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Class Therapy: Working-Class Mental Health, Power, and the Limits of “Therapy Speak”

Kath Dolheguy interviews Nell Ash, a psychotherapist and creator of the Instagram project Class Therapy, which shares accessible, compassionate, class-informed mental health insights. Nell explains how counseling training felt shaped by middle-class sensibilities and “professional neutrality,” and how nearby 2024 race riots involving men she knew underscored that conventional therapeutic frameworks wouldn’t reach many working-class people. They discuss barriers to class-aware therapy, including cost, being read through stigmatising labels, power and surveillance dynamics, and clients spending paid time educating therapists about working-class life. The conversation critiques shallow social-media “therapy speak,” attachment theory, CBT’s individualism, and grift-y relationship/wellness culture, emphasising context, community, grace, and practical tools. Nell’s writing is becoming a toolkit-style book planned for 2027.

00:00 Content Warning

00:19 Meet Nell Ash

02:12 Class Therapy Origins

04:42 Growing Up

07:28 Becoming Class Aware

09:32 Therapy Titles Explained

10:46 Frameworks Built for Flanders

13:36 Therapy Speak and Capitalism

15:57 State Surveillance and Survival

21:15 Class Barriers in Therapy

26:39 Masking and Professionalism

30:20 Pushback and Accessibility

32:32 Lived Experience Before Theory

35:24 Class as Kaleidoscope

36:16 Creativity Returns

36:57 Dating Culture Grifts

38:39 Class and Feminism Today

39:45 Tradwives and Choice

41:59 Divine Feminine Myths

43:38 Boundaries and Repair

44:44 Selfhood to Burn

47:21 Aspirational Media Pressure

49:06 Bodies and Supremacy Ideals

51:04 Codependency Labels

54:11 Soft Strings Framework

57:53 Book Toolkit Preview

59:43 Best and Worst Jobs

01:00:57 Art That Reflects Class

01:03:40 Working Class Icons

01:05:12 Closing Thanks

Get in touch:

Are you a working class person who wants to pursue a creative career but don't know where to start? Get in touch via instagram - we'd be happy to give you some advice.

Tell us who you would like to hear from. Is there someone we should invite on the podcast? Let us know!

The Not a Rich Kid Team:

• Kath Dolheguy
• Frankie Kanatas
• Sarah Ryan-Linstrom

Post audio - Mike Tillbrook

Theme song:

‘Barry Michael Takes a Train’ by Sand Pebbles - Written & performed by Ben Michael and performed and mixed by Murray Ono Jamieson.

Not a Rich Kid would not be possible without the support of:

• VCA who provided studio space
• City of Melbourne Arts Grants

Supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants