Relationships are hard enough without therapizing every issue & conflict.

Relations are about humans—complex, messy, imperfect—each with their own unresolved wounds and insecurities.

When we are overcome—emotionally paralyzed, frustrated, overwhelmed—by strong negative emotions like anger, resentment, and/or guilt, it's easy to reduce ourselves, our partners, and our relationships to neat labels that allow us to avoid confronting deeper, more problematic truths.

"These days, it seems like every argument comes with a side of psychobabble—whether it’s pulled from a psych 101 textbook, self-growth podcast, online forum, or “viral” therapy video. Suddenly, normal relationship hiccups are diagnosed as full-blown disorders, and the result? We’re writing people off or cutting them out of our lives and calling it #boundaries.

Here’s the truth: No one is perfect. We’re complex beings with pasts and emotional baggage, and sometimes communicating effectively with other humans is hard. It doesn’t mean everyone’s toxic or a narcissist or bipolar or gaslighting you."

—Dr. Isabelle Morley, They’re Not Gaslighting You

“If the language used on the internet is a reliable indicator, we’re more psychologically enlightened than ever. We discuss attachment styles like the weather. We joke about our coping mechanisms. We project, or are projected on to. We shun “toxic” people. We catastrophize and ruminate. We diagnose, or are diagnosed: OCD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, narcissism. We make, break or struggle to “hold” boundaries. We practise self-care. We know how to spot gaslighting. We’re tuned into our emotional labour. We’re triggered. We’re processing our trauma. We’re doing the work.”

—“That’s triggering! Is therapy-speak changing the way we talk about ourselves?” The Guardian