Michelle Obama is making her mental health a top priority and embracing therapy as part of her personal evolution.
In a candid conversation on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, the former First Lady and her brother, Craig Robinson, also her co-host on the IMO podcast, reflected on how their upbringing laid the foundation for emotional well-being.
Obama credited their parents for creating a “safe space” that mirrored the openness of therapy, and said she’s always leaned on close friends and family for emotional support.
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“I believe in the power of sharing your challenges with other people that you trust and that can come in many forms, and it has for me,” she told Shetty. “I believe in couples therapy, I believe in it all. Whatever works for you.”
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She shared that her current interest in formal therapy is rooted in her belief that guidance shouldn’t stop with age.
“I think we need to be coached throughout our lives, and I think therapy is a form of coaching.”
The Becoming author described her current life as a season of transition—one that prompted her to seek therapy with new urgency.
“I’m 60 years old. I’ve finished a really hard thing in my life with my family intact. I’m an empty nester,” she said. “Now for the first time, as I’ve said before, every choice that I’m making is completely mine now. I don’t have the excuse of, ‘Well, my kids need this, or my husband needs that, or the country needs that.’ So, how do I think about this next phase?”
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The conversation also touched on persistent speculation about her marriage. On a May 1 episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Obama firmly dismissed rumors of a split from Barack Obama.
“If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,” she said, adding that her brother “would know it,” too. “I would be problem solving in public,” she explained. “I’m not a martyr.”
Backing her up, Robinson joked, “I’d be doing a podcast with (Barack Obama).”
