Welcome to Culture Clinic, MedPage Today's collaboration with Northwell Health to offer a healthcare professional's take on the latest viral medical topics.
It seems everyone knows someone -- or several people -- in therapy these days. What once was shrouded in taboo is now commonly talked about between friends and shared online.
Major shifts in attitudes toward mental health have led to more people than ever before going to therapy. According to 2024 CDC data, 14% of U.S. adults received counseling or therapy in the last year -- up about 50% from the 9.5% reported in 2019.
Therapy speak is now part of the cultural lexicon, with people casually using terms like "boundaries" and "triggers," and "holding space" in ways that wouldn't have been common perhaps even a decade ago.
Young people have been at the fore of this change.
