Shows
Bad TherapistHysteria: Part 2 Part Two of Two on Hysteria. Ash and Rachel seek knowns and unknowns about the contested origins of Hysteria finding its way into the emergent psychological annals. Golden Siggie takes the lead. Find metaphors doing *the most* in a teen’s dreams, and more! This is the last of our current season. If Bad Therapist is pleasing to your psyche, please rate, review and subscribe. We hope to see you for Season 2! SOURCES Gilman, Sander L., Helen King, Roy Porter, G. S. Rousseau, and Elaine Showalter. Hysteria Beyond Freud. University of California Press, 1993. Scull, Andre...2025-02-2645 min
Bad TherapistHysteria: Part 1Part One of Two on Hysteria. Ash and Rachel dig into the tangled history of this complex and ever-evolving diagnosis, starting with its medical origins. From ancient theories to outdated treatments, we’re pulling from the antiquated archives to unpack the evolution of this so-called malady. Stay tuned for Part Two next week—Freud on Hysteria! SOURCES: Gilman, Sander L., Helen King, Roy Porter, G. S. Rousseau, and Elaine Showalter. Hysteria Beyond Freud. University of California Press, 1993. Acocella, Joan. Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder. Jossey-Bass, 1999. Scull, Andrew. Hysteria: The Disturbing History. Oxford University Press, 2021. Produ...2025-02-1953 min
You're Wrong AboutEmotional Labor with Rachel Monroe and Ash Compton of Bad TherapistWhat is "emotional labor," and why is it probably not what your boyfriend accuses you of making him do when you want him to go to Ikea with you? Psychotherapist Ash Compton and journalist Rachel Monroe are here to tell the tale of how the term sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild coined—in her 1983 book The Managed Heart—has come to mean, well, almost everything. How is the term still useful? How can we use therapy language as a tool for growth or an excuse for avoiding it? And whose job is it to do these dishes? Happy Valentine's Day from...2025-02-121h 01
Bad TherapistYou're Wrong About: Bad TherapistThis week, in honor of St. Valentine’s Day, Bad Therapist makes a special guest appearance on a favorite podcast, You’re Wrong About, to get to the bottom of Emotional Labor— a sociological and labor-related construct that has snuck its way into impersonal realms and colloquialisms. And in doing so, we solve the entire country’s relationship problems— you’re welcome. Hosted by Sarah Marshall. Produced by Carolyn Kendrick RESOURCES: Hochschild, Arlie Russell. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. University of California Press, 1983. Hackman, Jess. "Where’s My Cut? On Unpaid Emotional L...2025-02-121h 02
Bad TherapistPolarityRachel 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 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU8GwCzSVVno7KHfqNFdqrw What is the Divine Feminine? - https://maddymoon.com/blog/divine-feminine What is the Divine Masculine? - https://maddymoon.com...2025-01-2254 min
Bad TherapistRock & Roll TherapistsAsh 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 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-26-tm-8498-story.html Oppenheimer, M. (2006, December 31). *Dr. Landy’s Cure for Brian Wilson.* *The New York Times...2025-01-0855 min
Bad TherapistCulture Study: 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. 2025-01-0152 min
Culture Study PodcastThe Rise of Therapy SpeakNo matter where you spend your time, online or off, you’ve encountered some form of therapy speak. Maybe it comes from a friend who loves processing their therapy with others; maybe it suffuses your TikTok FYP; maybe your friends or family members have been using it to try and describe how they’re trying to foster and maintain healthy relationships; or maybe you’ve just been keeping up on the latest celebrity gossip. It’s everywhere — and as you’ll find in this episode, tracing its proliferation will lead you in so many fascinating (and complex!) directions. I’ll be real: I...2025-01-0151 min
Bad TherapistConversion TherapyThis 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 https://prospect.org/civil-rights/so-called-ex-gay-life/ -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 Thera...2024-12-1156 min
Bad TherapistThe Unexpected Origins of the Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorAsh (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. -Hirsh, S. K., & Kummerow, J. M. (1998). Introduction to Myers-B...2024-12-041h 03
Bad TherapistThe Life Coach SchoolRachel 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 - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/oct/06/life-coaching-brooke-castillo-unregulated-industry - LifeCoachSnark subreddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeCoachSnark/ - The Dream podcast - season 3 - https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-dream - The Life Coach School - https://www.thelifecoachschool.com/ - Th...2024-11-2754 min
Bad TherapistThe Shadow Side of Shadow Work 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 - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/books/booksupdate/keila-shaheen-shadow-work-journal-tiktok.html - Keila Shaheen’s Shadow Work Journal - https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Shadow-Work-Journal/Keila-Shaheen/9781668069189 - Julian Himself - https://www.tiktok.com/@julienhimself - Julian’s CNN “apology” for his manosphere behavior - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPT5dFHK3wo&t=8...2024-11-2149 min
Bad TherapistThe Sullivanians - A Therapeutic Commune Gone WrongRachel & 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 - https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sullivanians-free-love-psychotherapy-and-the-wild-life-of-america-s-largest-urban-commune-alexander-stille/18789052 -The Sullivanians - Through a Blue Window podcast, by Shelley Feinerman https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sullivanians-through-a-blue-window-c-2019/id1697359383 -https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/24/archives/-good-me-or-bad-me-the-sullivan-approach-to-personality-starting.html (https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/24/archives/-good-me-or-bad-me-the-sullivan-approach-to-personality-starting.html) - Cro...2024-11-211h 04
Bad TherapistWelcome to Bad TherapisRachel 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. 2024-11-1812 min
Bad TherapistTrailerWelcome 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 dark side of mental health. Hosted by...2024-11-1601 min