> Therapy can be an enabler of bad behavior
Be aware that a lot of therapists are aware of this and actively try not to do this.
Unfortunately, services like BetterHealth allow clients to select their therapists in ways which results in people doctor shopping to get what they want. Doctors want to get paid so they'll say/do whatever to keep clients.
It's like the antibiotic issue with internal medicine. People will see a bunch of doctors until they get what they want.
Yes but isn't this pretty fundamental to the process? You could look for more qualified/expensive people, but even if it were free and everyone was extremely qualified then there's still customer-satisfaction metrics to try and game.
To bring it back towards exercise, it's fair to say that it literally cannot hurt and might help, which is more than you can say about therapy. And at least it is very, very telling whether a therapist is working questions about sleep/exercise into the very first interactions. Anyone who does not is definitely a quack.
That's one of the interesting paradoxes to me: everyone I know who's had therapy says you need to "shop around" and find the right fit.
On the one hand, I feel this is right. With dentists and doctors, second opinions are important because we all know people who have had years of their lives or physical health ruined due to quick doctor's visits where the doctor was light on time, patience, and information.
At the same time, it seems like it can be like that episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia where they just keep firing their arbitrators until they find one that isn't concerned with ethicality.