The counseling and psychotherapy field, meant to hold space for healing, is often led by individuals who, deep down, do not even believe in the very practice they claim to uphold. They are quick to import Western models without a moment's thought for cultural relevance. And when these models inevitably fail to align with local realities, they dismiss the entire practice as “just talk therapy.”
As if therapy is nothing more than sitting in a chair, nodding along, and passing time.
Let us go ahead then. Ignore decades of research, the power of human connection, and the finely tuned skill it takes to sit with someone’s grief, rage, or trauma. Let us pretend that deep listening, cognitive restructuring, inner child work, or trauma processing is just casual conversation over tea.
But the truth is, it is not therapy that is broken. It is the system. A system run by people who never truly understood the depth, responsibility, or ethics of this work.
To make things worse, some are now turning rigorous therapeutic training into rigid academic-style college programs. They are stripping it of its experiential essence and making it inaccessible for the next generation of practitioners. On the other end, a few are diluting it entirely by offering a few days of surface-level training and certifying them as a therapists.
And yet, not all outsiders are blind to this issue. I still remember my trainer Frans Meulmeester , who despite being from the West, used to remind us time and again that our psychotherapy and counseling field should never be colonized by any Westerner. He believed that we must develop our own psychotherapy. That kind of respect and awareness is rare, but essential.
How did we get here? When did we start confusing real therapeutic presence with certificates, degrees, or weekend crash courses?
Because therapy is not a script. It is not a checklist. It is a commitment to understanding, to unlearning, and most of all, to sitting with what others run from.
Until the system begins to reflect that truth, the real work will continue to happen in the margins. It will be carried forward by those who understand that healing cannot be rushed, repackaged, or reduced.
Chhitiz Kiran Shrestha
June 2025
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