I stumbled upon this article this morning. Briefly, a young, and for all intents and purposes very able, young psychology student is interviewed on his outlook on the current state of psychology. The article is the latest in a series intent on enlightening the general public on the subject. Fair enough.

The interviewee scores high points for refusing to align his career along the come-all, save-all fad of cognitive behavioural therapy – but I do wonder if it really was him or the journalist who ran the piece into the proverbial gutter by claiming that the public would be better served by therapy than by a new pair of jeans – and not mentioning this once, but enough times to clear it of any evidence of circumstance.

The problem with making such statements and at the same time trying to elevate therapy into a viable option for self-improvement puts it right beside the line of the thing that same statement tries to debase. It’s clearly saying: “Don’t buy new jeans, buy this instead”. Sound like an ad to you? Well, it is. Everyone’s selling you things. Except that in therapy, you’re not in charge anymore (go ahead, prove to me that you know me better than I know myself). You’re handing the reigns over to someone else. The reverse isn’t valid for buying a new pair of jeans.

Furthermore, it makes the rather lofty and uncalculated claim that whenever you purchase a consumer good, you’re actually compensating for something. While it may be true in some cases, it certainly isn’t valid as any real recruitment into a therapy session. Not a serious one, at least. If you’re not willing to actively think about your own progress, development and whatever issues you wish to improve – there’s little chance that someone else will fix this for you, either. Certainly, it helps to have close friends and family that will listen – but this is in no way crucial. Therapy can be a help here, if for nothing else than at least for having someone to pose questions that you’re unwilling to pose yourself – but to claim that you should do this rather than purchasing a product is simply ridiculous and naive advertising. And well on that road, we can claim that therapy is nothing more than packaging a relationship into something you can market. A way of branding human relations and selling them at a profit (say, does any other form of this interaction spring to mind…?)

It may be nothing but an unfortunate angle played well past its point in the article, but the bottom line is that if you are going to sell something, adopt a better strategy for this than knocking the other products you’re competing with. All brands of jeans know that much already…

And while we’re at it: Playing the devils advocate, it may also be claimed that a new pair of jeans will help you attract a member of the opposite sex (ugly truth being is that; so will a new car – if you’re willing to look past the inherent quality of that relationship), spark a conversation at work that will land you a new friend or just a few admiring looks about town. And perhaps, just perhaps, that admiration will do a heck of a lot more for you than an talking head, acting your conscience, asking the question: “And just why do you think that is?”

In all honesty, there are but a few works of art that modern people interested in understanding their own lives should at least have a perpetual glance at. And no – I’m not talking about any self-help books or DYI-checklists. That stuff is for chumps (chimps?). You will not be able to understand vital concepts via any charlatan shortcuts. There are no answers to be found in crystals or chanting. No answers to this question worth hearing in group therapy and no quick fixes for your impaired being of self in glossy magazines. In short: there are no simple answers to the question of: “You”?

Instead: Have a look at Paul Bowles book, The Sheltering Sky. I’ve written about this before. But it really is important. Why? Modern life and literature (and media) has for the last fifty odd years been preaching that the road, any road, of discovery – regardless of where it leads – is a good road. The journey is the goal. While that may be the partial truth, it is fundamentally useless advice if you have no idea how the traveller (you) really is.You need to know this before setting out on any journey.

See, the elements of this earth care nothing for your bravado, the rain cares little about your cynicism; the weather or the process of aging disregard your modern conviction that all answers can be googled, researched and put in logical boxes. Paul Bowles subtly reverses the idea that the journey is worth a damn if it is done in a spirit of escapism, as most modern journeys are. You may imagine yourself sophisticated, but faced with the force of the elements, nature or a situation where you are cut off from your regular lifelines – you’re likely to become just another fool, lost on a journey to nowhere.

A journey will not create life on its own. All life stems from the individual, nothing more, nothing less. This is why all escapism is just a matter of how fast you can run before the obvious facts will drag you by your heels, kicking and screaming, back to the place you started. You need to be something, someone – beforehand.

Be clear about yourself before you start out on the journey and it will not become a battle, but a journey of discovery in truth. Accept the outcome and consequence of yourself and you will be as immune to the elements as they are to you. In fact, you might enjoy them better this way.

All I’m saying: Do not leave the discovery of yourself to chance.