Warning: Discussion of alcohol misuse.
John Stamos’s relationship with therapy is profoundly personal.
If you didn’t know, John plays a therapist on TV.
Nope. I’m not talking about Dr. Nicky in You. Although, it was a brilliant performance.
John also portrays a family counselor on the second season of Hulu’s UnPrisoned, which stars Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo.
John’s portrayal as a “non-traditional therapist, healer kind of person” perhaps comes from his real-life relationship with his therapist.
Talking with Page Six, John said he’d been in therapy for “close to 20 years.”
The Full House alum shared how he found therapy very helpful in life. “I probably wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t [in therapy].”
In 2015, John was arrested for a DUI, and he opened up about his struggles with alcohol in his 2023 memoir If You Would Have Told Me. Following his arrest, he entered a substance abuse program.
John said his therapist changed his life. “He’s very pragmatical, this guy,” John said, speaking of his therapist.
“He was big into helping me get sober,” John said.
The therapist he’s talking about is Dr. Phil Stutz.
Dr. Stutz was the subject of a 2022 Netflix documentary directed by Jonah Hill. The documentary chronicled the life and career of the psychiatrist known for working with Hollywood actors, agents, writers, and producers.
“When I went to Stutz one of the first times, he said, ‘You know if you weren’t so fucking stupid, you’d realize how good you have it,’ and I was like, ‘You’re right,'” John recalled, laughing.
John also shared how he introduced his best friend and Full House costar, the late Bob Saget, to Dr. Stutz.
Reminiscing about the beginning of his friendship with Bob, John said, “He drove me crazy, and I said, ‘You gotta go into therapy if you want to be friends with me,’ so he went to Stutz, and Stutz helped him, too.”
UnPrisoned is streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
