​A Critical Lecture and Discussion with (Yes) a Therapist

​A recording will be available for ticketholders who cannot attend synchronously.

​Today, it seems like the popular solution for everyone’s life problems (if they can afford it) is to “go to therapy” where, if the internet is to be trusted (!) they will learn about their past trauma, discover how to set boundaries, and possibly come to blame their parents for what’s gone wrong. But empirically, statistically, and in the eyes of an actual therapist, what does therapy really do?

​In this session, Dr. Sarah Stein Lubrano will present the best available data on what therapy consistently achieves for people—and, importantly, what it doesn’t. She’ll also lay out some important problems therapy generally doesn’t address, including problems of collective suffering under the systemic pressures like capitalism and patriarchy. Then she’ll be joined by her longtime friend Raul Aparici a licensed psychotherapist, and they’ll discuss what people should realistically expect from therapy and where else they might look for help navigating the highs and lows of human life. Should we turn to AI? Should we turn to our friends more often? And when should we (in fact) lie down on the couch?

​Dr Sarah Stein Lubrano has a background in feminist activism, mutual aid, and other local organising as well as teaching in prisons. She holds a PhD from the University of Oxford and a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. She was previously the Head of Content at The School of Life and wrote obituaries. Her first book, Don’t Talk About Politics: Changing 21st Century Minds, is out now. That book and her forthcoming book delve into social atrophy, the shrinking and changing of the brain due to social isolation - and the societal problems that cause this.

​Raul Aparici is a registered and accredited psychotherapist, and facilitator. With a diverse background that includes a career in the fitness industry, a BA in English Literature, an MA in Critical Theory and an MA in Gestalt Therapy Theory, he likes to match academic insights with commercial pragmatism, while living in the real world. He provides Equine Assisted Coaching and Leadership Consulting with Operation Centaur in Richmond Park and he is the former Programme Director for Coaching Psychology at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is also the head of faculty at The School of Life, and runs his own psychotherapy clinic.