{"id":1529,"date":"2026-05-06T07:06:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taysidemarketingltd.com\/selfhelp\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2026-05-06T07:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T07:06:49","slug":"why-self-help-makes-you-miserable-dr-rick-hanson-being-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taysidemarketingltd.com\/selfhelp\/?p=1529","title":{"rendered":"Why Self-Help Makes You Miserable | Dr. Rick Hanson, Being Well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nRyZrBRfIvQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>@RickHanson and I discuss what&#8217;s wrong with the self-help industry. <\/p>\n<p>We explore the industry&#8217;s mixed-bag focus on individual responsibility, the risks of turning healing into a never-ending project, performative personal growth, narcissism, social media and capitalism, and honest striving vs. hustle culture. We also talk about our personal experiences navigating our relationship to the industry. Throughout, we emphasize finding the middle path: balancing agency with awareness, growth with acceptance, and sincerity with skepticism.<\/p>\n<p>Key Topics:<br \/>\n0:00 Introduction<br \/>\n4:32 Healthy striving vs. obsessive self-improvement<br \/>\n8:27 The role of motivation: growth, shame, and self-worth<br \/>\n12:13 Problems with placing all responsibility on the individual<br \/>\n20:46 Performative self-help and spiritual status-seeking<br \/>\n26:13 Excessive self-preoccupation and narcissistic drift<br \/>\n34:34 Buddhist insights on \u201cselfing\u201d and the illusion of identity<br \/>\n44:43 Self-help as hustle culture<br \/>\n50:57 The generational shift from grindset to bed rotting<br \/>\n54:09 The self-help industrial complex and its incentives<br \/>\n58:56 Commodifying the self and seeking validation<br \/>\n1:04:18 Creating ethical, transparent content<br \/>\n1:08:12 Recap<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to Being Well on:<br \/>\nApple Podcasts: https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/being-well-with-dr-rick-hanson\/id1120885936<br \/>\nSpotify: https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/5d87ZU1XY0fpdYNSEwXLVQ <\/p>\n<p>Who Am I: I&#8217;m Forrest, the co-author of Resilient (https:\/\/amzn.to\/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https:\/\/apple.co\/38ufGG0). I&#8217;m making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth. <\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to Rick on YouTube: http:\/\/youtube.com\/@RickHanson?sub_confirmation=1<br \/>\nGet Rick&#8217;s Free Newsletters: https:\/\/rickhanson.com\/writings\/newsletters-from-dr-rick-hanson\/<br \/>\nFollow Rick Here:<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0d https:\/\/rickhanson.com\/<br \/>\n\ud83d\udcf8 https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rickhansonphd<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not a clinician, and what I say on this channel should not be taken as medical advice.<\/p>\n<p>You can follow me here:<br \/>\n\ud83c\udfa4 https:\/\/apple.co\/38ufGG0<br \/>\n\ud83c\udf0d https:\/\/www.forresthanson.com<br \/>\n\ud83d\udcf8 https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/f.hanson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>@RickHanson and I discuss what&#8217;s wrong with the self-help industry. We explore the industry&#8217;s mixed-bag focus on individual responsibility, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taysidemarketingltd.com\/selfhelp\/?p=1529\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Self-Help Makes You Miserable | Dr. Rick Hanson, Being Well - Self Help\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"@RickHanson and I discuss what&#8217;s wrong with the self-help industry. 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