The Internet Is Not Therapy
Written by: Kally Doyle
The internet is not therapy. Instagram is not therapy.
With therapy-related social media content on the rise, these are likely a couple of the phrases you’ve seen if you follow any therapist social media accounts. It may seem straightforward and common sense to some of you that the brief amount of information that fits into a 1080 x 1080 px box online can’t fix your problems, but I think there’s something deeper going on as to why us therapists really need to reinforce the truth behind this message.
Because social media has become so popular that even our grandparents have some sort of account online, it has also brought the opportunity for a faster, more effective dissemination of information and an effective marketing strategy for all types of business, large and small. Therapists have now jumped on board the social media marking train, and I can’t say I blame them- more followers means more opportunities to get your name out there and hopefully get more clients!
It seems simple enough: post informational tidbits about yourself as a professional, your services, your speciality, and helpful tips for potential clients and other social media users to have access to. However, speaking as a professional who has their own therapy practice and runs a professional social media account, it can definitely get overwhelming to feel like you have to always be posting top content that you aim to appeal to your “ideal client”.
Unfortunately, with this amount of pressure to continuously keep improving the quality and the engagement of each post, I think the lines between what should be kept inside of the therapy session and the therapeutic relationship have become a bit blurred. Yes, clients enjoy reading tips on coping with diagnoses and the like, but where is the line drawn between helpful introductory information for the sake of engaging potential clients and educating followers versus oversimplifying therapy practices for the sake of social media popularity and upkeep?
There seems to be no clear guidelines on what is helpful to post and what takes away the value of our profession in action. Full disclosure, I have a professional instagram account myself, so I am not condemning therapists for engaging in this practice; my concern lies within the type of content and the way we are presenting it, and the effects of doing so for the general public and potential clients.
To give an example of what I am getting at when I say what is helpful, engaging content for marketing/education versus what is oversimplification of complex therapeutic processes and interventions, let’s take a look a the following examples I’ve just created:
1) A therapist who specializes in emotional abuse recovery posts about “A few signs of emotional abuse in relationships”.
2) A therapist who also specializes in emotional abuse recovery posts “No contact is the only way to escape an emotional abuser; here’s why”
Both are examples of the types of posts I have routinely seen on instagram. I would argue that posts which briefly define emotional abuse and some common signs of this type of abuse may help provide a client or reader with some background information to help the reflect on their life experiences and determine whether this therapist may be able to understand them and help them heal.
However, this second type of post seems very problematic to me. While no-contact can definitely be beneficial in healing from abusive relationships, why is it being presented as the only option? Why are we presenting solutions to a problem that is incredibly complex and debilitating? Why are we giving advice, when therapy is about empowering the client to discover what they believe they should do?
I recently saw the following comment under another therapist’s instagram post: “Quit telling us the problem and tell us how to fix it already”. Yikes! While I could respond to that comment in particular, I think this comment addresses the point I am trying to highlight in this article- the internet is not therapy and we as therapists need to start to assess what type of content we are posting and the effects of doing so! This individual likely is echoing the opinion of other social media users out there, and they have formed this opinion for a reason. Perhaps social media is simplifying the complexities of human behavior and change so much that we have created an expectation of simple solutions for our problems and symptoms? And through this, are we actually damaging the reputation, expectations, and effectiveness of therapy?
I may be presenting a controversial take on things especially for those of you who use social media very heavily for promoting your practice or services. But I implore you to consider the deeper, more insidious effects on our profession that we may be adding to through the posting of certain types of therapy content online. For any therapy clients or other non-therapist readers, please know I do believe in the importance of accessibility of information on mental health and am not crusading for the termination of social media therapy content as a whole. I just hope that you, as the client and the reader, can understand that social media is not real life and that your personality, symptoms, trauma, strengths, interests, and human essence can not be captured by a box we scroll by online. Therapy is about interpersonal growth, and forming safe, human connections. Change occurs through safety and security. Please keep this in mind as you continue to support your favorite therapy accounts online.
