Tyler Perry Took Joy Behar’s Advice To Get Therapy: ‘You Were Right’

'I'm living the freest, best part of my life.'

Tyler Perry returned to The View to let Joy Behar know how much her therapy recommendation has been working for him.

The media mogul stopped by the daytime talk show on Dec. 17 to promote his new film, The Six Triple Eight, and give the ladies an update one year after Behar suggested he go to therapy.

“I really took your advice. I went to therapy for the first time at 54 last year,” he shared in a clip shared on TikTok.

The director and screenwriter credited therapy with helping him to “really get in touch” with himself and heal from his past.

“I’m living the freest, best part of my life,” Perry said. “I’d been bound by so much trauma, so much pain, so much heartache and heartbreak and, you were right, Joy. You were completely right, and I would recommend it to anyone — the right therapist. Because the wrong ones will make you crazy as hell. But the right therapist, yeah, for sure.”

@theviewabc #TylerPerry shares how taking #JoyBehar’s advice on going to therapy changed his life! #TheView ♬ original sound – The View

Behar noted how beneficial therapy can be for anyone who needs to heal from past trauma, “or,” Perry added “even understand it.”

“I knew all the trauma, and I had all the bells and tools to understand it, ‘cause as a writer, I would always chase down the motivations of my characters, and I used that for myself,” he explained. “But I didn’t have the understanding of, now I have the information, now what do you do with it? So getting the information was so powerful.”

Perry’s last appearance on the show was in November 2023, when he promoted his documentary, Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story. In it, he shared details about his difficult childhood, the comfort he found in his mother, the grief he still feels over her loss, his troubled relationship with his father, and other challenges he has overcome.

It was then that Behar recommended Perry go to therapy, “Because that seems to be my solution to emotional issues and I always think it works,” she explained. “It worked for me, believe it or not. So?”