Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Are we actually more mentally healthy in the age of self-help?
Donald Robertson questions whether constant exposure to self-improvement content is really making us more resilient — or just more rigid.
With endless audiobooks, online courses, and “rules for life,” self-help has never been more accessible. But to teach at scale, advice often gets simplified into fixed principles. The problem? Research in psychotherapy consistently points in the opposite direction.
Emotional resilience isn’t built on rigid rules. It’s built on cognitive and coping flexibility — the ability to adapt, shift perspective, test what works, and adjust when it doesn’t. In other words, wellbeing comes less from following strict formulas, and more from developing an experimental mindset toward life.
Catch the full episode when it goes live tomorrow on our YouTube channel—subscribe now so you don’t miss it: youtube.com/theweekenduniversity
#self-help #psychology
Credits: Donald Robertson
Are we actually more mentally healthy in the age of self-help?
Donald Robertson questions whether constant exposure to self-improvement content is really making us more resilient — or just more rigid.
With endless audiobooks, online courses, and “rules for life,” self-help has never been more accessible. But to teach at scale, advice often gets simplified into fixed principles. The problem? Research in psychotherapy consistently points in the opposite direction.
Emotional resilience isn’t built on rigid rules. It’s built on cognitive and coping flexibility — the ability to adapt, shift perspective, test what works, and adjust when it doesn’t. In other words, wellbeing comes less from following strict formulas, and more from developing an experimental mindset toward life.
Catch the full episode when it goes live tomorrow on our YouTube channel—subscribe now so you don’t miss it: youtube.com/theweekenduniversity
#self-help #psychology
Credits: Donald Robertson
