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This Isn’t Therapy

This Isn’t Therapy

By: Jake Ernst & Simon Paluck
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About this listen

This Isn’t Therapy... it's a podcast about it! Therapy themes are everywhere you look— they’re in your relationships, in the culture, and yes, inside of you, Mary! Each week, Jake Ernst and Simon Paluck peel back the therapy curtain to discuss the very things people are talking to their therapists about. Anxiety. Boundaries. People Pleasing. Their narcissistic mother. No topic is off limits! New episodes drop every Thursday. ⁣ The hosts: Jake: https://www.instagram.com/mswjake Simon: https://www.instagram.com/directedbysimon The pod: https://www.instagram.com/notatherapypodcast© Jake Ernst & Simon Paluck, 2024 Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • ENCORE: The pursuit of endless bliss
    Oct 30 2025

    This Isn't Therapy... it's an *encore* episode about the pursuit of endless bliss. Many people arrive to therapy with a "fantasy goal" thinking they want to be calm, happy, and relaxed all the time. Through two #lovelylistener stories, Jake and Simon talk about how to find a realistic sense of joy, happiness, purpose, and pleasure and what we can (or should) expect from life. This episode is for those wondering why the pursuit of endless bliss doesn’t produce the feelings (and lasting results) they promise.

    Read more: The Pursuit of Endless Bliss by Jake Ernst.

    Don't forget, Mary: Submit a quandary, query, or question with our newest segment Asking For A Friend...

    Contact: thisisnttherapypodcast@gmail.com

    Creators & Guests

    • Simon Paluck - Host
    • Jake Ernst - Host

    Hello, hi! Follow us on Instagram: @notatherapypodcast⁣
    Jake Ernst: @mswjake
    Simon Paluck: @directedbysimon
    Episode mixed by Jordan Paluck
    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
  • ENCORE: Is therapy harming kids?
    Oct 23 2025

    This Isn't Therapy...this is an *encore* critical look at the argument that children need less therapy, not more, and how this "mental heath culture" is stripping parents of autonomy, ultimately causing more harm than good. In this episode, Jake and Simon dive into a review (written by Anna Nordberg for Slate) for a book by a right-leaning conspiracy theorist titled Bad Therapy. "In Bad Therapy, Shrier [the book's author] ladles heavy helpings of anecdote over some scientific research to argue that therapists, school counselors, and the language of therapy that has influenced parenting in the past decade or so are, in her view, harming kids." So, what really is harming the kids? Is it therapy or maybe, just maybe, it's something else...

    Source: Who’s Making The Kids Cry by Anna Nordberg for Slate

    P.S. Don't forget: Submit a quandary, query, or question with our newest segment Asking For A Friend...

    Contact: thisisnttherapypodcast@gmail.com

    Creators & Guests

    • Simon Paluck - Host
    • Jake Ernst - Host

    Hello, hi! Follow us on Instagram: @notatherapypodcast⁣
    Jake Ernst: @mswjake
    Simon Paluck: @directedbysimon
    Episode mixed by Jordan Paluck
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • ENCORE: The pressure to be happy
    Oct 16 2025

    This Isn't Therapy... it's the *encore* episode about the pressure to be happy. In this episode, Jake and Simon talk about how to feel authentically happy when there's a lot of pressure to perform positivity or force happy feelings. Jake and Simon hear from two Lovely Listeners who wonder about the true meaning of happiness and how to spot the difference between authentic joy versus fake happiness. In a culture that might encourage us to "just think positive!" we're asking "...should we?"

    Got a quandary, query, or question? Submit your Q (anonymously) to Asking For A Friend...

    Creators & Guests

    • Simon Paluck - Host
    • Jake Ernst - Host

    Hello, hi! Validate us by...
    Following us on Instagram: @notatherapypodcast⁣
    Following us on TikTok: @notatherapypodcast
    Jake Ernst: @mswjake
    Simon Paluck: @directedbysimon
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
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