Andrew Hartz is a psychologist and the founder of the Open Therapy Institute — a national directory of vetted, non-activist therapists, plus a peer-reviewed journal, conference, and podcast. He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed about political activism in mental health, got a grant to do something about it, and hasn't stopped since.
We talked about: what an activist therapist actually looks like (APA's division on psychoanalysis lists 90 talks with zero mention of therapy, evidence, diagnosis, or treatment — but plenty on colonial domination, carcerality, and proximity to whiteness); how APA accredited a drag show called "Feel the F***ing Fantasy Redux" for continuing ed credits; a keynote speaker who co-translated Communism for Kids and wrote Abolish the Family; clinics diagnosing patients differently based on their race; patients being referred out for having the wrong politics; how mental health activism is backfiring on the people it claims to help (secondary gains and the evidence against rewarding symptoms); when this all started (earlier than you think — 2014, accelerating through 2019); why Lacanian nonsense writing infected academic psychology and what that sentence actually is; what CBT can and can't do; humor as a mature defense mechanism and why patients who laugh have better outcomes; why AI therapists worry Andrew more than most people realize; and Lou volunteering to coach soccer for a team of first graders despite having never played the sport.
Find a vetted therapist → opentherapyinstitute.org
Read the journal → Open Inquiry in Mental Health on Substack https://openinquirymentalhealth.substack.com/?utm_source=global-search
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 — Intro — Andrew Hartz and the Open Therapy Institute
3:23 — What is an activist therapist? The APA call for papers read aloud
6:24 — APA's division on psychoanalysis: 90 talks, 800 attendees, zero mention of therapy
8:29 — APA accredited a drag show for continuing ed credits
10:08 — Keynote speaker co-translated Communism for Kids, wrote Abolish the Family
11:53 — Lou's SJW Therapist sketch — and how close to reality it actually is
12:21 — Diagnosing people by their race — a white girl's anxiety vs. a black girl's anxiety
13:17 — The intake form that starts with pronouns — and what that signals
14:01 — Patient referred out for thinking she didn't get a fellowship due to affirmative action
14:41 — Who's paying for this? Insurance, premiums, and activist therapy
16:16 — "Evidence is Western" — activist therapists and why they reject research
17:25 — When did therapy start going this route? 2014, accelerating through 2019
19:47 — Lou's SJW Therapist video: January 2019 — right on time
20:12 — Mental illness as identity — secondary gains and how compassion backfires
21:33 — Test anxiety, extra time, and why rewarding symptoms makes them worse
23:52 — Lou used to wet himself before tests. He is not ashamed.
26:06 — The incoherence of activist academia — can anyone read this sentence?
27:23 — "Counter the extractive relations of cis heteropatriarchal racial capitalism" — a real sentence
29:54 — Lacan, oracular interpretations, and how academic nonsense writing spread
33:45 — If you have to build a birdhouse, the sentences have to make sense
36:36 — Greg Lukianoff, CBT, and what good therapy actually looks like
38:10 — Anger, dysregulation, and slowing down the loop
41:53 — What therapy cannot do: eliminate human emotion entirely
42:44 — Lou and the spiral — and why self-control matters
45:32 — Lou volunteered to coach soccer. He doesn't know how to play soccer.
49:30 — Humor as a mature defense — why patients who laugh have better outcomes
52:56 — Was it Good Will Hunting? What Robin Williams got right about therapy
54:55 — AI therapists — what they can replace and what they can't
57:17 — The danger of chatbot therapy for people who struggle with real relationships
58:03 — Open Inquiry in Mental Health journal and how to find a vetted therapist
Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ
Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081
Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU
🍺 Co-host of Happy Hour Econ → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-econ/id1863476697
📖 Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r
🌐 TheLouPerez.com | 📧 info@thelouperez.com
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