No Kings’ protest was like ‘group therapy, Jonathan Alpert says protesters are craving community validation in era where therapy speak dominates culture
Last weekend’s “No Kings” protest in Washington, D.C., drew hundreds of demonstrators waving signs, chanting slogans, and even hoisting large inflatable chickens into the air.
The event, which organizers described as a stand against “authoritarianism” and “political corruption,” was made up mostly of educated White women in their 40s, according to demographic research cited by Fox News Digital.
But one expert says what happened on the streets may have been less about politics and more about emotion.
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert told Fox News Digital that the “No Kings” rally looked like a moment of mass emotional release — what he called “a kind of group therapy playing out in the streets.”
He said that while political activism has always been a part of democracy, the growing overlap between emotional expression and civic protest is something new.
“We’re seeing an era where emotional catharsis and civic activism have started to blur,” Alpert said.
The crowd, which largely consisted of middle-aged women, spent the day shouting chants, holding posters comparing political leaders to kings, and calling for change. But Alpert questioned how effective such protests are in bringing real change.
“People get stuff off their chest, they feel better in the moment, but it doesn’t necessarily bring about any sort of positive change,” he explained. “In fact, it might make them feel worse because they’re surrounded by others validating the same negative emotions.”
Alpert said that the demographic makeup of the protest — women in their 40s — fits a larger cultural trend. “Women in that age range are probably the biggest consumers of mental health services,” he said. “They’re fluent in how to express themselves emotionally, and so naturally that plays out in public settings too.
” He noted that the event seemed more like a “venting session” than a focused political movement.
According to Alpert, what’s happening at events like “No Kings” is connected to what he calls “therapy culture” — a growing social trend where people use psychological language to describe everyday life and politics. “We have therapists and media personalities labeling people as traumatized, calling someone a narcissist, or saying someone’s borderline,” he said.
“That language has spread into everyday conversations and political debates.”
Alpert warned that when such terms are thrown around casually, they can distort how people see others — especially public figures. “When you start to label Trump as a narcissist or even Hitler, you begin to believe that,” he said. “And of course, your desire would be to eliminate that person or go out and rally against them. But that’s not healthy.”
He also cautioned against self-diagnosis and exaggerated claims of trauma tied to politics. “Many of the people at these rallies claim they’re traumatized or have PTSD because Trump was in office,” Alpert said. “They’re not traumatized. PTSD is a real, clinical condition. These are political disagreements and emotional frustrations, not trauma.”
Alpert added that many protesters may be projecting personal frustrations onto political figures. “A lot of times people are unhappy in their own lives — maybe dealing with anxiety, anger, or dissatisfaction — and they project those emotions onto others,” he said. “That’s what we’re seeing at these ‘No Kings’ rallies. It’s less about the political figure and more about people working through their own emotions.”
The psychotherapist also pointed out that “therapy speak” has become almost unavoidable in modern culture. “It’s everywhere — on social media, on dating apps, on the news,” Alpert said. “Now it’s even at political rallies.”
He believes this overlap between emotional release and activism reflects a larger social shift — one where people turn to politics as an outlet for personal struggles. “It’s a form of catharsis,” Alpert said. “They may feel better for a while, but it’s not a substitute for real personal growth or for practical political engagement.”
For Alpert, the “No Kings” protest captured something deeper about modern America: a society where therapy language, social media outrage, and political passion are blending together. “People want to feel heard and understood,” he said. “But when that desire for emotional expression replaces real dialogue, we end up with noise — not progress.”
The “No Kings” movement may have started as a political statement, but to Alpert, it revealed something more personal. “It’s not just about the president or politics,” he said. “It’s about how people today are trying to manage their feelings — together, in public, and sometimes in protest.”