Actress Tisha Campbell recently opened up about why she decided to pay for a young Gabrielle Union’s therapy sessions during the incipient stages of her career. The topic came up in conversation during an episode of The View, where Campbell was a recent guest promoting her new series Act Your Age. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg went down memory lane, reflecting on the time Union appeared on the show and shared how helpful Campbell was to her when she was getting started in the industry.
“I was lucky to come up with some OGs that were very transparent and they were very honest and they were not interested in watching me fail or flail,” said Union, 50, during the throwback episode. “Tisha Campbell paid for therapy for me. That was not covered by Sag Insurance by the way, out of pocket, like 10 sessions. That’s the one who really has your back.”
Fast forward to The View episode with Campbell, 54, and she explained that giving the gift of therapy to her fellow actress was a way of showing support and love.
“It’s funny ’cause I didn’t even think she would remember. It was just a moment in time for us and I was like ‘please just take this gift. I want you to have it,’ because I want her to win. I want my sisters to win,” Campbell said.
She continued, “I want us all to win. There’s so many pitfalls, there’s so many things. The fame monster is an ugly ugly thing that one can get addicted to. I really really wanted her to be okay, not that anything was wrong. It’s just that I wanted her to be supported.”
This is a gift many people could benefit from as therapy isn’t always easily accessible. As Union stated, therapy isn’t always covered by insurance, yet 1 in 5 Americans have some sort of mental health condition. Paying out-of-pocket costs is an option, but it’s an expensive one. A single therapy session could cost anywhere from $65 to $250 according to Goodtherapy.org.
Campbell paying for the therapy session isn’t just about the monetary gift, but it’s also a good example of what it means to care for the wellbeing of a friend.
Campbell admitted that watching Union reshare that moment brought her to tears.
“I just want us to win. It’s not a competition,” she said. “I compete with myself. It is a support system that I wanted her to have.”