The Last Therapist

What happens when therapy itself becomes the target?

Dr. Laura Fontaine has spent decades helping others make sense of their lives—until a flood of vicious online reviews threatens to destroy her practice. Her longtime friend and fellow therapist, Theo Lincoln, faces his own backlash in academia for refusing to conform to the latest ideological trends.

As the two navigate a profession increasingly shaped by social media outrage and political pressure, they’re drawn into the unraveling marriage of an elderly couple whose buried secrets mirror their own inner turmoil.

In The Last Therapist, Michael Karson delivers a piercing, intelligent exploration of love, loyalty, and the quiet courage it takes to think for yourself in a world that punishes nuance. At once a gripping relationship drama and a timely commentary on the changing landscape of mental health care, this novel dares to ask: Who’s really doing the healing—and at what cost?

Author: Michael Karson practiced clinical and forensic psychology for thirty years before entering academia. He retired from the University of Denver in 2023 as a full professor and the first or sole author of six psychology books. He’s glad he switched to fiction: Real therapy is more like a coauthored novel than it is like a psychology book.