Talk Therapy Can Help Britney Spears

Britney Spears is an American pop icon, singer, and entertainer who gained fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Britney has had a huge impact on the music industry and pop culture and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Unfortunately, her talents are not the only thing she is known for. Britney Spears' mental health has caught the public eye as well. In 2007, she experienced a mental health episode that was highly publicized. She posted photographs on social media displaying her shaving her own head.  

Since then, she has been in residential treatment. Media had a “field day” postulating about Britney having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and experiencing a manic episode. Britney’s mental health eventually led to her being placed under a conservatorship in 2008, which granted her father, Jamie Spears, control over her personal and financial affairs. The conservatorship remained in effect for over a decade, with ongoing debates surrounding its necessity and the extent of control it imposed on Britney's life. In fact, fans even created what’s known as the “#FreeBritney” movement on social media advocating for her independence from her father.

In 2021, Britney spoke out against the conservatorship in court, revealing her feelings of abuse and confinement. The court later ruled to terminate the conservatorship, allowing Britney to regain control over her life and decisions. This legal development prompted discussions about mental health, autonomy, and the challenges faced by individuals in the public eye.

So what’s really going on with Britney? While we do not know for sure her diagnosis (due to privacy laws), she has shared that her father has an alcohol problem and mood swings. Her paternal grandmother was hospitalized for mental health, and eventually died by suicide. Britney’s relationship with her mother Lynne has always been up and down. It is said that Lynne lives with the guilt of having run over a child who was biking when she was 20 yrs of age. Britney has had several romantic relationships including Justin Timberlake, Kevin Federline (whom she married and has two children with), and was most recently married to Sam Asghari. She also has admitted to misusing Adderall and energy supplements, and has been accused of using methamphetamine.  

Britney is a great candidate for therapy. Given what we have gathered from media sources, this is what she could explore with a licensed mental health provider. Britney could concentrate on learning distress tolerance skills to manage extreme emotions. This modality is known as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. 

If she does have a stimulant use disorder, she could work on recognizing what triggers her use. What needs does her use satisfy? Brittany could increase her insight into her urges and triggers, and develop coping skills and healthy alternatives. For most people, being part of a recovery community is beneficial. For Britney, it may be understandably difficult to take part due to her fame.

Another area she could work on in therapy is processing grief. Grief is not always about a person passing away. It also applies to the loss or disruptions of relationships. She could benefit from working through the betrayal of trust she experienced with her family members and partners. 

Lastly, talk therapy can help a person improve self esteem and lessen dependency on outside validation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is often used to help people decrease their negative self talk and improve their self worth.

There are several ways Britney Spears could benefit by working with a psychotherapist.  A licensed clinical mental health professional is supportive and objective and can be a great asset to leading a balanced and healthy life.