Op-Ed: Therapist Argues We're Overusing Therapy

Therapy, a New York psychologist argues, has quietly become America's go-to answer for feeling bad—even when the problem isn't mental illness. In a New York Times opinion piece, Dr. Harvey Lieberman, who has practiced for more than 50 years, says more and more people are seeking treatment for loneliness, work conflicts, or money stress rather than clinical conditions. "Therapy seems to have become the default prescription for all forms of unhappiness," he writes. That shift risks crowding out those with the most serious needs, burning out therapists, and encouraging all of us to see ordinary hardship as pathology.

Lieberman draws a line between suffering that stems from within—obsessive thoughts, crippling fear, depression that persists despite improvement in life circumstances—and distress rooted in isolation or life events. For the latter, he suggests what's really missing is community. He points to rising therapy rates, "diagnostic inflation," and national efforts in Britain and Japan to tackle loneliness via social programs rather than just clinicians. His pitch: Try rebuilding connections first, and view therapy as the next step if pain continues to derail daily life. Read the full essay.