The Rise of Therapy-Speak — or, The Tower of ‘Psychobabble On’
‘Therapy-speak,’ also known as ‘psychobabble’ to some or ‘pop psychology terms’ to others, is a way to phrase emotions, sentiments, desires, or expressions using specific terminologies. And while one can turn anything into jargon (as so many of us in the future of work world know too well), therapy-speak is about concretizing, intellectualizing, and depersonalizing feelings to be discussed and processed in a way that isn’t messy or scary. But who’s to say if it’s really working that way?
Where did it come from?
The origin of therapy-speak is a bit of a chicken or egg situation. Did therapists teach the general public these terms, or did the general public create them, leaving therapists with a convenient little handbook of jargon? In some ways, it doesn’t matter where it came from — just that it’s so prolific now and has risen to popularity in the years following 2020’s onset of COVID-19. Some professionals love how accessible these terms make emotional dialogues and often utilize them in sessions to articulate a patient’s feelings. Others aren’t so charmed.
“These phrases and words have become so ubiquitously used and haphazardly thrown around that they’ve lost any real value — like the word ‘trauma,’” says Gregory Bendau, a PsyD student at Pepperdine University. “It’s a…
