Lisa Vanderpump shed new light on her experience with grief counseling on Vanderpump Rules.
The SUR boss broached the subject during Season 12, Episode 4, in a heart-to-heart conversation with Marcus Johnson, who lost both of his parents in recent years. In the scene, Lisa checked in on Marcus’ progress with the family therapist she’d arranged for him to meet with after he was caught drinking on the job and shared with her that he’d been struggling to find healthy coping mechanisms amid the deaths of his mom and dad, Patricia and Raymond.
“As I said, I come from a place of stiff upper lip and no therapists or anything like that,” LVP explained to Marcus, before opening up about what happened when she previously attended grief counseling.
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“It was just talking to somebody who didn’t have any skin in the game but totally understood,” she continued. “For me, a lightbulb went on, and I saw things in a different way. I don’t know if it’s going to be the same for you.”
Marcus, meanwhile, filled her in on how life had been “a bit better” for him lately, which he partly attributed to being able to cry and “let it all out” during his own emotional therapy sessions.
Why Lisa Vanderpump went to grief counseling
Though Lisa did not go into the specifics of her reasons for seeing a grief counselor in the episode, she previously shared details of her therapy experience with The Daily Dish in early 2019.
At the time, Lisa had been processing the unexpected April 2018 death of her brother, Mark Vanderpump.
“This year was very difficult for me. I struggled; I floundered; I didn’t do well after my brother passed,” LVP said, noting that husband Ken Todd could also “attest to that” fact. “For me to start taking antidepressants and going to therapy and counseling — grief counseling — I’ve never been to therapy. I’ve never taken any drug. But I didn’t do well; I was more emotional.”
At the height of her grief, Lisa admitted that she would even “burst into tears” if she broke a fingernail.
“I think it really took me until about, maybe, October [2018] to really try and pull myself together,” she added. “And for me to reach out for help was something I’d never done either.”
How Lisa Vanderpump supported Marcus Johnson through his grieving process on VPR
When Marcus first opened up to Lisa during Episode 2, she had been weighing how to punish him for drinking at work. His candor about the state of his mental health helped her decide to take a different tactic, however, as she mandated that he attend grief counseling instead.
“I’m not gonna suspend Marcus,” LVP explained to a producer. “When somebody’s struggling, you need to bolster them. You can’t take anything more away.”
Fast-forward to VPR‘s Dec. 30 episode, and Marcus had another idea about how she could support him through the grieving process: by allowing him to launch his foray into DJing at SUR.
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Explaining how music was something he and his late father had bonded over, Marcus elaborated to a producer, “I was thinking, like, DJing would be such a good fit for me. And I feel like this is something that’s exciting for me to look forward to and really sink my teeth into and really could help me deal with losing my dad.”
Despite some reservations about his lack of experience, Lisa reluctantly agreed to let Marcus “have a little go at it,” anyway.
“I want to help Marcus, and, oh, I guess DJing could be a different form of healing,” she added in a confessional. “But f–k me, do I need another DJ? I’ve had a DJ before, and it was really f–king complicated.”
As you wait to see how Marcus handles his new side gig, don’t miss who LVP named as her “favorite” Vanderpump Rules alum.
