But I think the guy himself has a point when he says he lowers the bar. Think how many different jobs (or "roles") there that can be ranked in a kind of hierarchy: not in the sense of a career ladder, but in services and expertise offered. Between the bottom of this hierarchy, and nothing, is a gap to fill.
Take for example personal protection. Sure, if I need a high tier of that service, I could get myself a bodyguard, maybe one of those with ex-military experience and all the combat training etc. Between that and "nothing" is a random joe who tags along to the Tinder date, like this guy.
Or sure I could meet a licensed therapist. Don't want to? Can meet a friend. Don't have one? This random dude to the rescue.
Yes, this isn't just _therapy_. Although apparently he provides that in a highly limited way. I think "someone to tag along in uncertain & common situations" is a useful service.
I also think that there's probably a lot lost in translation, and would be very interested in a JP resident / speaker providing commentary and context.
Fortune teller in Japan is sometimes considered as a lightweight blackbox version of therapist. They listen customer's talk and give advive in blackbox way.
I 've seen people react with a "oh so wacky japan" attitude when something like this pops up. But I agree with you, this is nothing more than a form of therapy.
> Another reflected, "I had been slack about visiting the hospital, but I went because he came with me."
I have seen multiple people be much more eager and diligent in taking a pet to the vet, than taking care of theirselves (due to fear, shame, and an if you ignore it long enough mentality) this hits hard.
For me personally, I'm more likely to take a pet to the vet because I'd feel guilty about neglecting a pet, while I can neglect myself without feeling guilty (just like I do when I knowingly eat too much junk food or don't exercise enough or whatever -- I know its bad, but I can ignore it).
I saw a lecture on psychology 101-- I think it was the free online one from Stanford-- where the professor said the main benefit of talk therapy is just having someone who cares about your problems for 45 minutes.
In my experience this can be an extremely harmful approach to talk therapy (and talking about therapy).
The main benefit is having someone trained to listen for specific symptoms based on what you talk about and to develop treatment strategies based on what you discuss and symptoms you experience.
I wouldn't reduce it to "having someone who cares about your problems for 45 minutes." It's more like "talking about your problems for 45 minutes to someone who can recognize which ones are rational, which ones aren't, and can discuss with you how to mitigate the negative effects of your own irrational thoughts."
You are basically summarizing the idea of cognitive behavioral therapy, but I don't believe it's been established it works better than ordinary talk therapy.
The cognitive behavioral therapist has to assume the human mind works a certain way, suffering is caused by "irrational" thoughts, and therapist is somehow more "rational" than their clients, so can help their clients be more "rational" like the therapist. These are some big assumptions.
Part of the “humans are social creatures” thing - communication is thought. Explaining yourself to another person organizes and makes connections within your ideas that rumination doesn’t.
We don't have deep conversations about theory of function, but the peripheral mentions that creep into our conversations seem to point in this same direction.
It highly depends on the 'school of therapy', there are approaches when therapists view themselves more of a 'fellow traveler/sufferer on the road of live' and less of an authority figure. And it's highly depends on the individual client and therapist.
I think this whole thing comes from a place of generalized loneliness and lack of genuine human contact between people. Technology's other edge has enabled physical isolation quite a bit.
But I think the guy himself has a point when he says he lowers the bar. Think how many different jobs (or "roles") there that can be ranked in a kind of hierarchy: not in the sense of a career ladder, but in services and expertise offered. Between the bottom of this hierarchy, and nothing, is a gap to fill.
Take for example personal protection. Sure, if I need a high tier of that service, I could get myself a bodyguard, maybe one of those with ex-military experience and all the combat training etc. Between that and "nothing" is a random joe who tags along to the Tinder date, like this guy.
Or sure I could meet a licensed therapist. Don't want to? Can meet a friend. Don't have one? This random dude to the rescue.