Therapy Is Expensive, So I Just Gaslight Myself

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the title at first—another ‘millennial burnout’ hot take? But *Therapy Is Expensive* surprised me by being far sharper and more subversive than expected. Pansy’s brand of humor isn’t just cynical; it’s *precision-engineered* to exploit the gap between what we *should* do and what we *actually* do. The chapter on ‘How to Gaslight Yourself Into Thinking You’re Fine’ had me cackling because, let’s be honest, we’ve all been there. That said, the satire occasionally veers into *too* niche—some jokes land better if you’ve spent time in therapy-adjacent Twitter discourse or have a soft spot for absurdist self-deprecation. Benjamin Powell’s performance is the secret weapon here. His pacing is impeccable, letting the punchlines breathe without milking them, and his tone walks the line between sarcastic and sincerely exhausted. The production is clean, though I wished for *slightly* more dynamic range—some lines could’ve used a touch more emphasis to heighten the comedy. At 41 minutes, it’s the perfect length: long enough to feel substantial, short enough to replay when you’re procrastinating *actual* self-work. My only real critique? It’s almost *too* good at justifying bad habits—listening feels like emotional junk food, and you might walk away weirdly proud of your dysfunction. Mission accomplished, I guess.