12 celebrities who swear by therapy for their mental health: Jennifer Aniston, Meghan Markle & more

Friends icon Jennifer Aniston relies on therapy to cope with the challenges of fame, telling PEOPLE in 2021 that "self-awareness is key".

Jennifer has been vocal about how greatly it has impacted her life, explaining: "I've really gotten a lot out of therapy. Just being a public person, there's a lot of amazing things that come with that. But there's also a lot of tough stuff, because we're only human, and we tend to walk around with bulls-eyes on our heads."

Jennifer Aniston's The Morning Show co-star Reese Witherspoon said she went through seven years of therapy to help understand herself better, sharing her experience on stage in 2023:

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot because I did the work – the hard work – in my early 20s, and reading every book and every self-help book and going to therapy and really trying to understand myself and forgive the parts of myself that were broken and the parts of myself where I felt like a failure, because it was a huge part of it"

Demi Lovato has been refreshingly candid about her battles with depression, bulimia and substance abuse. Growing up in the public eye meant she often felt scrutinised and turned to unhealthy habits to cope. "Therapy helped me release my voice and find freedom," she said in a 2020 video. "An inner freedom that I've been looking for from a very young age."

The ex-Disney actor now uses her platform to reduce the stigma surrounding therapy and campaign for more accessible mental health support.

JLo shared that going to therapy helped her learn to love herself, sharing on the Coach Conversations podcast with Jay Shetty: "I remember when I was going through therapy in my late 30s, and there was a lot of talk about loving yourself."

Challengers actress Zendaya is a huge advocate for professional mental health support and has been honest about how the pandemic affected her.

"Of course I go to therapy," Zendaya told British Vogue in 2021. "If anybody is able to possess the financial means to go to therapy, I would recommend they do that. I think it's a beautiful thing. There's nothing wrong with working on yourself and dealing with those things with someone who can help you, someone who can talk to you, who's not your mom or whatever, who has no bias."

Global superstar Jay-Z is another celebrity who has benefitted from talking about his emotions. A tough childhood meant he adopted a hardened attitude in order to survive growing up in Brooklyn.

Speaking about how therapy changed his life, in 2017 he told The New York Times he "grew so much from the experience" and that "the strongest thing a man can do is cry". He continued: "To expose your feelings, to be vulnerable in front of the world. That's real strength. You know, you feel like you gotta be this guarded person. That's not real. It's fake."

Selena Gomez is a leading light when it comes to talking about mental health and therapy, even setting up her own mental health organisation, Wondermind, to help others. 

Her documentary, My Mind and Me, showed a candid look at her struggles with bi-polar, and she has always been open about her reliance on therapy, telling Vogue that she saw a therapist five days a week and underwent dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) which she credited with changing her life.

Ariana Grande has been through a lot during her time in the public eye, and has shared the importance of therapy in dealing with what life has thrown at her.

In a Vogue interview she shared: "I think wellness is an important investment. We should be taking care of our minds. They are the centre of our whole human experience. I feel so fortunate to be able to have amazing therapy, and to have meditation [that works for me]."

Ocean Eyes musician Billie Eilish thinks therapy is important for everyone, telling podcast host Zane Lowe: "I talk through things in therapy that I don't even think about in my life. It's really helpful, it brings it out of you and it's really necessary.

"I genuinely believe that everyone, every human on earth should go to therapy... even if they think their life is just amazing and perfect, and nothing's wrong. Every single person should go," she continued.

Katy Perry is a huge believer in therapy, sharing way back in 2017: "I've been going to therapy for about five years and I think it has really helped my mental health incredibly. And it’s a really wonderful thing to be able to talk to someone who doesn’t judge you, because I don’t think a lot of people have that. I encourage it. People think it’s weird or they think yoga is weird. No, there is nothing weird about taking care of your physical and mental health. That’s awesome."

Prince Harry wrote openly about his experiences of therapy in his memoir, Spare, sharing that, encouraged by Prince William, he'd seen a therapist after his mother died, and it hadn't worked for him. In adulthood, Meghan Markle encouraged him to seek help again and he said it made all the difference in calming his nerves and helping him move forward in life.

Happy to try alternative therapies, Prince Harry also tried EDMR therapy as part of his mental health-focused docuseries with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can't See, and told the TV host about how therapy helped him in his relationship with Meghan.

"I knew that if I didn’t do the therapy and fix myself, that I was going to lose this woman who I could see spending the rest of my life with."

The Duchess of Sussex's encouragement for Prince Harry to seek help came from her own positive experiences with therapy, and her husband helped her in turn when she needed help, sharing on her Archetypes podcast: "When I was really bad, my husband helped me by finding a trusted therapist."

As a California native, Meghan is confident and comfortable talking about her mental health and knows the important of being open about our mental health, sharing in the same podcast episode: " I think it's crucial that we are all very honest about our needs. We shouldn't be afraid to seek outside help if it's needed."