Mark Rinzel

We are fortunate that the stigma around therapy and mental health treatment has largely left us. As a society, we now openly discuss anxiety, depression, trauma, addiction, grief, and loneliness. Normalization has become, well, normal. This is very positive. We no longer suffer in silence and isolation as we once did when we truly were as sick as our secrets.

However, we are now often overwhelmed by "therapyspeak," which is not actual therapy. Therapyspeak oversimplifies human experience, turning validation into enabling and reducing identity to fixed frameworks defined by perceived flaws. In the guise of being "seen," we are manipulated by highly attuned algorithms that reinforce isolating ideas. Mental wellness influencers offer catchy, simple messages ("Let Them!"), but our parasocial relationships with these attention economy moguls keep us engaged yet feeling stuck. And with the prospect of sharing your innermost thoughts with ChatGPT, to be showered in sycophancy and bot-generated banalities, we have a real challenge to the idea of self-exploration and true healing.

Real, whole-person therapy can be hard. Shame and avoidance are overcome only through the corrective emotional experience of genuine human contact. You cannot scroll past discomfort forever. It must be fully embodied and experienced, because that’s where the growth occurs.

I create a compassionate, honest holding environment. Therapy is not a grim duty to fix ourselves. When done right, it will involve laughter and tears equally. Our sessions are ultimately one leg of a longer journey towards being more fully alive.