Polarity
Bad Therapist
Rachel and Ash discuss an idea that’s all the rage among coaches and influencer types in Austin and elsewhere: polarity. Spoiler alert: it’s essentially a New Age-y version of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and its inventor has some of the worst ideas we’ve ever heard about how to respond to an angry woman (….tickle her????). Sources: The Madelyn Moon Show - What is the Divine Feminine? - What is the Divine Masculine? - Divine Polarity in Relationships - Madelyn Moon on polarity & the patriarchy - John Wineland - ...
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Rock & Roll Therapists
Bad Therapist
Ash and Rachel tackle two bad therapists (or one bad therapist and one flawed-but-relatable ex-therapist) who worked with the rich and famous: Eugene Landy, the man who trapped and swindled Brian Wilson, and Phil Towle, Metallica’s “performance enhancement coach.” Warning: lots of anti-Metallica slander in this ep! Sources: Berlinger, J., & Sinofsky, B. (Directors). (2004). *Metallica: Some Kind of Monster* [Film]. IFC Films. Hilburn, R. (1988, June 26). *Brian Wilson: Surfacing Again.* *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved from Oppenheimer, M. (2006,...
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Culture Study: Bad Therapist
Bad Therapist
Rachel and Ash make a guest appearance on one of their favorite podcasts, Culture Study, to chat with Anne Helen Petersen about the rise of therapy speak, their least-favorite therapized buzz words, and why this kind of language has become so frustratingly prevalent. Hosted by Anne Helen Petersen. Produced by Melody Rowell.
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Conversion Therapy
Bad Therapist
This one’s a little different: First, Rachel talks to her uncle, John Monroe, who was subjected to conversion therapy in the 1970s. Then Rachel & Ash discuss a few of the harmful pseudoscientists who have tried (and failed) to use psychology to turn queer people straight over the years. SOURCES: -Arana, G. (2012.) My So-Called Ex-Gay Life. American Prospect. Retrieved from -Roughgarden, J. (2004). Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. University of California Press. -Waidzunas, T. (2015.) The Straight Line; How the Fringe Science of Ex-Gay...
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The Unexpected Origins of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Bad Therapist
Ash (INTP) & Rachel (ENFP) explore the very strange origin story of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator — a journey that ventures into erotic Carl Jung fanfiction, an intense mother-daughter dynamic, and the most upsetting hot chocolate recipe you’ll ever hear about. SOURCES: -Emre, M. (2018). The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing. Doubleday. -Briggs, K. C. (1947). The Personality Paintbox. Published privately. -Cook Briggs, K. E. (n.d.). The Man from Zurich. Unpublished manuscript. Katharine E. Cook Papers. ...
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The Life Coach School
Bad Therapist
Rachel and Ash discuss the astonishing abundance of coaches via an exploration of The Life Coach School, a glossy (and expensive!) program with some MLM-esque overtones. SOURCES: - I’m a Life Coach, You’re a Life Coach: The Rise of an Unregulated Industry - - LifeCoachSnark subreddit - - The Dream podcast - season 3 - - The Life Coach School - - The Life Coach School podcast - - Live Coaching Highlights with Brooke Castillo - - The International Coaching Federation - Produced by Zoe Kurland. Music by Flock of Dimes.
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The Shadow Side of Shadow Work
Bad Therapist
Ash & Rachel discuss the hot new Tiktok trend: #shadowwork. What is the shadow and why are all these Austin influencers suddenly preoccupied with it? SOURCES: - How a Self-Published Book Broke ‘All the Rules’ and Became a Best Seller - - Keila Shaheen’s Shadow Work Journal - - Julian Himself - - Julian’s CNN “apology” for his manosphere behavior - - Shaheen, K. (2020). *Shadow Work Journal: A Guide to Integrate and Transcend Your Shadows.* (1st ed.). Independently published. - - Johnson, R. A. (1991). *Owning...
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The Sullivanians - A Therapeutic Commune Gone Wrong
Bad Therapist
Rachel & Ash discuss the Sullivanians/Fourth Wall community, a collective of self-credentialed therapists with great real estate and solid politics that, can you believe it, turned into something pretty sinister. SOURCES: -The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune by Alexander Stille - -The Sullivanians - Through a Blue Window podcast, by Shelley Feinerman - () - Crowley, R.M. (1971). *Notes on Sullivan’s Approach to the Science of Man.* *Contemporary Psychoanalysis*, 8(1), 64–70. - Crowley, R.M. *Harry Stack Sullivan as Social...
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Welcome to Bad Therapist
Bad Therapist
Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton introduce Bad Therapist. Topics include: the conception for the pod, their bad therapists, and, somehow, puppets. Produced by Zoe Kurland. Music by Flock of Dimes.
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Trailer
Bad Therapist
Welcome to Bad Therapist, a podcast about the shadow side of mental health, and the scammers and manipulators who reside there. Cads, opportunists, and charlatans have been a part of the world of psychology since the beginning; some of them have even made lasting contributions to the field. Bad Therapist delves into two centuries of sketchy behavior, spanning everything from questionable nineteenth-century hypnotists to the TikTok-famous therapy hustlers. At a moment when therapy speak has good mainstream attention and trauma is a national preoccupation, it’s high time to examine the...
info_outlineRachel and Ash make a guest appearance on one of their favorite podcasts, Culture Study, to chat with Anne Helen Petersen about the rise of therapy speak, their least-favorite therapized buzz words, and why this kind of language has become so frustratingly prevalent.
Hosted by Anne Helen Petersen. Produced by Melody Rowell.