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Psychotherapist reveals why therapy might be doing you more harm than good

Nypost · · 1223 words · By Jonathan Alpert
Identity Politics Mental Health Treatment Individual Agency vs. Systemic Oppression
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What to know about Identity Politics

Psychotherapist reveals why therapy might be doing you more harm than good - Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert claims modern therapy, focused on identity politics, harms patients.

Claims checked 6
Techniques found 5
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left20%
Center60%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Psychotherapist reveals why therapy might be doing you more harm than good - Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert claims modern therapy, focused on identity politics, harms patients.

Why it matters

- Alpert says therapists increasingly frame patient issues through race, gender, and oppression.

Common ground

- He argues therapy’s focus on identity, once a correction, now makes patients more anxious.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Straw Man, Black-and-White Fallacy: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/16/opinion/all-that-therapy-isnt-actually-helping-ame…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 5 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Straw Man 80% confidence
Misrepresenting an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing straw man helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Black-and-White Fallacy 70% confidence
Presenting only two options when more exist.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing black-and-white fallacy helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Hasty Generalization 70% confidence
Drawing broad conclusions from a small or unrepresentative sample.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing hasty generalization helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Slippery Slope 60% confidence
Arguing that one event will inevitably lead to extreme consequences without evidence.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing slippery slope helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 2
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Claim 1: “Jonathan Alpert wrote the book “Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It’s Left Us More Anxious and Divided” (Hanover Square Press)”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the title of the book, the author (Jonathan Alpert), and the publisher (HarperCollins/Hanover Square Press), including a specific release date of May 19, 2026.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Therapy Nation by Jonathan Alpert will be available May 19, 2026. Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert delivers a provocative look at how therapy culture has reshaped the way we live, speak, and relate to …
https://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Nation-America-Anxious-Divide…
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web search NEUTRAL — Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It's Left Us More Anxious and Divided.
https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/therapy-nation-how-amer…
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web search NEUTRAL — Read "Therapy Nation How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It's Left Us More Anxious and Divided" by Jonathan Alpert available from Rakuten Kobo. Coming soon! Therapy Nation by Jonathan Alpert wil…
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/therapy-nation-1
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Claim 2: “Jonathan Alpert has been a psychotherapist for decades”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources identify Jonathan Alpert as a psychotherapist. While the specific phrase 'for decades' is not explicitly quantified in the snippets, his established career as an author and practitioner across multiple platforms corroborates his professional status.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jonathan Alpert is a fearless psychotherapist, performance coach, consultant, columnist, and author who deeply understands the problems his clients face. It’s possible to have the life you want and de…
https://www.jonathanalpert.com/about
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — . Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist who practices in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Among his patients, he's seeing election-related anxiety tied to the race between Harris and Trump…
https://embed.businessinsider.com/shy-trump-voters-psychothe…
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web search NEUTRAL — NEW: Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert says that 75% of the patients he sees have a deep hatred for Trump and are "hyper fixated" on him. "They can't sleep, they feel traumatized by Mr. Trump."
https://news.meaww.com/psychotherapist-says-trump-derangemen…
info
Claim 3: “Hanover Square Press is an imprint of HarperCollins”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided mentions HarperCollins as a publisher and explains what imprints are, but none of the provided search results explicitly state that 'Hanover Square Press' is an imprint of HarperCollins, although Claim 1's evidence links the book to both.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Hachette Book Group, Inc. is an American-based publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachette_Book_Group
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web search NEUTRAL — HarperCollins is the publisher > which has an adult division > in which William Morrow is an imprint > and Avon is an imprint of that. Some publishing companies have eponymous imprints, and Simon & Sc…
https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/what-is-an-imprint-an-expla…
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web search NEUTRAL — *HarperCollins newsletters are a promotional service of HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, providing information about the products of HarperCollins and its affiliates.
https://www.harpercollins.com/
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Claim 4: “These ideas are formalized in frameworks like the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies, which place social justice at the center of therapy and encourage therapists to sort both themselves and their patients into categories of “privileged” and “marginalized.””
CORROBORATED
The evidence confirms the existence of the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) and explicitly mentions that the framework focuses on how power, privilege, and oppression interact within the therapeutic relationship.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Built upon the original Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCC) developed by Derald Wing Sue, Patricia Arredondo and Roderick J. McDavis in 1992, the MSJCC represent emerging multicultural and soc…
https://ctarchive.counseling.org/2016/01/multicultural-and-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts et al., 2015) are the next. iteration of the larger human rights movement for equity and justice in counseling.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342040902_The_Past_…
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web search NEUTRAL — ...Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) framework places the therapeutic relationship at the center of social justice work by focusing on the various ways in which power, p…
https://1library.co/ca/docs/better-understand-counsellors-th…
info
Claim 5: “many graduate programs train therapists to view patients primarily through the lens of identity and power dynamics”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided search results discuss power dynamics in general relationships or general therapist identity, but do not provide evidence regarding the specific curricula of 'many graduate programs' training therapists to view patients primarily through identity and power dynamics.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Situations that can create unhealthy power dynamics in relationships. The three most common unhealthy power dynamics.It’s important to identify what the unhealthy dynamics are and how they developed s…
https://innerbalanceaz.com/educational-resources/power-dynam…
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web search NEUTRAL — If you are about to start Physical Therapy school or considering Physical Therapy as a career, you'll want to know these things before you commit the time an...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3qLQ3qItiE
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web search NEUTRAL — • Effective therapists have an identity. They know who they are, what they are capa-ble of becoming, what they want out of life, and what is essential. • Effective therapists respect and appreciate th…
https://nibmehub.com/opac-service/pdf/read/Theory+and+Practi…
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Claim 6: “Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist practicing in New York City and Washington, DC”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm he is a psychotherapist in Manhattan (NYC) and one source explicitly states he practices in both New York City and Washington, DC.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jonathan Alpert is a fearless psychotherapist, performance coach, consultant, columnist, and author who deeply understands the problems his clients face. It’s possible to have the life you want and de…
https://www.jonathanalpert.com/about
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jonathan Alpert is a Manhattan psychotherapist, executive performance coach, columnist, and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days.Achieve work-life balance, avoid burn-out, and unlock the…
https://www.jonathanalpert.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist in New York City and Washington, DC, and author of the forthcoming book "Therapy Nation." X: @JonathanAlpert. Get the Daily OutKick and get smarter every day.
https://www.outkick.com/analysis/tiger-woods-americas-addict…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.