Key points
- Ted Lasso shows how relationships can become powerful catalysts for personal growth.
- Emotional openness can challenge cultural beliefs that vulnerability is a form of weakness.
- Empathic leadership can create the trust and safety people need to change.
After nearly three years away, Ted Lasso is back
The new season gives us another opportunity to revisit one of the psychological questions that has always been at the heart of the series: What actually helps people change?
My colleague and I explored this question in our research article, Believe in Change: Ted Lasso and the Power of Narrative in Therapy,which got published in the International Journal of Systemic Therapy. Through a narrative and systemic analysis of the first three seasons, we identified three themes that repeatedly shaped the characters’ growth: redefining masculinity through emotional openness, leadership rooted in empathy and emotional intelligence, and relationships as catalysts for personal transformation.
Perhaps that is part of why Ted Lasso has resonated with so many viewers. Beneath the soccer, humor, and optimism is a remarkably relational story about how human beings change
Change Rarely Happens Alone
Popular psychology sometimes presents growth as an individual project: Develop better habits. Set boundaries. Become more resilient. Improve your self-esteem
These things matter, but Ted Lasso repeatedly offers another perspective: People often change through relationships:
- Jamie Tartt does not simply decide to become more emotionally mature. His transformation occurs through relationships with teammates, coaches, and particularly Roy Kent.
- Rebecca’s healing similarly develops through friendship, accountability, vulnerability, and connection.
- Even Ted—the person who initially seems to be everyone else’s source of emotional support—eventually discovers that he needs support, too.
Our analysis found that relationships repeatedly serve as catalysts for transformation throughout the series. Characters begin imagining different versions of themselves partly because someone creates enough relational safety for another story about who they are to emerge
Therapy often works in much the same way
Strength Can Include Vulnerability
One of the most psychologically meaningful aspects of Ted Lasso is its treatment of masculinity
Ted, Roy, and Jamie represent very different expressions of manhood. Yet each eventually encounters the limitations of emotional suppression:
- Ted’s optimism cannot protect him from panic attacks.
- Roy’s toughness cannot eliminate grief, insecurity, or his need for connection.
- Jamie’s confidence cannot erase the emotional wounds associated with his relationship with his father.
Their development challenges a familiar cultural narrative: that strength requires emotional invulnerability
In our study, redefining masculinity through emotional openness emerged as one of the show’s central themes. Rather than presenting vulnerability as weakness, Ted Lasso portrays emotional expression, help-seeking, tenderness, and connection as compatible with strength
For many people, that is an important therapeutic shift
Sometimes therapy involves discovering that needing other people does not necessarily mean we have failed to become strong
Leadership Is About Relationships
Ted also offers an unusual model of leadership. He does not lead primarily through authority, intimidation, or even technical expertise. When the series begins, he knows remarkably little about the sport he has been hired to coach
Instead, Ted pays attention to people. He notices relationships. He asks questions. He becomes curious about what motivates someone rather than immediately judging their behavior
Our analysis identified this as leadership grounded in empathy and emotional intelligence. Across the series, Ted’s influence comes largely from his ability to create trust, collaboration, and emotional safety within the team
There is a lesson here that extends far beyond sports. Parents, teachers, supervisors, coaches, therapists, and organizational leaders all influence the emotional systems around them. Leadership is not simply about getting people to follow. Sometimes leadership means creating an environment in which people feel safe enough to grow
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Stories Give Us Psychological Distance
There is another reason Ted Lasso interests me as both a therapist and researcher: Stories allow us to explore ourselves from a safer distance
It may feel uncomfortable to ask, Why is vulnerability so difficult for me?but it might feel easier to begin with, Why is vulnerability so difficult for Roy?
We can discuss Jamie’s relationship with his father before examining our own family wounds. We can notice Ted’s initial resistance to therapy before questioning our own assumptions about seeking help. This is part of the promise of cinematherapy. Movies and television can provide cultural stories through which people recognize emotions, relationships, and patterns in their own lives. When used thoughtfully, these stories can become starting points for reflection rather than simply entertainment.
People Are Not Finished Stories
The famous yellow BELIEVE sign became one of the most recognizable symbols of Ted Lasso,but perhaps believing was never simply about believing that Richmond could win. Maybe it was about believing that people can become something different from who they have been. The arrogant player can learn empathy. The angry man can become tender. The betrayed woman can trust again. And the relentlessly optimistic coach can admit that he isn’t okay
Narrative therapy reminds us that the stories we currently tell about ourselves can be powerful without being permanent. Relationships, new experiences, and moments of vulnerability can create openings for different stories to emerge
As Ted Lasso begins another chapter, perhaps that is the psychological lesson worth carrying with us: People are not finished stories
Sometimes change begins when someone, including a therapist, partner, friend, mentor, or coach, helps us believe there is more to our story than the version we have been living
Rajaei, A., & Hanna, C. (2025). Believe in change: Ted Lasso and the power of narrative in therapy. International Journal of Systemic Therapy. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1080/2692398X.2025.2591970
