Everyone’s talking like a therapist at work. It’s getting weird.

Your workplace loves therapy-speak. Everyone seems to know and use the mental health lingo. That meeting was “triggering,” your boss “gaslit” you into doing something, and your colleagues want you “hold space” for them and do all the “emotional labour” at work. What should you do – give in or give up? Neither, there’s a way out. 

In this episode of The First Two Years, we ask and answer some of these questions. Are there downsides to casual therapy-speak? What do these words actually mean? If someone using excessive therapy-speak, and I don't know what it means or don't think it is necessary, how should I respond? Host Akshaya Chandrasekaran talks with organizational psychologist Radhika Bhalla and counseling psychologist Gargi Ranad to answer the why of it, and ways to move forward. 

Let us know what you think. You can write to Akshaya, the host, at [e-mail]. 

Have a career question you want us to cover? Tell us. 

This episode was written and hosted by Akshaya Chandrasekaran, and produced by Anushka Mukherjee, with audio engineering by Rajiv CN. 

The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. 

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What is The First Two Years?

An early careers podcast from the newsroom of The Ken, hosted by Akshaya Chandrasekaran, The First Two Years will ask—and answer—the most important and interesting questions about learning to succeed at work.