The Cult of Therapy? Let’s Get Real, Professor Galloway

Excerpt from full article originally published on LinkedIn

The cult of therapy, huh?

We’ve gone from 2020, when everyone wanted a seat on someone’s hand-me-down couch, to now having conversations about “therapy culture,” trivializing and demonizing with the click of a mouse. As infuriating as it is to think of an economic and marketing expert having the arrogance to speak on something he has no academic knowledge or lived experience in, I’m not willing to let this one slide without a response.

This approach isn’t just imprecise. It’s dangerous.

Therapy isn’t perfect, and no clinician worth their license would ever claim it is. But critiquing therapy because of influencer trends is like rejecting medicine because Dr. Oz exists. You took the most sensational version of ‘therapy’ you could find online, held it up as representative, and used it to discredit an entire field that many people depend on for legitimate support.

Let’s be clear, Scott. You are a brilliant voice on economics, marketing, and social trends. You would never publish an op-ed telling people which diabetes treatments work or which chemotherapy protocols to follow. So why is mental health somehow fair game for casual commentary? Mental health is a complex, decades-old field grounded in research, training, and clinical practice. It’s not a talking point for virality. Just because you have a mind, does not make you an expert on mental health.

And here’s where your argument really collapses: therapy is not a Birkin bag for your feelings. It is healthcare. It’s the space where a parent grieving a child can safely tell their story. It’s the place where a survivor of childhood abuse can finally name what happened and start to process it. It’s the room where a man learning to manage anger before it destroys his family can gain tools and insight. These aren’t indulgences; these are lifelines.

You’re right that Americans are drowning in financial insecurity, social isolation, and systemic inequities. We need better wages, stronger social safety nets, and more community supports. But abundance doesn’t erase grief, trauma, or mental illness. But the real question, if therapy is just a “band-aid,” what’s your alternative for the decades-long wait for systemic reform? Where should people go in the meantime?

Much of your critique seems aimed at what you call “therapy culture”, the TikTok-afied, performative version of emotional health. First off, that’s different from actual therapy. Online content amplifies trauma language for clicks, yes, but many licensed therapists on these platforms are not influencers first, they are providing psychoeducation. They are attempting to counter misinformation, and trying to reach the people who cannot access care through traditional systems, while working with an algorithm that they don’t control and against people with $10,000 marketing budgets that are sponsoring podcasts just like yours.

Your concerns about young men are valid; isolation, lack of social skills, and limited support networks are real. But framing therapy as alienating men because 75% of providers are women misses the mark. Have you seen a public school that doesn’t have at least that percentage of female teachers? Men avoid therapy largely because of stigma, socialization, and systemic barriers, not the gender of the therapist. Your framing risks pushing them toward online echo chambers rather than toward the personal growth and development that can happen in therapy.

Finally, the argument that therapy is unreliable because there are no biomarkers or guaranteed outcomes is a dangerous oversimplification. Complexity does not equal ineffectiveness. Not all cancers have clear biomarkers, but we do not dismiss oncology. Therapy, when provided by trained professionals, is a tool that helps people navigate the same complexity in their inner lives.

Scott, the problem isn’t therapy. It’s the systems that leave people vulnerable and waiting for help. Therapy fills the gap when community, church, or social safety nets fall short. It doesn’t replace these institutions; it strengthens people so they can re-engage with the world whole.

If your goal is to critique “therapy culture,” start by understanding therapy itself. Speak to the people who do this work every day and people who receive it. Acknowledge the difference between influencer noise and evidence-based practice. Until then, your click-bait framing risks hurting the very people you claim to care about, young men, marginalized communities, and anyone struggling silently.

Therapy is not the enemy, Professor. Misunderstanding it is.