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Key points
- Stigmas about psychotherapy and mental illness still persist today.
- Entertainment provides an accessible way to de-stigmatize difficult subjects like anxiety and depression.
- Learning about emotions benefits our individual and collective mental health and well-being.
Unbelievable as it sounds, stigmas surrounding mental health still exist. Myths like "Emotions are weak" or we can "Just get over it!" not only damage our self-confidence, but they are plainly false. We can do better, and emotions education is a critical path towards positive change.
I have always understood that playfulness and humor help us absorb information. So when I was invited by screenwriter, director, and mental health advocate Mariah Marasco to provide content for her new web series, The Drive-Thru Therapist, I jumped at the chance.
Learning about emotions, having a language with which to talk about and engage with them, encouraging authenticity, and normalizing the need for help and support must be as acceptable and available as being taught to read.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic began, Mariah created the idea for a TV series in which a young Dr. Sylvia Morris offered abbreviated therapy sessions via the uncommon format of a drive-thru window. The pandemic, however, made the show even more relevant. In our socially-distanced world, new ways of connecting and learning became all the more necessary.
In an interview about the show, Mariah explained that "Sylvia's 'window’ in some ways serves as a portal for the characters who visit her drive-thru. The portal carries the characters into a deeper exploration of their mental health scenarios and situations. It also allows for the amplification of the awkward factor. Many who have been to therapy know that it is not always perfect, but rather complicated and complex. By creating a setting that plays with those awkward moments in a light-hearted and comedic way, we hope to provide our audience with an entertaining take on therapy that's relatable, digestible, or even just a break from the seriousness of life.”
Following each of the first season's six episodes (each 5-7 minutes long) viewers can access commentary and reflections on Sylvia’s clients and their struggles in a real-world mental health context. Viewers will also be provided with links to emotional health tools like the Change Triangle and other resources to improve their own mental health and wellbeing.
In providing viewers education and resources as an extension of the show, we hope to entertain as we change outdated attitudes about psychotherapy. Because all humans suffer, we need to destigmatize emotional suffering as well as promote talking about mental health. The quirky and compelling Drive-Thru Therapist series seeks to entertain and provoke thought, as it simultaneously provides information to further individual and collective wellbeing.
And who can't use a good cathartic laugh these days?
The episodes can also be found on YouTube.
