Boston-born psychotherapist Elliott Connie, known for his unique approach to talk therapy, has spent two decades helping people find hope and healing. His work, influenced by a challenging upbringing, focuses on fostering positivity rather than dwelling on diagnoses.
Connie explained to rolling out how his message has resonated with celebrities like Charlamagne tha God and Tiffany Haddish, who have helped amplify his platform.
What is psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy is talk therapy. I help people achieve healing through talk therapy. I don’t prescribe medication or any of that stuff. I just do talk therapy.
What was your path to becoming a psychotherapist?
I’m originally from Boston, Massachusetts. What led me to become a psychotherapist was a difficult childhood upbringing, family violence, and an unsafe home environment. I grew up with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideations. When I was about 19, my entire life changed. I realized that you can have hope for a future and it can make a massive difference in your life.
I got excited and wanted to share that with people. I went to graduate school to become a psychotherapist to share that exact message. They talked about diagnosis, symptoms and problems; I wanted to discuss hope, love, and warmth in the future. It made me want to be a psychotherapist, write books and spread that specific message.
Share how the entertainment industry can affect someone’s mental health.
In the entertainment industry, we have to remember that these are actual human beings, just like every other human being and stop putting so much pressure on them to perform. We put so much pressure on them to be our tools of entertainment, without understanding they’re just real-life, living and breathing human beings.
How do you encourage your clients to manage their mental health?
It’s the same as for everyone else. You have to know what heals you, helps you, drives you and permits you to do those things. Just because you’re a celebrity doesn’t mean you have to stop for every single picture, sign every single autograph and show up on every single person’s Instagram. There are times you have the energy for it and there are times you do not. You have to honor that and own it. That’s the same for people in regular life.
What is it like working with Charlamagne Tha God and Tiffany Haddish?
People like Charlamagne tha God and Tiffany Haddish work hard to give someone like me a platform. I’m just a regular psychotherapist. They met me, realized I was pretty good at what I did and appreciated my message. Now they’re helping me build a platform. Now that we’ve gotten to this place as a society, we also get to have conversations about mental health. Tiffany is very open and public about her struggles, imperfections, what life has done to her and how she deals with it. The same goes for Charlamagne. Both of them are willing to use their stories, experiences and platforms to help people be reached and heal.
