Women would rather say “go to therapy” than offer helpful advice.

The benefits of therapy are self-reported and generally don’t control for the non-therapy group. Those who volunteer for therapy are a selected group. There's no evidence that talking to a professional vs talking to a friend is magically helpful. If there are magical techniques, we should explain those techniques rather than gatekeeping them behind credentials.

Instead of saying, “go to therapy,” explain the technique in question. If you don’t understand the techniques you claim work, that’s magical thinking.

It’s fine to claim that you use computers, but don’t use computer science, and if you have a problem with your computer, you take it to a repairman, or a specialist. That’s because computers are clearly objectively legible and knowledge of computers linearly correlates with competence.

The problem with therapy is that there is no comprehensive test of “psychological knowledge” that results in better therapeutic outcomes. Therapy is basically the art of listening, and while that is a skill that can be developed, it isn’t a knowledge-based skill. It’s an emotional skill.

Learning empathy is more about effort than technique. The techniques are mostly placebos and arbitrary semantic rituals. A rose by any other name will smell as sweet.

If there are techniques that work, great, explain them. Just don’t say “go to therapy.”