Michelle Obama reveals she's in therapy preparing for 'life-changing transition'

6 May 2025, 14:51

Michelle Obama has revealed she is in therapy - which helps her cope with entering her sixties and being an "empty nester", she said.

Obama said she was "transitioning" into a new phase of her life, with both her daughters now in their twenties.

She also said others should "find their form" of therapy to help them sort through the problems in their own lives.

Speaking on The Jay Shetty Podcast, the former First Lady said: "I'm in therapy right now because I'm transitioning, you know? I'm 60 years old, I've finished a really hard thing in my life with my family intact, I'm an empty nester, my girls are in - you know, they've been launched."

She said she is now in a position where "every choice that I'm making is completely mine."

"I now don't have the excuse of, "Well, my kids need this" or "My husband needs that" or "The country needs that.""

She said therapy is a "tune-up for this next phase" and is helping her to "unwind some old habits" and "sort through some old guilt."

Obama encouraged others to try therapy, saying; "I am an advocate of it. Everybody needs to find their form of it, the best way they can."

The former First Lady is making numerous podcast appearances as she promotes her new podcast, IMO, which she co-hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson.

Michelle has recently denied rumours that she and her husband, the former US President Barack Obama, are divorcing.

She said on The Diary of a CEO podcast on May 1: "If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it."

Rumours first arose after Barack Obama attended former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and Donald Trump's second inauguration solo.

She said of her absence from the inauguration: "People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason. They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart."

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She acknowledged that marriage is "hard" but said "I wouldn't trade it", calling Barack "my person."

"The beauty of my husband and our partnership is that neither one of us was ever really, ever going to quit at it, because that's not who we are."

"I talk about these things because I think that people give up too quickly on marriage," she continued.

"Because there is so much friction built into the equation. And if you're not getting help, talking about it, going to therapy, just understanding how things are changing, and how do you continuously renegotiate your relationship with your partner, I just see people quitting."

She has discussed previous issues she and her husband have faced, admitting that she had to be convinced to support his first run for president.

She has also recently addressed her portrayal in the media as an 'angry black woman', saying "The first label they put on us as black women is that we are angry. And the irony is, like, yeah. I am probably less light than many of my white female friends."

The Obamas have been seen going to dinner together in Washington DC twice over the last month.

The couple have been married since 1992 and have two daughters together, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23.