7 Comments

Loved this thoughtful and nuanced piece, think you’ve summed it up perfectly. Therapy Speak can indeed help with our emotional literacy, but it isn’t there to be used as a shield to protect you from consequences or vulnerability.

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Apr 13, 2023Liked by Francesca Specter

So glad I signed up for your newsletters, Francesca! You have a real knack for tuning in on topics that are both relevant and complex. It occurs to me that when we issue these thought-stopping judgements on others we do it from a position of ignorance and subjectivity. I mean even psychiatrists and therapists get things wrong so what makes us think that we have the skills (let alone the right!) to judge others? If they’re dicks I just try and steer clear of them but if I care about someone who is behaving in a dick-like manner then I would try and help them - possibly while still labeling them a dick temporarily 😅. I shall try and be kinder!

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Thanks Francesca, There is an awful lot to ponder here. I like you feel there is a definite role for Therapy Speak, but not as the norm. It is important to understand the concept behind the ‘Speak’. As someone from the older generation I know how words, particularly in this area, have evolved changed, been discarded, reinvented etc, particularly when they can be misunderstood. That is the reason I love your Alonement, it is so straightforward.

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