed the ways to find affordable or free therapy in the listeners’ living area. These could include various options that provide both online and real-life sessions. One example is searching for psychotherapists who offer pro-bono services or sliding scale fees based on their patients’ income (Dilgul, McNamee, Orfanos, Carr, & Priebe, 2018). Some professionals may be willing to do it, as ethical codes of most mental health specialists suggest taking on pro-bono clients as a way to serve the public (Jesser, Muckenhuber, Lunglmayr, Dale, & Humer, 2021). In addition, there are many non-profit nationwide organizations that provide online telehealth services for those who do not have enough therapy resources in their communities.
It can be concluded that the video presentation discussed in this paper has addressed a highly important issue of mental health and wellbeing in the modern society. Emphasizing the importance of attending therapy sessions for all individuals without exception, the speaker understated the fact that many people may be unable to attend therapy due to financial and other reasons. Therefore, the speech could have been more considerate and efficient if Dr. Anhalt had discussed more ways to access affordable mental health services, such as online counseling and other community resources.
References
Anhalt, E. (2019). Why we should all try therapy. Web.
Dilgul, M., McNamee, P., Orfanos, S., Carr, C. E., & Priebe, S. (2018). Why do psychiatric patients attend or not attend treatment groups in the community: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 13(12), e0208448.
Jesser, A., Muckenhuber, J., Lunglmayr, B., Dale, R., & Humer, E. (2021). Provision of psychodynamic psychotherapy in Austria during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(17), 9046.
Tramonti, F. (2018). Steps to an ecology of psychotherapy: The legacy of Gregory Bateson. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 36(1), 128-139.