Michelle Obama Says She’s in 'Therapy' for 'Transitioning' into Her 'Next Phase' in Life

Michelle — who has been a longtime “advocate” of therapy and has done it for years — likened it on the podcast to getting a “tune-up,” and she noted that she felt that this was the perfect time in her life to do so, knowing all the things she already did.

"Let me unwind some old habits. Let me sort through some old guilt that I’ve been carrying around. Let me talk about how my relationship with my mother has affected how I think about things," she shared.

“So, I’m getting that tune-up for this next phase because I believe this is a whole other phase in life for me," she continued. "And I now have the wisdom to know— let me go get some coaching while I’m doing it so that I have other voices other than the people who know me best. I’ve got a new person that’s getting to know me, and seeing me completely new and hearing all these emotions.”

Michelle previously opened up about her newfound independence on an episode of Sophia Bush's iHeart Radio podcast Work in Progress, saying that she can now do “whatever I want."

"It's the first time in my life all of my choices are for me," she said, before later adding, "I think if I'm honest with myself, I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago. But I didn't give myself that freedom."

She also touched upon how this newfound freedom combined with constant public scrutiny led to gossip and speculation about the state of her marriage with the former president.

"That's the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year people couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself. That they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing."

"This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right? But that's what society does to us," she continued. "We start actually going, what am I? What am I doing? What am I doing this for? And if it doesn't fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible."

Honey, Michael transitioned a long time ago. 🤣

Isn't it about time Barry traded her in for a light-skinned woman half his age?

Therapy doesn't seem to be working.

She's still as whiny as ever.

Why "therapy"? Why not just read a few self-help books from the local library, or talk to friends, like non-privileged people do when they become "empty nesters"?

I used to admire her. But she is getting on my very last nerve now.

Do you really need therapy, when you're friends with Oprah?

It sounds to me like Michelle is very, very bored.

She needs a job. Or a hobby.

R5 isn't it super normal in the US to have a shrink? I know it's very common in Argentina and in Europe it's quite common, but not as widespread. Also it's not something for limited to privileged people at all here.

I may be in the minority here but, I understand why she's doing this.

When my Mom was suffering with dementia, I went over to her house every Friday after work. all day on Saturday and Sunday for quite a few years. It was automatic. Once we had to place her in assisted living, I had that time to myself and I really struggled with an uncertain, unrestricted future. I was always an emotional eater and it went into overdrive for about a year. She died in 2016 and I'm just now forgiving myself (I was the one who had to trick her into going to the facility. Once they distracted her, they told me to leave and they'd take care of everything. I may never get over that).

Sometimes, just reading self-help books is not enough. If you read two, they often both come to different conclusions so you've wasted money and are no better off than you were before you bought them.

She’s always been a very bitter and angry person the entire time she’s been in the public eye. Before, she’s always had something to blame as the cause of her unhappiness and it’s the list she recites. Now that those reasons don’t apply anymore she’s forced to look inward and see and try to overcome that innate bitterness that will keep her unhappy no matter what she does in life. Hopefully counseling will help her to see that she’s the cause of her own unhappiness and that she should stop blaming external factors.

I liked her during her time in the White House. Now she's trading on a celebrity she always claimed she resented.

Transitioning might have been a poor choice of words considering that's been one of the most consistent attacks on her...

I’m exhausted by her. She acts like she’s spent her entire life scrubbing floors, not as one of the most well-recognized and influential women in the world. She needs to get a grip on reality. She’s an extremely unhappy person and maybe therapy will help her. But I’m tired of hearing from her at this point.

It's the Oprah influence.

R3 I ain’t never known Tiger to mess with black chicks so the joke doesn’t work.

She made it to the top and realized it wasn’t so great. Now what?

Most of us go through this on a much smaller scale. We reach our professional goals, maybe get the expensive house, reach our goal weight. And nothing really changes.

The secret is to have little things that give us great joy. Pets, friends. Maybe a daily walk in our favorite park. I’m planting a lot of roses this year. I love them, but I hate planting them. Anyway…

She has Permanent Bitch Face.

Her mentioning her mother is telling. Working class Black families back in the day weren’t always so warm and fuzzy. They couldn’t afford to be. Nothing will haunt people more than a harsh childhood. I would bet money a lot of her issues are related to this.

Sometimes on DL it's difficult to tell the difference between the bitter gays who shit on everyone/everything and the MAGAts.

Who would have thought she'd turn into a self pitying, psycho babble, bore of a frau?

Barack will be dumping her soon. Who could live with this?

[quote]Her mentioning her mother is telling. Working class Black families back in the day weren’t always so warm and fuzzy. They couldn’t afford to be. Nothing will haunt people more than a harsh childhood. I would bet money a lot of her issues are related to this.

She probably really resents that Barack was raised by a white (single) mother. In her mind, he had all kind of privileges that she didn’t.

Michelle Obama is a Princeton and Harvard grad.

The Ivy League produced this mess.

Live laugh whine

Therapy can be valuable. Personal growth is important.

But I’ve seen too many go too far down this path and become suffocatingly and insufferably self-absorbed. Narcissism dressed up as “my needs.”

Michelle Obama sadly comes across that way, in this excerpt. I, me, my, I, me, myself, I, me…

[quote] She probably really resents that Barack was raised by a white (single) mother.

Oh yes, there's no stigma being raised by a single mother who was knocked up a black guy.🙄

For someone who doesn’t like the spotlight she sure knows how to insert herself into the conversation.

I can’t believe she thinks anyone would care.

r25 Barack Obama is essentially white. We haven't had a black President yet.

Barry wants to pause the divorce in case Trump gets the 2-term limit thang eradicated. Then he'll run against Turd in 2028 and win.

Good God woman. Billions of people the world over navigate through life's big changes on a daily basis,but you have to have a highly paid professional guide you through the process. I am embarrassed for you.

If Magats get their dearest wish and the Obamas split up, they're all going to cum so hard they'll stroke out and die and have to be forklifted into mass graves.

I like her honesty. I can understand therapy. Imagine how badly the racists were to her when her husband was president. Some nobody called her an "ape" on social media, and the post went viral. Then there are all the "trans" jokes about her. And why, because she's tall with toned arms. Add that on top of all the racist shit people still encounter while growing up as a person of color.

For a long time, her whole life was centered around taking care of her kids, and now they don't need her anymore. So she feels she doesn't have a purpose. She can't just go volunteer at the local kitchen because a bunch of secret service agents would follow her.

And if she doesn't feel like going to a funeral for a man she doesn't know and having to exchange pleasantries with a man who repeatedly insulted her husband, then she should be able to stay home without a bunch of tabloids hinting at a divorce.

And now she's being honest about pursuing therapy, a service that could benefit a lot of other people. (I bet lots of presidents and first wives pursued it, but none would allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to be honest about it.). And because of that, people are glomming on to the "angry black woman" trope.

She’s a giantess and woman like that are made fun of for it. She wasn’t treated differently than other giantesses.

She sounds like she’s setting the stage to announce a separation and divorce. I think she made up her mind about this a long long time ago, She’s going to say at some point that all this therapy helped her come to the reluctant conclusion that she needs to enter her next phase of life as a single woman in order to be the person she needs to be yadda yadda yadda. Bullshit. She’s getting ready to end her marriage. Too bad. I always thought they made a great couple, but perhaps that is the image they wanted to present.

[quote] I always thought they made a great couple

As many times as she stated they had problems before he got into politics, after he got into politics, when he was running for president, while he was president, and after he was president?

R34 R33 Here. Yes. Because they always presented themselves as survivors of the marriage wars who had problems like any other couple but made it work because they were committed to each other. At least that’s the image they presented.

Her daughters probably can’t stand to be around her, so she has nothing to do all day but post shit like this.

I like her a lot. I don't think she ever wanted to be first lady. But once she was she was a terrific one.

She's done with politics. And who can blame her?

Bravo, R31.

I agree with R31.

"Having had it better than many others" isn't always enough. Advantages don't ensure that a person rolls with any and all punches and is perennially happy for her good fortune.

Saying that she's seeing a therapist because her life has arrived to an unfamiliar point shouldn't be seen as weak.

My only caution is that, aware from personal experience of how it is to be a magnet for harsh criticism, I personally would be more guarded in putting north more than an outline of that story. And I would frame it with examples of the universality of her quandary, using examples like R8's account, or the feeling some parents face when they become empty nesters, etc.

In essence she's saying that she found herself in need of what some call a "mental health tune up." And that shouldn't be an invitation to condemn her. That she doesn't come across as warm and cozy and Mother to the World, that she values privacy and can be a bit prickly at times...I can't find fault with it. Personally, I would have pitched it as a recognition of the value of therapy at different points in life, and not gone into any detail any but only a very rough outline.

She's in menopause. Don't want sex with Barak

[quote] She sounds like she’s setting the stage to announce a separation and divorce. I think she made up her mind about this a long long time ago, She’s going to say at some point that all this therapy helped her come to the reluctant conclusion that she needs to enter her next phase of life as a single woman

I agree that's what it sounds like.

Barack has been uncharacteristically quiet about EVERYTHING, lately.

She's doing all the talking.

Barack’s been looking like a man who believes he’s about to be released from prison.

Yes, usually they file for divorce after therapy coz the therapy made them realize blah blah blah ...they new change, can't put up with his shit anymore plus her kids are grown.

So DL posters, probably 95% of whom have been or are currently undergoing or will one day pursue therapy, are criticizing and mocking someone for seeking therapy to navigate a new period in her life? I will never understand you people.

I think she has already made up her mind, she is just double checking it with her therapist

R8, oh, I am so sorry. We had to “trick” my mom too, she had abdominal surgery just before the shutdown and wound up in a senior rehab facility to heal. It was decided she could transfer to another wing into the nursing care instead of sending her home because she couldn’t care for herself, and my family couldn’t guarantee care if a provider caught covid.

Months later, I slipped up while on the phone and said, “Nursing home” and she cried out-

“IS THAT WHAT THIS IS???”

For what it's worth (not much, I get it) - from those who dealt with them. Barack was chill, she ... wasn't. Does a great PR, public image thing.

[quote] She's in menopause.

She's 61. You'd think menopause would have been over by now.

Michelle Obama… Transitioning? Oh, no shit Sherlock!

[quote]She's 61. You'd think menopause would have been over by now.

Like everything else, she won't let it go.

She’s very privileged. Tell her to shut the fuck up!

Anyone who talks honestly about choosing therapy is okay in my book.

Many of you “quit yer bitchin’” whores could do with a year or two of counselling.

Her life sounds rough.

She NEVER wanted to be First Lady and live that life. I wonder if she regrets what could have been if she would have lived those years with a normal and engaging career and raising her kids in the burbs.

I get her "next phase" dilemma. I really do; it's a normal thing. But, I can also agree with the posters "exhausted" with her because it's like "join the club" -- and join it without the wealth and access you have.

Despite what the media insisted we believe for 8+ years, this woman was never beautiful. At best, she was/is average. But a beauty she is not and never was.

[Quote] Sometimes on DL it's difficult to tell the difference between the bitter gays who shit on everyone/everything and the MAGAts.

It’s really just one MAGAt and he’s supplied 90% of the shitty replies to this thread.

does Muriel offer a discount on tune ups?

group rate......anything?

[quote] does Muriel offer a discount on tune ups?

Only if you have a broken Tranny.

Needs the MeidasTouch!

Transitioning? She’s a tranny? Joan Rivers was right?

R55, she dressed well though.

Why does everything need to be done in public? Good god. Some of these people just can’t not be heard.

Why is she even on this charlatan's (Shetty) podcast?

Does she know how to do anything but whine and seek attention? How insufferable.

she was a "handsome woman" as First Lady, well dressed, actively pursued the role with thought and good intentions. I think she's attractive and compelling - the whine is a personality flaw - post people have a few. She seems fit and she looks good so why not divorce Obama and live another adventure? Her and Barack's media productions are not interesting, kind of cashing that check. Not cynically but shrewdly. Is she even interested in law anymore? What? Does she want an exciting new love affair? Peace and quiet and do nothing but garden and some VIP activities on boards. The Obama Foundation? Is that just Barack's project or is she all in on that?

Great. Work on yourself. The rest of us don’t need to hear about it.

[quote] Sometimes on DL it's difficult to tell the difference between the bitter gays who shit on everyone/everything and the MAGAts.

R18 THIS. It's becoming one and the same.

Does Barack still frequent the Chicago steam rooms?

Embrace your anonymity dearey. You always wanted this.