A compelling and witty exploration of therapy culture in the social media age and the ways it has warped our relationships, self-perception, and emotional wellbeing.

Encountering any problem in our lives—be it stress from work, family drama, or a bad relationship—one rejoinder has become incredibly common: “Well, have you gone to therapy?”

Until recent years, therapy was a service for the privileged few and, for many, something to be ashamed of. But in the last decade, we have entered a new age of therapy: apps at our fingertips, endless self-care mantras, and everyone fluent in “trauma,” “boundaries,” and “toxicity.” This has led to some de-stigmatization around mental health, but also to a buzz of vague therapized language and sloppily relayed tenets leaking into every part of our lives. Is all this making us better, or just more self-involved? Does everyone truly need therapy?

In Tell Me About Myself, Sarah Manavis investigates how the language and practice of psychotherapy have been co-opted by pop culture, capitalism, and influencers—flattened into a one-size-fits-all model of self-optimization that alienates us from each other and even from ourselves. From TikTok therapists to therapy-industry grifters, Manavis interrogates this new cultural ethos and what happens when therapy becomes content and healing becomes performance.

A need for mental health support—and a lack of access to it—are symptoms of deeper social problems. Unpacking what therapy actually offers us, and reckoning with what it doesn’t, Manavis offers us ways to move forward with clarity and optimism and a truer blueprint for how to understand and show up for one another.