Is it Therapy?
Is Instagram therapy enough?
It is important to first clarify is that “Instagram therapy” is not a form of psychotherapy. In fact, it is not “therapy” at all!
Psychotherapy requires committed engagement with trained psychologists who utilise evidence-based techniques and approaches to investigate a mental health concern and work with the client collaboratively to reduce or minimise the impairment or impact of the mental health concern. Therapy must be specific and customised as no two persons are completely alike; we each have unique life experiences and circumstances.
This means that the content or engagement published on Instagram or Facebook should not be regarded as therapy. At best, such content should be regarded as a type of psychoeducational content.
And as with all other kinds of purported educational content, we must think about how the content is delivered and whether they are credible or helpful.
According to the internet, there are roughly 1 billion users on Instagram, 1.2 billion users on Tik Tok, and 2.9 billion users on Facebook. Social media has become a ubiquitous medium for content consumption that can be harnessed for a good cause.
But not everything you read might be applicable or useful, or worse, true.
Many users of social media use these platforms to follow or create interesting content, advance personal or professional goals, or associate with like-minded people. It should come as no surprise that content creators want to create content that users want to consume, focusing on the usual metrics of increasing likes and followers or monetising their followers. There is a ton of mental health information that is shared online every day, often by self-proclaimed experts with little experience, research, or actual clinical practice, often with the aim of gaining followers or likes.
Over time, many come to rely on these celebrity psychologists for their ‘daily dose’ and mistaking that as a connection with the psychologist on some level, or worse, regarding that content as online or group therapy.
Some say that mental health channels on social media are like self-help books: addictive, unhelpful, and designed to keep you coming back for more.
It is against this backdrop that we should analyse things that we consume on the internet.
So when you next scroll through the pages of your favourite Instagram Therapists or Psychologists, please bear these in mind:
Ψ Is the content from a reliable source?
Ψ What are the factors motivating the content creator to produce this content?
Ψ Does this person spend more time on clinical practice or on social media?
Also:
Ψ Social media is not a substitute for therapy.
Reading information online can help you understand or learn something about yourself, but it is not a replacement for formal therapy.
Ψ No therapy can be done over social media.
While well-meaning psychologists might create content to educate the general public, others blindly produce or reproduce material to attract likes and followers with the intention of aggressively promoting their services.
Ψ Social media should not be relied upon during a crisis.
Such content should be viewed purely for what they are – generic, non-specific and informational in nature that serves a vital psychoeducational purpose within the community.
Because non-mental health professionals are very likely the target audience of such psychoeducational material, it must go without saying that psychologists and other mental health professionals should abide by regulatory, professional, and ethical guidelines when dispensing mental health information whether on online or during clinical practice.
When presented responsibly, psychologists on social media help to break the stigma associated with mental health. They break down complex mental health conditions into digestible bite chunks for any person with a smart device to consume. They explain difficult psychological disorders and concepts with infographics, animation, and beautiful pictures. The amount of useful information that is put out by some of these professionals who have dedicated years of their lives to acquire their knowledge and expertise is staggering.
And of course, some are visually beautiful presented and simply a delight to consume.
Keep calm and scroll on!
Annabelle