How Can Positivity Be Toxic? – Why The Positive Nature of SFBT is not Toxic

https://youtu.be/NowcS1BgFXs

Today, I want to talk to you about why I am so passionate about spreading the ideas of Solution Focused Brief Therapy, not just to clinicians to impact how they conduct sessions, but also beyond the clinical room.

Now, some of you know that I’m the host of a very popular podcast known as Family Therapy, produced by the Black Effect Podcast Network. It’s also being shown on iHeartradio, and we’re eight episodes in at the time of making this recording. I’m really excited about it because it takes Solution Focused Brief Therapy, and it’s allowing the masses to see it.

But I read a comment today that kind of irks me, and really reminds me why this work is so important. Most of the people have left really positive reviews. I’m okay with people leaving positive reviews, negative reviews or anything in between. I just want people to watch it and give their feedback.

But one commenter referred to the work that I was doing in the session as toxic positivity. It’s crazy to me that we have this thing when someone is being positive (and Solution Focused Brief Therapy is very hope filled, very positive way of doing therapy), and just doing that, someone would call it toxic. I don’t ever hear anybody say something is toxic negativity. But we live in such a negative, broken world that when someone tries to be positive and they try to be guided by hope, warmth, and love, we experience that as toxic. I just find that crazy.

Now, we’re eight sessions in, we’re eight episodes into this, which is about halfway through. The goal of therapy is to create healing and change. And over the next eight weeks, you’re gonna see massive healing and massive change. And I think that should be how we judge these things, not necessarily whether the host of the show is doing it the way you think they should do it.

The entire point of me doing this is to expose a new audience to a different way of doing therapy. And all I ask is openness, open mindedness. All I ask is for your transparency and your honesty. And all I ask is that you judge the experience based upon what the recipients believed. It’s not really about you and whether you think it toxic or not. I just find it so crazy that when someone’s being positive, we have such a response to it, we refer to it as toxic positivity. Nothing could be further than the truth.

But this is a new way of working, and I expect people to misunderstand it. And just like things being misunderstood, I expect them to judge it. But I’m making this video because I want you to know I think this world needs more positivity. I think this world needs more people being guided by hope, warmth and love.

I think this world needs more things being focused on change and creating healing. That’s exactly what Solution Focused Brief Therapy is. And that’s exactly what this podcast is all about.

So if you haven’t watched it or listened to it yet, go give it a listen, go check it out. That’s what this whole experience is about.

I’m gonna keep spreading Solution Focused Brief Therapy, and stuff like this makes me want to work even harder to do so.

So thank you for watching this video. Thank you for making Family Therapy a top ten mental health podcast on Apple, there’s millions of podcasts on Apple.

Let’s keep making a difference in this world. We’re spreading hope, love and positivity. And if anybody calls it toxic, that’s on them, not us.