Wellness
I was like, Is she talking about me?
She wasnt sure how it found her, since they didnt have each others numbers.
But what was most remarkable about this experience was that it had happened before.
She had come across her previous therapist online on YouTube in 2022 and had been uncomfortable then, too.
Avideoabout suicide warning signs has more than 9 million views.
So does another about whether or not youre in freeze mode.
Those posts are among the tens of thousands of contributions psychologists have made to the platform.
Ashley started getting served her own therapists content after sending her a TikTok that was relevant to their sessions.
Youre like, Youre not allowed to be here, she jokes.
I see clients come in saying I have ADHD or I have anxiety, he says.
And as I start asking more When were you diagnosed?
[they say] Oh, well I saw on TikTok someone said these are the symptoms.
It felt really jarring to them, and I felt embarrassed.
I feel like that has a connotation.
If I saw my therapist on tiktok I would simply pass away ,a typical X post reads.
If I saw my therapist giving advice on tiktok I would kill her,another declares.
This knee-jerk distaste might be because the search for virality can end up harming clients.
Not on my watch, the caption reads, twisting the knife.
Glance deleted her account andtold BuzzFeed Newsshe lost two clients from the ordeal.
Twenty-eight-year-old Megan* is a tarot reader and content creator from Brazil.
She was asking Megan to like it.
I didnt go back to any sessions after that, Megan says.
She began seeing a new therapist that same week.
On the whole, these stories are anomalies.
Some clients arent that bothered by online encounters with their therapists.
Emma was particularly sympathetic, having previously worked in mental health care herself.
That made me very well aware of how much [theyre] really justpeople, she says.
But not all patients are as understanding.
Kaylen says she has mixed feelings about it.
says Olivia, a 23-year-old from New York.
Therapists say this isnt the case.
Im never thinking of one specific client when Im making a video, says Josephson.
Maybe other people are feeling that, too.
Im not talking about our sessions, he says.
But these sessions influence me, and they might subconsciously influence the content that Im creating.
Any discomfort someone has with their therapists social media presence should be brought up right away, Guenther says.
Sometimes, however, the rupture is beyond repair.
The therapist actually asked me if I could help them, she says.
After that, I was like, Yeah, this is my last session.
I cant do this.
But for Josephson, social media has been instrumental in connecting her with potential clients.
Shes found a digital-first introduction can be helpful.
In other words, to borrow a phrase that might not be therapist-approved: Ignorance is bliss.
