memes

Therapy is about the patient getting into a better, more positive, and happier mindset.

Happy people, don't tend to get angry enough to rise up and overthrow their oppressors.

So yeah, there's a correlation there, but if therapy was being used as a vehicle for "the man" (or whomever) to keep you from their oppression, IMO, therapy would be a lot cheaper, or free.

To me, since therapy isn't free for so many people, that's not it's primary motivator. The main push for therapy is in self analysis and understanding the reason why you feel as you do. All in an effort to help the patient have more control over their emotions, and feel better overall, or process through things that may have been very disruptive to their mental well-being. Everything from a sudden job loss to childhood trauma.

I don't think that any therapist would ever encourage you to stay in a situation that you were actively being harmed in (either mentally or physically). At worst, they wouldn't tell you to stay in that situation, but also wouldn't push you to get out of it, staying neutral. Bluntly, it's not the job of therapy to tell you "that's toxic and you should get out", their job is to have you recognise that the situation you're in is toxic and decide to exit that situation. They want to lead you to that decision, not make it for you.

Long story short, the sum total of therapy in my opinion, is to ask the tough questions and honestly pursue solutions to any problems you may have in your life. The therapist is just a guide on that path, but you must walk it. If that leads to finding a new job or getting out of a relationship or something of that nature, you have to make that choice; the therapist can help you see things in a better, more neutral light (untainted by your own perspective), and think about things more critically, but can't and shouldn't be simply telling you what to do.

This is a big reason why the stereotypical phrases we see in popular culture about therapists is that they're sitting back, listening to you saying things like "how does that make you feel?" And "why do you think they did that?".... Because that's what they're doing, they're forcing you to consider what other people may have been doing, or what their motivations were, and how it affected you. It helps you have perspective on what's happening in your life and look at things in a way that makes sense, rather than just be frustrated by others constantly being demanding or whatever they're doing.

Therapy, IMO, is 100% about the patient making sense of what's around them and making good decisions about what to do next.

Simply put: you cannot control others and what they do, but you can control how you react to those people and how you allow them to affect you.