Jonathan Alpert
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Articles by Jonathan Alpert
What Usefulness Has To Do With The Crisis Of Men’s Friendships
A strange thing happens when people stop needing you: Life gets easier, and sometimes emptier. Your children solve their own problems. Your colleagues rely on you less because technology can do more of what you once did. Nobody calls because the car won’t start or the sink is leaking. Modern life has eliminated countless small burdens. It has also eliminated countless reasons for other people to need us. For some men, there’s a psychological cost.
Opinion: Iced coffee and looking at the world how other people see it Original
Apparently, asking Gen Z to leave its iced coffee outside a job interview is now too much to ask. A recruiter’s advice to young applicants recently touched off an online argument. Some couldn’t understand why anyone would care. If they’re qualified for the job, what difference does a drink make? Very little. But that’s what makes the argument interesting. The recruiter wasn’t suggesting that iced coffee reveals some terrible character flaw.
This Lindsay Clancy Question Is Becoming A Dating Test
A patient recently told me about his new test for whether a woman is marriage material. It isn’t politics, religion, or whether she wants children. He wants to know what she thinks about Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother who killed her three children. At first, I thought this was one man’s unusual dating rule. Then other men in my practice started bringing up the case. A murder case had somehow become a compatibility test. The question isn’t really about Lindsay Clancy.
When Therapy Turns Political Disagreement Into Psychological Harm
Political disagreement has always strained families. Thanksgiving dinners have ended in arguments. Siblings have gone weeks without speaking after a heated election. None of that is new. What has changed is the ease with which cutting off parents, siblings, and lifelong friends can be described as an act of psychological self-care.
Why Blaming Sexism Says More About Kamala Harris’s Loser Mentality Than America’s Voters
Joy Behar has figured out why the United States hasn’t elected a female president: America won’t. “I think this country will vote for an obese, Jewish, Black, homosexual before a woman,” Behar said this week on “The View.” It’s a sweeping explanation for a complicated political reality. Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump. Therefore, the country won’t elect a woman. As a psychotherapist, I’m interested in why that explanation is so appealing.
Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
Hundreds of women looked at Lindsay Clancy, a mother who killed her three young children, and thought: That could have been me. As a psychotherapist, that identification concerns me. Not because these women were supporting murder. They weren’t. Many recognized their own experiences with postpartum depression, anxiety, exhaustion, or feeling failed by doctors in Clancy’s story.
Why Democrats keep coming back to Hasan Piker
Hasan Piker keeps saying things that should make mainstream Democrats want to keep their distance. Yet they keep coming back. Maybe that’s because he has something they need. The socialist streamer’s latest controversy came after he warned that if American Jews continue presenting themselves as “singularly invested in Israel,” someone could eventually “take action” against them.
Opinion - Why Democrats keep coming back to Hasan Piker
Hasan Piker keeps saying things that should make mainstream Democrats want to keep their distance. Yet they keep coming back. Maybe that's because he has something they need. The socialist streamer's latest controversy came after he warned that if American Jews continue presenting themselves as "singularly invested in Israel," someone could eventually “take action” against them.
Candace Owens and the gullibility of distrust
Candace Owens doesn’t trust the official story of Charlie Kirk’s murder. Fair enough. But does she distrust her own theories nearly as much? Owens is still challenging the case against Tyler Robinson, who is charged with murdering Kirk. In a recent three-hour debate, she defended her suspicions about foreign involvement and continued raising questions about the evidence.
Why the left can’t stop obsessing over Trump Original
Millions of Americans insist they are exhausted by President Trump. Yet many know exactly what he posted yesterday, what he said that morning, and what cable news is arguing about tonight. They complain the media covers him too much, yet they continue clicking, watching, reposting and debating him. If Americans are so tired of Trump, why not stop paying so much attention to him? Trump’s supporters aren’t the mystery. They voted for him. They want to hear what he has to say.
AOC says 'Woke 1 was crazy,' but Democrats still owe voters an explanation
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Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
Austin Franco told a prospective employer he wouldn’t work for them because they were Jewish. When the remark became public, he didn’t apologize. He defended it. Cornell University condemned the 19-year-old student’s remark, but Franco says he has faced no disciplinary action. He appeared on Piers Morgan‘s show, where he defended himself and called Israel “a genocidal country.” Supporters rallied around him, and online fundraisers brought in tens of thousands of dollars.
AOC says ‘Woke 1 was crazy,' but Democrats still owe voters an explanation
Calling 'defund the police' and abolish prisons rhetoric a past era avoids the reckoning voters deserve "Woke 1 was crazy." New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently borrowed the phrase from New York City Councilman Chi Ossé to describe the politics of 2020. "Woke 1" gives Democrats a convenient way to put ideas such as defunding the police and abolishing prisons in the past. That was then. This is now. There's a psychological term for this kind of separation: compartmentalization.
Lindsay Clancy fans are fooling themselves — with false empathy
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Lindsay Clancy fans are fooling themselves — with false empathy
“I could have been Lindsay Clancy.” That’s been the refrain of countless women who see their own postpartum suffering in Clancy, the Massachusetts mother now on trial for the murder of her three small children. They characterize it as empathy, but they miss a crucial distinction: Recognizing yourself in someone’s story isn’t the same as knowing her mind. “I was depressed too; I felt dismissed by doctors too,” they say, in public rallies and on social media.
Lindsay Clancy fans are fooling themselves — with false empathy
“I could have been Lindsay Clancy.” That's been the refrain of countless women who see their own postpartum suffering in Clancy, the Massachusetts mother now on trial for the murder of her three small children. They characterize it as empathy, but they miss a crucial distinction: Recognizing yourself in someone's story isn't the same as knowing her mind. “I was depressed too; I felt dismissed by doctors too ,” they say, in public rallies and on social media.
When did a bad grade become a mental health problem?
The University of Michigan wants to help address the mental health struggles of college students by making first-semester grades matter less. The policy raises a question that extends well beyond Ann Arbor: When did feeling anxious about something become a reason to make that thing less consequential? Treating anxiety over grades as a mental health problem gets something important wrong. Getting a C can be disappointing. It can be embarrassing.
Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
The University of Michigan wants to help address the mental health struggles of college students by making first-semester grades matter less. The policy raises a question that extends well beyond Ann Arbor: When did feeling anxious about something become a reason to make that thing less consequential? Treating anxiety over grades as a mental health problem gets something important wrong. Getting a C can be disappointing. It can be embarrassing.
Opinion: ChatGPT is taking away uncertainty — why that matters
A patient recently consulted me after an argument with his girlfriend. Before deciding whether to apologize, he had already copied their entire text exchange into ChatGPT. He asked whether she was being manipulative, whether his reaction was justified and what he should say next. By the time he sat down with me, he was no longer wrestling with uncertainty. Instead, he had a carefully organized case explaining why he was right and why she was wrong. I’m seeing this more often.
Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
After Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment before the Senate Homeland Security Committee last week, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) warned that the hearing could have a “chilling effect” on scientists considering public service. Young researchers, he argued, would think twice before following in Fauci’s footsteps after watching one of the country’s best-known public health officials endure years of investigations and public attacks.
Why Democratic Socialism Feels Good
By Jonathan Alpert Supporters of Zohran Mamdani at an Election Night watch party in Queens, Nov. 4, 2025. Photo: Jeremy Weine/Getty Images The Democratic Socialists of America are having a moment. Candidates aligned with the movement have defeated establishment Democrats in races that would have seemed unlikely only a few years ago. Most explanations focus on housing costs, student debt, stagnant wages, rising inequality and frustration with establishment politics.
Why Democratic Socialism Feels Good
Supporters of Zohran Mamdani at an Election Night watch party in Queens, Nov. 4, 2025. Photo: Jeremy Weine/Getty Images The Democratic Socialists of America are having a moment. Candidates aligned with the movement have defeated establishment Democrats in races that would have seemed unlikely only a few years ago. Most explanations focus on housing costs, student debt, stagnant wages, rising inequality and frustration with establishment politics.
Why So Many Therapists Are Getting Marriage Wrong
Marriage was once understood as a commitment that required sacrifice. Husbands and wives argued, disappointed each other, went through dry spells, and occasionally wondered whether they had married the wrong person. None of those experiences automatically meant the marriage had failed. Today, many therapists tell clients the opposite. As a practicing psychotherapist, I’ve watched my profession gradually redefine what counts as a healthy marriage.
Dating's new red flag: Voting the 'wrong' way could leave you single for good
I'm a psychotherapist, and I've spent close to two decades listening to people talk about their relationships Somewhere along the way, "swipe right if you're 5 feet 10 inches or taller" turned into "swipe left if you didn't vote the way I wanted." I don't know exactly when the dating profile became a place to list your positions on foreign policy, but if you've opened Hinge or Bumble in any major city lately, you already know what I'm talking about.
A Diagnosis Isn’t an Identity
By Jonathan Alpert Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Free Expression is a daily newsletter on American life, politics and culture from the Opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal. Sign up and start reading Free Expression today. For most of modern medicine, a diagnosis explained symptoms, guided treatment and pointed the way toward recovery. Today, mental-health diagnoses often answer a question: Who am I?
Why therapy is making America more polarized
In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here. In the weeks after the 2024 election, a man came to see me frustrated not by his marriage, but by his marriage counselor.
Therapy Culture Swipes the Dating Apps
By Jonathan Alpert Free Expression is a daily newsletter on American life, politics and culture from the Opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal. Sign up and start reading Free Expression today. During a recent therapy session, a patient showed me screenshots of a Hinge conversation with one of her matches. She wasn’t asking whether she liked him or whether he liked her. She wanted to know whether he was emotionally unavailable, had an avoidant attachment style or was love-bombing her.
Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government
Graham Platner’s political career deserved to end. There’s no doubt about that. A detailed sexual assault allegation against a U.S. Senate candidate is more than enough for a political party to conclude he can no longer represent it. Democrats were right to force him off the ballot. Political parties aren’t courts of law, and they don’t owe candidates the presumption of innocence that criminal defendants receive. They owe voters sound judgment, and in this case, they exercised it.
When half the class is disabled, what does disability mean?
In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here. The recent report that nearly half of UC Berkeley law students receive disability accommodations should prompt a question that goes beyond whether students are gaming the system.
When ‘Everyone Is Welcome’ Comes With Conditions
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** The Brooklyn coffee shop Poetica describes hospitality in almost spiritual terms. Its website promises “unconditional dignity.” It says “the guest is sacred.” It talks about welcoming people as human beings rather than transactions and creating a place where everyone is treated with respect. Then Rep.
Why everything sounds like therapy now
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Why everything sounds like therapy now
In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here. Forty years ago, Americans were more likely to talk about character, duty, responsibility, self-discipline, and resilience.
Therapy Is Looking More Like Re-Education
WSJ Opinion: When ‘60 Minutes’ Is an Hour Too LongPlay video: WSJ Opinion: When ‘60 Minutes’ Is an Hour Too Long
Would Democrats Warn Your Daughter About Graham Platner?
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** If Graham Platner were your daughter’s boyfriend instead of a Democratic Senate candidate, would the red flags suddenly seem easier to recognize? That question may explain more about modern politics than most political analysis does.
DNC's 192-page autopsy sounds like bad therapy. Democrats still have a big problem
Party printed disclaimers on every page and debated its own findings in the margins of the report. The Democrats have far more than a messaging problem. They have a self-examination problem. On May 21, the Democratic National Committee released 192 pages of proof. Therapists know that some patients can talk endlessly about their problems without ever confronting what's keeping them stuck.
As A Therapist, I’ve Watched One Dangerous Idea Take Over America
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** When I wrote an article last fall asking whether “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is real, the reaction was immediate. Within hours my inbox filled with messages that went far beyond disagreement. I was called a fascist sympathizer, accused of defending the indefensible, and told I had blood on my hands. Some messages wished me dead.
Therapy nation: Why Americans can’t stand each other anymore Original
Opinion>Opinions - Campaign The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill by Jonathan Alpert, opinion contributor - 05/19/26 7:30 AM ET Link copied by Jonathan Alpert, opinion contributor - 05/19/26 7:30 AM ET Link copied AP Photo/Bob Wands A growing number of Americans no longer experience political disagreement as disagreement. They experience it as psychological harm.
Therapy culture is turning politics into a national nervous breakdown
Concepts like 'trauma' and 'boundaries' have escaped the therapist's office and reshaped how Americans interpret politics Not long ago, a patient tried to explain to me why fantasies about President Donald Trump being killed didn't really bother her. She wasn't threatening violence herself, nor was she someone with a history of aggression. In many areas of life, she considered herself compassionate and morally thoughtful.
Psychotherapist reveals why therapy might be doing you more harm than good
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert claims modern therapy, focused on identity politics, harms patients. Alpert says therapists increasingly frame patient issues through race, gender, and oppression. He argues therapy’s focus on identity, once a correction, now makes patients more anxious. Jonathan Alpert has been a psychotherapist for decades, but in his new book, he questions whether his profession is doing some people more harm than good.
Is Therapy Tearing Us Apart?
Is Therapy Tearing Us Apart? “We are becoming emotionally articulate while growing psychologically brittle,” writes Jonathan Alpert. (Illustration by The Free Press, image by Harold M. Lambert via Getty Images) Therapy promised Americans greater agency and insight. Instead, it delivered a more satisfying story about why someone else is to blame. A patient recently came to see me, saying she was furious with a friend.
When Rationalization Turns Deadly
WSJ Opinion: The Biggest Threat to Journalism? Journalists.Play video: WSJ Opinion: The Biggest Threat to Journalism? Journalists.
Why we started expecting leaders to manage our feelings
Jonathan Alpert's forthcoming book 'Therapy Nation' explores how therapeutic expectations have invaded workplaces and schools A patient recently described his boss as "emotionally unsafe." What he meant, after a few minutes of unpacking it, was something much simpler: his boss had given him blunt feedback, set a clear deadline, and didn't spend much time softening the message. That exchange has become remarkably common and captures a much larger cultural shift .
Why hating the rich has become America’s favorite form of therapy Original
In today’s politics, you don’t need a solution — you just need someone to blame. And more often than not, that someone is “the rich.” Say “billionaires shouldn’t exist,” and the crowd cheers. Say “they’re not paying their fair share,” and the clip spreads like wildfire. It’s one of the most reliable applause lines in modern political life — and that’s the appeal. Economic inequality is real. But listen to how it’s discussed, and something else becomes clear: This isn’t really about solving anything.
How Grievance Culture Turns Villains Into Heroes
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** Imagine a society where a man is murdered and the alleged killer receives love letters in prison, is treated like a folk hero, and even becomes the subject of a musical. That’s not fiction.
How Trump panic broke the Democratic Party and fueled endless crisis politics
The Democratic's party's strongest unifying message remains blocking Trump, leaving voters without a positive national story Since 2016, Democrats have increasingly asked voters to rally not around a compelling vision of America's future, but around fear of what happens if Donald Trump returns. Every election is cast as the final firewall before catastrophe. Democracy is on the ballot. Institutions are under siege. The country cannot survive another Trump term.
Why Saying The Wrong Thing Now Feels Like A Bigger Risk Than Staying Silent
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** A patient recently stopped midsentence during a session. He was describing a routine disagreement at work — a minor conflict over scheduling and communication — when he suddenly froze, backtracked, and added an unnecessary disclaimer: “I know I’m saying this as a white guy…” The comment had nothing to do with race.
Big Tech Built A Digital Slot Machine, And Your Family Is Paying The Price
This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** The recent lawsuit against Meta forces a question the company has long tried to sidestep: Is Instagram merely “problematic,” as its executives claim, or is it addictive by design? As a practicing psychotherapist, I don’t have to speculate. I see the answer every day in my office.
Opinion: Why so many Americans now sympathize with the villain
Jonathan Alpert, opinion contributor Hollywood's biggest prize this year went to “ One Battle After Another ,” a film that asks audiences to sympathize with terrorists. In New York, an upcoming production, “ Luigi: The Musical ,” places a criminal at the center of the story just blocks from the crime that inspired it. Neither work created this reaction. They're tapping into a broader cultural willingness to identify with people we once clearly condemned.
Therapy Culture Failed Young Men; Sports Didn’t | Jonathan Alpert
Even in defeat Monday night, UConn coach Dan Hurley offered a lesson American culture increasingly avoids: growth requires standards, correction, and the ability to absorb hard truths without collapsing into grievance. At a moment when so much of the culture teaches young men to interpret discomfort as damage, sports may be the last institution still willing to tell them the truth about maturity.
Why so many Americans now sympathize with the villain Original
Opinion>Opinions - Healthcare The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill by Jonathan Alpert, opinion contributor - 04/07/26 7:30 AM ET Link copied by Jonathan Alpert, opinion contributor - 04/07/26 7:30 AM ET Link copied Curtis Means /Pool Photo via AP Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York.
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