Michelle Obama Opens Up About Starting Therapy Ahead Of Life's 'Next Phase'

Former first lady and best-selling author Michelle Obama revealed she's been using therapy to help her adjust to the "next phase" of life.

While speaking with Jay Shetty on his wildly popular podcast, "On Purpose," Michelle, 61, reflected on what exactly drove her to speak with a mental health professional and even advocated for the service, saying she's learned much about herself in the process.

"At this phase of my life, I'm in therapy right now because I'm transitioning, you know?" she said, explaining that she's now an "empty nester" without Sasha and Malia Obama around. “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!”

Michelle added that therapy is helping her unlearn past behavior that has hindered her growth. “So, I’m getting that tune-up for this next phase because I believe this is a whole ‘nother phase in life for me,” she said. “And I now have the wisdom to know — let me go get some coaching while I’m doing it.”

The "Becoming" author said that now that she's overcome the most difficult part of her life, she's focusing on doing things that make her feel great. “Every choice that I’m making is completely mine,” she said. “I now don’t have the excuse of, 'Well, my kids need this,' or 'My husband needs that,' or 'The country needs that.'”

She also advocated for others to try therapy, saying, "Everybody needs to find their form of it, the best way they can."

Her remarks on Shetty's podcast aren't the first time Michelle has opened up about living life for herself at this point in her journey.

On an episode of her "IMO" podcast, Michelle reflected on the chaos that ensued once she decided not to attend Donald Trump's inauguration.

“My decision to skip the inauguration—or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me—were met with such ridicule and criticism,” she said. “People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”

According to Michelle, her decision not to attend had nothing to do with her marriage and everything to do with her personal conviction.

“I'm here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me,” she added. “And it took everything in my power to not do the thing that ‘was right,’ or was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me.”

During a previous interview with Kelly Ripa, Michelle reflected on the struggle of raising her daughters while living in the public eye, calling it a "lot of work."

As she continued, she described their older years as a "nightmare," especially because the paparazzi were trying to capture their every move.

"They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things," Michelle said, "And every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn't wind up on Page Six."

However, Michelle wasn't the only one who found their new normal as the first family difficult.

She also spoke candidly about how hard she fought to make her daughters' lives "normal," despite living under certain White House and presidential policies.

"When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal," Michelle explained. "Imagine setting up the first play date or the first time the kids get invited to a play date. The process of having my children at your house meant that an advanced team had to come and question and search your house and ask if you had drugs and guns."