Sarah Manavis

Sarah Manavis is an American journalist and cultural critic living in the UK. She writes about culture, technology and society on staff at The Observer. Formerly a senior writer and columnist at the New Statesman, her work has featured in other publications such as The Guardian, GQ, The Economist, Kinfolk, Prospect and Air Mail. She was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio.

Current publication:

TELL ME ABOUT MYSELF – Spring 2027 – by HarperCollins in the UK and One Signal (Simon & Schuster) in the US

A sharp and compelling critique of therapy culture and its effect on our relationships, self-perception and emotional wellbeing, Sarah Manavis explores what happens when therapy becomes content, self-care becomes branding, and healing becomes performance. We’re living in a golden age of therapy – apps at our fingertips, endless self-care mantras, and everyone fluent in ‘trauma’, ‘boundaries’ and ‘toxicity’. But is all this making us better, or just more self-involved? Does everyone truly need therapy?

In Tell Me About Myself, Manavis investigates how the language and practice of psychotherapy have been co-opted by pop culture, capitalism and influencers – flattened into a one-size-fits-all model of self-optimisation that alienates us from what therapy can actually achieve and from each other. From TikTok therapists to therapy-industry grifters, Manavis interrogates this new cultural ethos and the way it’s quietly warping our relationships, expectations and sense of self.

Blending reportage, cultural commentary, and personal insight, this is a razor-sharp, timely exploration of what happens when therapy becomes content, self-care becomes branding, and healing becomes performance.

This is her debut book.