The Emo Metric and the Double Couch Approach: Reddit Roundtable II

Roundtable Participants:

Amanda Pietig, MA, LMFT, RPT (she/her)

Amanda Pietig, MA, LMFT, RPT (she/her) is a licensed MFT in private practice at 515 Therapy Group in West Des Moines, IA. She is also a registered play therapist working with clients ages 4 through adulthood. She has experience working with community agencies, shelters, and mental health centers.

You can learn more about Amanda here.

Marshall McElhinney (he/him)

Marshall McElhinney, MA, tLMFT (he/him) is a licensed MFT in private practice at Waxwing Psychological Services in Cedar Rapids, IA. He’s also the other half of the Becoming Man Podcast (check it out here). Prior to becoming an MFT, Marshall spent over a decade counseling teenagers and families involved in the juvenile court system.

You can learn more about Marshall here.

Alexia Slauson (she/her)

Alexia Slauson is a graduating MFT from Mount Mercy University. She has a strong background in human services ranging from working in school and home settings with children with special needs to work as a midwifery assistant. She has attended over 40 births and helped others through significant life transitions. Her clinical interests include areas of neurodiversity, parenting, and chronic illness.

You can learn more about Alexia here.

A new term emerged from this roundtable (and we hope it benefits the field enormously)—

THE EMO METRIC: The emo metric is an assessment tool which helps practicing therapists identify the point at which they need to talk to someone… because they’re starting to lose it. Specifiers of emo here include mild, moderate, and severe.

To be as supportive as possible, we’ve each provided a short list of albums which, if we find ourselves listening to on the commute home from work, indicate a necessary emo self-check.

Marshall—
Mild: Bayside. (2007). The Walking Wounded. Victory Records.
Moderate: A Day to Remember. (2009). Homesick. Victory Records.
Severe: The Used. (2002). The Used. Reprise Records.

Kait—
Mild: Brand New. (2003). Deja Entendu. Reflection Sound Studios.
Moderate: Taking Back Sunday. (2002). Tell All Your Friends. Victory Records; Sugarcult. (2004). Palm Trees and Power Lines. Artemis Records.
Severe: Dashboard Confessional. (2001). The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most. Vagrant Records.

Amanda—
Mild: Fall Out Boy. (2005). From Under the Cork Tree. Island Records.
Moderate: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (2006). Don't You Fake It. Virgin Records; Stand Atlantic. (2019). Hate Me. Hopeless Records.
Severe: Rise Against. (2008). Appeal to Reason. DGC Records.

Alexia—
Mild: The Breeders. (1993). Last Splash. Elektra Records.
Moderate: Radiohead. (2000). Kid A. Capitol Records.
Severe: NIN. (1994). The Downward Spiral. Interscope Records; Disturbed. (2015). Immortalized. Reprise Records.

Resources:

Kaslow, F., Cooper, B., & Linsenberg, M. (1979). Family therapist authenticity as a key factor in outcome. International Journal of Family Therapy, 1(2), 184-199.

Minuchin, S., & Fishman, H. C. (1981). Family therapy techniques. Harvard University Press. Pollard, J. (2005). Authenticity and inauthenticity. Existential perspectives on human issues: A handbook for therapeutic practice, 171-179.

Whitaker, C. A., and Ryan, M. O. (1989). Midnight musings of a family therapist. New York: Norton.