Therapist argues Andrew Tate is a Hurt Child

Psychotherapist interviews Andrew Tate and suspects Tate is a hurt child

*Listen to the voiceover if you can - it’s more interesting as the audio from the Tate interview is included.

Recently I released a Substack titled Are we Creating Trauma for Ourselves? where I discuss how Sigmund Freud and various sequences of events set the stage for the average person to be worried about whether or not they have ‘trauma,’ namely childhood trauma. While many people undoubtedly have negative past experiences that left a negative mark on their behavior patterns, that Substack post questions whether it is productive to ruminate on and further identify with those negative experiences. A psychotherapist encouraging you to discuss, explore and relive the emotions you felt during that traumatic experience may serve to only have you further identify with it. I even wonder if some therapists may convince people that they have a trauma that they never suspected they did. I discussed how in one Youtube video where a Dr. K talked to someone with childhood trauma, while empathetic, his comments seemed like they might affirm that trauma and further have that person identify with that trauma. This may hinder their progress in letting go of it and may slow down their moving on to focusing their mental energy on practical solutions that would improve their behaviors and mentalities. I just came across another video of someone interacting with a psychotherapist - Andrew Tate. Let’s take a look.

Link to Video

Andrew Tate is a kickboxing champion, a multimillionaire, and was recently put in Romanian jail for over three months on suspicion of human trafficking despite a lack of evidence. After months of investigation all the prosecutors come up with was the charge that Andrew Tate and his brother coerced women into doing TikTok videos for them. This was a bizarre charge considering the brothers were already multimillionaires and doing TikTok videos isn’t very lucrative. He was also put on house arrest for 7 months and was recently released.

“After 10 months. 3 in jail, 7 at home. After 15 million euro of asset seizures. After an inditement based on nothing. The file was passed to a Judge who has ruled it weak and circumstantial. I have been released from house arrest but must remain within Romania…”

While deliberately inflammatory, many men seem to find Andrew Tate’s takes on the world practical and inspiring. The Tate brothers have been criticized for making money off of a legal cam-girl business in the past and are often accused of being misogynists.

However, we’re not here to debate the character of Andrew Tate, but to take a look at his interview with a particular psychotherapist - David Sutcliffe. By the way, Tate invited Sutcliffe to do a podcast with him so there’s likely a ‘come on, let’s see what you got’ element to this - this probably isn’t an example of Sutcliffe’s typical therapy session. Take these comments with a grain of salt.

However, if it is representative of a typical therapy session, it would be kinda concerning. As we’ll see there were several instances where it seemed like the therapist was trying to search for and get Tate to concede to mental ailments that Tate either didn’t indicate he has or outright denied.

1. Encourages Tate to view his childhood as problematic

At one point, Tate explains that he has nightmares which of course are an indication that Tate has some fear in his mind. Tate says that he thinks this is a natural response to something like being jailed 93 days out of the blue despite a lack of evidence.

The therapist asserted that that Tate’s fear needed to be ‘addressed.’ Tate said that while he has bad dreams he doesn’t see fear as some pathological state that needs to be excised from his psyche, especially considering it doesn’t affect his day to day life negatively.

Therapist: “…Fear creates distortions in our minds, right? I mean fear is the seat of evil, so we wanna know what we’re afraid of because if we block our fear we’re susceptible to bad actions and fooling ourselves about what they are - rationalizing. So I would argue that it’s actually vital for you in the position that you are in and the responsibility that you have to actually confront your fear in a very real way which probably goes back to your childhood. I mean your Dad was - I mean the haircut story… when I read that I’m thinking about that little boy, it must have been fucking terrifying.”

So it sounds like the therapist here is encouraging Tate to view some part of his childhood as trauma. What I’m wondering is: is that useful?

By the haircut story, the therapist here is referring to a tweet thread of Tate’s that tells the story of how Tate’s mother complained about the barber not cutting Tate’s hair well, Tate agreed with her that he didn’t like the haircut either, and then his father got very angry at this exchange and then forced Tate to shave his head to teach Tate not to worry about his hair like “a little bitch.”

Tate wrote in the tweet that:

I sat in the chair holding back tears as my head was shaved. Afterwards dad said: Your mother loves you and I love you. Nobody in the world gives a fuck about your haircut. When you grow up you’ll see - they only care about what kinda man you are.

[My father] was totally right. I look back now and THANK him. What good comes from a 13-year-old boy giving a fuck about his haircut? ZERO. … Nobody gives a fuck about my hair. They care what kinda man I am. RIP Emory Tate.

According to this tweet thread (which the therapist apparently read) Tate remembers the experience clearly, he acknowledges that it was tough (enough for him to almost cry) as kid, but he also was grateful for the experience , and he speaks very positively about his father (not just in this tweet but often).

So why is the therapist encouraging Tate to look for for trauma in his childhood or to encourage a more negative interpretation of an experience Tate has spoken positively about.

2. Tries to get Tate to doubt his ability to understand himself

Early on, the therapist said “Does it make you nervous that there may be things that you don’t know about yourself that I’m going to try to reveal to you?” and then later had this exchange with Tate:

Tate: “I mean I psychoanalyze myself all the time, which is one of the main reasons I don’t believe in therapy and psychoanalysis…”

Therapist: “You can’t psychoanalyze yourself-”

Tate: “Of course you can-”

Therapist: (laughs)

Tate: “I do it myself.”

Therapist: “You don’t think that’s hubris?”

Now I think the therapist has a decent point that sometimes it’s useful to get other people’s perspective but I found it odd that he thinks that Tate saying he can understand himself is “hubris.” I don’t quite see why a psychotherapist who has none of the lived experiences of their patients would be in a position to understand that patient. If someone goes to a psychotherapist and says I don’t understand myself, that’s a different story. But again, in my opinion, telling someone that it’s hubris that they can understand themselves by themselves only serves to sow doubt in that person and foster dependency on the therapist.

Dr. Albert Ellis wrote in his criticism of psychoanalysis that:

Most clients are overly dependent individuals who are afraid to think and act for themselves and to risk being criticized for making mistakes. Psychoanalysis is usually a process that greatly fosters dependency

3. Tries to pathologize Tate’s negative feelings

Tate had been asserting that fear isn’t necessarily a bad or pathological thing, that it’s natural to have fear and people shouldn’t expect their lives to be completely lacking fear especially if they are constantly facing new challenges as they move forward in life.

Tate: “I don’t necessarily want fear to go away because I have no problems feeling bad.”

Therapist: “Well it’s not about going away it’s coming into deeper relationship with it and understanding that there’s fear that’s happening in real time but there’s also fear that may be in your psyche somewhere, in your body that’s connected to your history and that may need to be resolve because otherwise you’re projecting things out that you may not seeing reality totally clearly, that’s the thing, right? Is there a way that you’re not seeing things perfectly clearly?”