Started digging into this liberal psychology thing yesterday after bumping into some old therapy notes from college. Honestly felt like stumbling into an unfinished conversation with myself. Grabbed a notebook and that half-empty coffee mug – real world-changing setup, right?
How It Began
Pulled up three dusty textbooks from my shelf – the ones with cracked spines I haven’t cracked open since 2019. Skimmed chapters about therapy approaches while scribbling like mad. Noticed one big pattern screaming off the pages:
- Nothing’s “just broken”. Liberal psych hates slapping labels like “disordered” on people without context.
- Your roots matter. Kept seeing stuff about family history, culture, money problems – basically how your whole life stew brews your current mental state.
- Therapy ain’t neutral. Counselors admitting their own biases exist? Wild concept for early 2000s psych!
Tested It Out Myself
Wrote down my buddy “Mark’s” work burnout spiral – but rewrote it twice. First pass sounded like a medical chart: “Generalized anxiety. Adjustment difficulties.” Cold. Wrong.
Second pass included:
- His crap boss threatening visas
- 90-hour weeks during launch
- Immigration lawyer fees draining savings
- That panic attack at the bodega over $3 coffee
That’s the liberal psych lens – treating his breakdown as human reaction to impossible pressure, not “faulty wiring.”
The Real Messy Part
Tried discussing this over beers with Sarah (ex-case worker). Got heated fast! She threw her hands up: “If we question every diagnosis, do insurance companies implode?” Valid point! Liberal psych sounds great til corporate realities crash in. Jotted her rant verbatim – gold for next week’s post about system friction.
Why Bother Unpacking This?
Remembered why I even care. Back in my first HR job, boss ordered me to label union organizers as “emotionally unstable.” Quit the next morning. Saw firsthand how psychology can weaponize suffering instead of honoring it. This whole exploration? Yeah, it’s personal armor against that crap.
Still processing whether this framework holds water long-term. But damn does it reframe suffering as something lived instead of something diagnosed. More coffee needed.
