Mental health care takes many forms – but Lyle the Therapy Gecko is a particularly unique one. If you need a shoulder to cry on, Owings Mills, Maryland native Lyle Drescher is there for you… just not as himself. As his viral character Lyle the Therapy Gecko, Drescher runs a regular live show that anyone can call into to vent about their problems and be soothed by a non-judgmental presence… that just so happens to be a giant lizard.
How? Why? In Drescher's own words from a previous interview:
"It has been a great opportunity to travel the world talking to people. I've been all over Europe and America and Australia interviewing different people as a gecko and getting to experience all of these things and talk to all of these people and do all of these live shows," Drescher said. "I think what I do now is a really great cross-section of all the things that have interested me throughout my life, so it's comedy and traveling and having deep conversations with people, so I'm really grateful that I was able to find this weird thing that ended up being sort of perfect for me and my interests."
In finding this perfect fit, Drescher is also sending a message.
"It is much more fun to walk through the world being curious and attempting to understand the things around you as opposed to trying to consistently judge them," Drescher said.
Silly gecko suit or not, that's a message I can get behind. May all of your worries be solved by anthropomorphic reptiles.
Previously:
• 'Pixel Therapy' is a new podcast about marginalized people using video games to help their mental health
• How AI and machine learning can help improve therapy for humans
• Music therapy: new empirical data