Therapists and serial killers probably don’t have a lot in common. One group spends a great deal of time thinking about human behavior, childhood experiences, relationships, emotions, and what makes people tick. Unfortunately, so does the other.
So, how good are you at telling them apart?
Below are quotes from therapists, psychologists, and some of history’s most notorious serial killers. And because I’m apparently committed to making you question everything you know, I picked serial killer quotes that sound suspiciously insightful and therapist quotes that may make you wonder whether someone should check the basement.
Think you can tell who said what? Let’s find out.
Results
#1. “Try to touch the past. Try to deal with the past. It’s not real. It’s just a dream.”
#2. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
#3. “The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.”
#4. “I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”
#5. “Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence.”
#6. “Experience can teach you things no class ever could.”
#7. “We all go a little mad sometimes.”
#8. “Everyone must find out who they are and be aware of their actions.”
#9. “Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings.”
#10. “We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun.”
#11. “Guilt. It’s this mechanism we use to control people. It’s an illusion.”
#12. “I’ve learned to live absolutely and completely and totally in the here and now.”
#13. “The distinctive features of the mind are subjective; we know them only through the content of our own consciousness.”
#14. “We are not prisoners of the past.”
#15. “You are what you do, not what you say you will do.”
So, how did you do? If you nailed every question, congratulations: you’re either extremely knowledgeable about psychology or alarmingly familiar with serial killers. If you bombed it, don’t feel too bad. Apparently, “deep thoughts about the human condition” are not enough to distinguish a mental health professional from someone featured in a six-part Netflix documentary. Context matters, people. A lot.
