Emotional Prestige: Therapy Language, Social Status, and Modern Relationships (opens in new tab)

There was a time when emotional dysfunction had the decency to remain mysterious. A spouse disappeared emotionally for six months, and nobody announced, “He is displaying dismissive-avoidant deactivation strategies rooted in unmet attachment needs.” They simply said, “Frank has become impossible since buying that boat.” Cleaner era. Fewer syllables. Now everyone speaks fluent therapy dialect. Entire relationships unfold in the language of psychological interpretation. Couples no longer merely...