Mental health trends aren’t novel. Different therapeutic treatments come and go in popularity, from psychoanalysis in the 1950s (which has remained popular) to current-day approaches like eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR). The mental health field certainly has timely favorites. But what happens when the popular thing to do in therapy is to quit? We are currently in a moment where ending therapy happens to be in vogue. The book Bad Therapy describes overdiagnosing issues, over-intervention with kids, and ultimately, the possibility that maybe we don’t need so much examination of our lives. Abigail Shrier’s book reached No. 1 on Amazon and has received praise from celebrities like Elon Musk. It might be true that, culturally, we have hit a saturation point with therapy.
Perhaps people do need a break, or they might be done with therapy, but is anyone actually better equipped to handle life’s inevitable stressors? As a practicing psychologist, I think there is one question to ask your therapist before taking the plunge and ending things—I would recommend, “How is my distress tolerance?”
Distress tolerance is a therapeutic skill that asks us to engage with pain and learn to move through........