The Issue with Gen Z and Therapy

Today, I went to therapy for the first time in a long time, FINALLY. I strongly needed it.

I've been on and off in many forms of therapy since I was 13. I've been to psychotherapists, psychiatrists, somatic healers, coaches, and energy therapists.

I'm grateful to say in most moments I've needed, I've been able to ask for help and get it.

But in all my experiences, I have found traditional talk therapy the least effective of methods.

Although I'm no expert, I have a theory about why this is, and my therapist (energy therapist) from today agreed with me, and we hypothesized about it together. I’d love to share a little of what we talked about.

Past generations and therapy

Past generations have needed a space where they can share their feelings. They needed a safe place to talk about, identify, and understand them. So talk therapy offered a much-needed relief and accompaniment. And many of the earlier generations still need this.

They were shamed for having feelings and forced to repress them. Talking about your issues was seen as a weakness. (And still is by many.) For these people, traditional psychotherapy is perfect. It created those safe spaces for them, where they could express themselves and cry without shame.

Gen-Z and therapy

However, our generation faces some differences. We are (thankfully) a lot more in touch with our emotions. We are willing to see our weaknesses and hurt and feel more comfortable discussing them. Many of us no longer need help with identifying our issues. We're self-aware enough already.

And this places us in a weird spot. Because therapy is strongly encouraged, and it definitely serves a purpose. But speaking for myself, my first seven years in therapy didn't turn into any transcendental healing in me.

Don't get me wrong, it was great to have someone to talk to. I had a safe place to talk about my family issues, to come out of the closet, and to talk about how lonely I felt at school. At that point, I needed the relief that venting gave me. But eventually, it wasn't enough.

I was past identifying the issues. Venting once a week didn't seem worth what I was paying because even though I got the emotional relief, everything stayed the same.

And that's when I discovered other kinds of work: energy-focused work, somatic work, and neuro-linguistic programming. These changed my life, much more than therapy did.

What I’m seeing around me

More and more, I see my friends and I opt for different methods of therapy and healing work, from yoga to visiting shamans to journaling on their own, and the list goes on. And I don't think it's without reason.

We want to truly, deeply HEAL. We want things to be different in both our internal and external worlds. We want to break generational trauma and release our limiting beliefs.

And a lot of therapists aren't trained for this yet. It's not that they don't want to help us; it's just that traditional psychology was concerned with getting us to a place where we're functional, not "healed." (Not that you can ever be fully healed, but yeah.)

So, we seek different people to help, guide, or accompany us in our process.

I don't necessarily have anything transcendental to say about this; I wanted to share what I've noticed and ask: What is your favorite way to work on yourself? (It is totally cool if it's talk therapy, by the way; some of us still need that.) Hit reply and let me know!

I love journaling, energy therapy, and lately, I've been experimenting with more somatic-based practices. It's incredible to me what can happen when we make space for feelings as physical sensations:

• How much easier they are to process.

• How much healthier I've been.

• How much looser my body has felt, etcetera.

I hope your week feels like looking at a tree and thinking it came out of a fantasy world, like kissing someone for the first time, like knowing you're held by someone you love.

Talk to you next Thursday!

(Btw… -17 days for the book release, and I feel like screaming half the time. You can still preorder here.)

-Vale, The Friendly Artist