The Therapy Tax

Stop paying the emotional debt for people who refuse to grow.

Every dollar you spend is either buying happiness or buying the appearance of happiness. But there’s a third, hidden category that’s draining our bank accounts and our souls: The “Someone Else Won’t Go to Therapy” Tax.

It is one of life’s great, annoying ironies that the people who desperately need therapy rarely actually go. Instead, it’s their victims who end up in the chair.

We’re out here paying $150 an hour to learn how to deal with people who are essentially “unpaid interns” in the department of our own sanity.

• We go to therapy to learn how to set boundaries with people who treat “no” like a suggestion.

• We go to therapy to fix the “robotic” burnout caused by someone else’s main-character energy.

• We go to therapy to figure out why we’re so tired, only to realize we’ve been carrying the emotional luggage of someone who refuses to even check a bag.

If you’re sitting on a couch this week unboxing trauma that isn’t even yours, just remember: You aren’t “broken.” You’re just the only one in the room brave enough to stop polishing the appearance of “fine” and actually do the work.

Stop funding the appearance of a functional life. Start investing in the reality of a free one.