Our schools are obsessed with teaching students empathy. For just one example, a huge focus of social and emotional learning is on teaching empathy. CASEL, one of the leaders in developing SEL curricula for schools, says that one of SEL’s core purposes is to help children “feel and show empathy for others.” In the 2021-22 school year, 76% of principals said they had an SEL curriculum in their school.

But is all of this focus on empathy actually a good thing? That’s one of the questions raised by Abigail Shrier in her new New York Times bestseller Bad Therapy.