EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Therapy gets misunderstood constantly. This episode draws the real line between coaching, counseling, and therapy (including how an LMHC differs from an LCSW), then busts five myths: that therapy is unstructured venting (it follows a theoretical orientation and often a DSM Five diagnosis and treatment plan),that it's only for crisis, that it always takes years, that seeking it means something is wrong with you, and that it only covers feelings, not money. Along the way: why stigma is one of the biggest documented barriers to care, how it lands unevenly across different groups, and why financial therapy treats money as the emotional territory it actually is.

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REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (2022).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.).https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Bennett, L. (2026, May 20). LCSW vs. LMHC: Key differences explained. Public Health Online. https://www.publichealthonline.org/lcsw-vs-lmhc/

Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., Morgan, C., Rüsch, N., Brown,J. S. L., & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mentalhealth-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological Medicine, 45(1), 11–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714000129

Corrigan, P. W., Druss, B. G., & Perlick, D. A. (2014). The impact of mental illness stigma on seeking and participating in mental health care. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 15(2), 37–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100614531398

Financial Therapy Association. (n.d.).Home. https://www.financialtherapyassociation.org

Harrer, M., Miguel, C., van Ballegooijen, W., Ciharova, M., Plessen, C. Y., Kuper, P., Sprenger, A. A., Buntrock, C., Papola, D., Cristea, I. A., & Cuijpers, P. (2025). Effectiveness of psychotherapy: Synthesis of a "meta-analytic research domain" acrossworld regions and 12 mental health problems. Psychological Bulletin, 151(5), 600–667. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000465

Jordan, M., & Livingstone, J. B. (2013). Coaching vs psychotherapy in health and wellness: Overlap, dissimilarities, and the potential for collaboration. Global Advances in Healthand Medicine, 2(4), 20–27. https://doi.org/10.7453/gahmj.2013.036

Levy, K. (2025, April 4). 5 common therapy myths—and the research that disproves them. Charlie Health. https://www.charliehealth.com/research/therapy-myths

Psychotherapy Notes. (2024, May 15). Therapy and coaching: Understanding the differences. https://www.psychotherapynotes.com/therapy-and-coaching-differences/

Quintero Johnson, J. M., & Riles, J. (2018). "He acted like a crazy person": Exploring the influence of college students' recall of stereotypic media representations of mental illness. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 7(2), 146–163. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000121

Seidler, Z. E., Dawes, A. J., Rice, S. M., Oliffe, J. L., & Dhillon, H. M. (2016). The role of masculinity in men's help-seeking for depression: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review,49, 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.09.002

Üzümçeker, E. (2025). Traditional masculinity and men's psychological help-seeking: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Psychology, 60(2), Article e70031. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.70031

Weir, K. (2016, December 1). Therapy on camera. Monitor on Psychology, 47(11). American Psychological Association.https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/12/therapy-camera

Wong, Y. J., Ho, M. H. R., Wang, S. Y., & Miller, I. S. (2017). Meta-analyses of the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and mental health-related outcomes. Journal ofCounseling Psychology, 64(1), 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000176

You've probably seen the terms everywhere: anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, secure. Maybe you've even looked yourself up and thought: yep, that's me.

But attachment theory was never designed to be a personality typology. It's a developmental framework. And the research on whether childhood attachment styles actually carry into adulthood? Much messier, and much more hopeful, than the popular version suggests.

In this episode, I unpack what the science actually says, why the label trap is so easy to fall into, and what becomes possible when you move from "I am anxiously attached" to "I developed this pattern, and I can work with it."

Read the full newsletter with references at www.linkedin.com/in/oschnuse

If you're ready to explore values-based, intentional living, book a free consultation at equilibriaevolution.com.

Sometimes the most important question is not "how do I get what I want?" It is "do I even know what I want?" In this episode I explore one of the subtler struggles I see most often: the difficulty people have connecting to their own authentic desires, dreams, and vision. We cover the neuroscience of why this happens, why borrowed goals feel hollow at the finish line, and three gentle conditions that tend to help the real signal surface. Less analysis. More listening inward.

Find out more about me and schedule your private consultation!