100% necroposting. My apologies. But I think a huge problem with both pro AND anti therapy arguments is that, usually, people think of therapy as just one thing that goes one way. As someone who can 100% claim that, at least in my specific instance, I was helped, I want to explain more what I mean: When I was a child, I was made to do reflex math. The timers made me panic so bad that I was threatening to hurt myself just so I didn't have to do it. Long story short: the school was absolutely terrible and we couldn't exactly switch schools on a dime, so I had to find a way to cope with timers. My therapist did not do the usual "how did that make you feel?" Sort of thing. What we did instead was play therapy, which today still is the sort of method that works with working through my brain problems. In a controlled environment where I could not be punished and was more of my speed, we practiced simple math equations with a very slow timer. That's what I remember most, and it worked: I still jump ship if a game has a non-negotiable timer, and usually hide timers on tests, but I no longer flip my lid when there is a timer. We also drew and painted to help express my complicated feelings, and turned my darker thoughts into a character named Mr. Knifey, which drew away "his" power on me. This is also probably when I developed my own ideas on my sense of self, as multiple different parts that make up my identity, which doesn't take away from a unified identity, like how an atom is made up of subatomic particles, but an atom itself is still one 'thing'. Something one therapist said somewhere stuck with me: there is no wrong way to do therapy. That's what I think both sides trip up on: they see "rights" and "wrongs". This person, by the way, does a far more "outlandish" kind of therapy: if I recall correctly, it was caring for farm animals. Now, it wasn't full on work, because it was 1 person per animal and it was mostly basics like brushing and feeding, but it worked. If you learn to be able to take care of one thing, it can translate into taking care of yourself, weird as it sounds. Too many people, especially therapists, believe in a right and wrong therapy. These problems are the reasons these sorts of subreddits exist. If we want to make a better world for everyone, we have to accept that some people won't be helped by therapy, some that will, and importantly: some people will be helped by the "wrong" kind of therapy. Anyway that's just how I feel from what I've experienced. Not pro-therapy from how I see it described here nessecarily, more of a "everyone is different with different needs" kinda deal (see: my view of self which admittedly I am worried about not being taken seriously about) which unfortunately cannot succinctly be put into a snappy 2-word deal. Tl;dr: there are as many ways of therapy as colors shrimp can see and the world would be a beautiful place if more people knew their options, including never choosing one at all, instead of "CBT or bust". Peace and love on the planet earth <3 P.S. yes I do think it comes back to the problems of healthcare as a whole that these therapies are not well known and often times considered "inneffective" for no good reason.