grifters gonna grift
idk about you but i hate a grifter! these are some popular books and authors that market their stuff as mental health/"self-help" books but are feeding you pseudoscience!
created by saintry
last updated March, 2026
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Consider me warned!
Oh my god I hate this genre of books so much. Atomic Habits is another one. The author literally cites Tweets. The podcast "If Books Could Kill" is all about taking apart grifter "self help" & pseudo-social science books! I love the episode for Sapiens and How to Win Friends and Influence People. Their episode on Let Them Theory was also hilarious.
I love that podcast!
I learned about them from Pagebound â¨ď¸
Awesome! This is the app that keeps giving đ
One of my favorite podcasts. The episode on The Game never fails to get me fucking cackling
Lol as soon as I saw this list I was immediately thinking of them!!
these were the top ones that i could think of but feel free to suggest more if you can think of any! just a mentally ill girlie who feels strongly against preying on emotionally vulnerable and traumatized people by selling them bs :)
Glad to see that none of these made it on to my TBR by mistake
My office just picked The Let Them Theory as the next book club choice. (I had no input in this and am very disappointed with the pick)
0% overlap, like my kids say, leeeetttsss gooooooo đ¤Ł
I was nervous when I opened it up, but same. Lol
Oo ok give me the Nicole LePera tea please
YEAH! Call those grifters out!
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck should be here
omg how has nicole lapera released 3 books? yikes
saintryOP
literally what i said when i saw she was promoting ANOTHER new book lol
it took a while to put my finger on why she bothered me, because at first i was definitely taken in by the idea of reparenting. and honestly if she was simply promoting that idea and not trying to make money off of people's issues and acting like she has the solution to all problems (i know she was notably criticized for ignoring institutionalized racism and how that affects people,) i wouldn't really have a problem with her (although she may have done more dumb shit idk about bc i have been off socials for a couple years.) but yes, grifter is the perfect word for what she and people like her are. in the internet age especially it is so messed up how people are shamelessly profitting off this crap.
that also reminds me of the twin flames bozos, im sure they have a book or two that should be on this list as well. im going to stop ranting now sryđľâđŤ
saintryOP
i think what gets me the most about her is that she is intentionally using what she learned for evil. she went through the training and the schooling to become a doctorate in psychology. she took the required tests and trainings, did the required licensing hours, practiced for a number of years. but instead of choosing to do no harm and follow the code of ethics like her training would have taught her, she chose to not renew her license, become a content creator feeding off of buzzwords and made up pseudopsychology nonsense through the MAHA movement, and prey on vulnerable people. the sad thing is, there are several other people like this out there in the mental health field, they just havenât reached the level of success that she has.
As someone whoâs trained in clinical psychology, this has always bothered me. I donât understand how you can do that level of training and have learnt nothing. It also makes it harder as an actual professional to help people because people grasp at pseudo-science and expect outcomes in therapy that arenât either attainable or even real, or you try and speak as a professional and other peopleâs responses are coated in buzzwords that are completely disconnected from the psychological and clinical reality. Itâs so tiring dealing with that, day in, day out. Itâs actually harder now than before (when people had no psychological knowledge) to have a conversation or spread awareness. Itâs one of my biggest gripes! Books like this simply fuel the fire.
saintryOP
yep!! my wife is going through grad school and getting her training in clinical psychology right now, but has been working in the field for 3 years. it just baffles me to no end that there are people that could put in all the work to get the certifications and supervision hours and everything else they require for that, and pay all that money (because letâs be real, itâs not cheap to get just a masters let alone a doctorate) to just be a grifter.
ugh that must be so frustrating. it's so tough, too, because so many people don't have healthcare or afforadable access to therapy (talking about the US here,) so they turn to people like this on the internet because they are struggling. and there's that hook the grifter set out looking for people just like that, who are going through a tough time and grasping for anything meaningful. it's just very upsetting. as someone who struggles with mental health and hasn't always had healthcare, i can see how it would be so easy to get taken in by someone who claims they have the answers and can finally fix you.
i haven't read them, but anything by teal swan should be on here too. the hatred i feel for that woman is only rivaled by the pity i feel for her and all her followers. i had a good friends who ghosted me after getting obsessed with this woman's "teachings" because they convinced her that no one in her life could be trusted and she should cut them all off.
One book that I was interested in and it was just awful from a scientific point of view (the research just wasnât there) was Surrounded by Idiots. Itâs another book promoting personality types that makes no sense and isnât actually founded on anything, but itâs advertised everywhere in bookshops!!
saintryOP
ooo adding
I have never read her books but I feel like Rachel Hollis belongs on this list as well.
saintryOP
just looked her up and hell yeah she does! added
