is TikTok Your Therapist?!

May 19

More and more, young people report scrolling through TikTok, tapping Instagram, or even firing up Google when life feels off balance. They search for a clear signal, validation, a little relief, and a slice of identity to pinpoint a way forward. The internet is quick with answers, throws up relatable content and yet the real story often remains unseen.

These trends have crept into clinic life where young adults often want to have one or two sessions in person with a clinician, then finish it off with a Tik Tok guru. Lets chat through why the digital age has a place in therapeutic care, yet caution must be applied.

1. Self-diagnosis is often way off target.

You’re watching short video clips and reading symptom lists that feel like sudden “aha!” moments. “I do that too.” “That totally explains everything!”

But, aligning symptoms with something found online is very different to receiving precision care aligned to your unique variables. You are so much more nuanced that a doom scroll, or a bot box diagnosis. In most cases, real understanding takes time, back-and-forth conversation, and genuine skilled professional insight, assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning.

2. Pop psychology methods don't build a wise life.

Simple is good, yet overgeneralising and methodising popular phrases like “set boundaries,” “go no contact,” or “you’re being gaslit” risk undermining what is foundational to complex layers of human existence. Pop psych quotes dominate scrolls but rarely capture the deeper, messy parts of what it means to be human. Therapy isn’t about catchy buzzwords. It’s about reviewing the foundations on which you build your life; your mind, body, soul, and spirit. There are core elements to establishing a life worth living that need to be built on bedrock so that when the storms of life hit (like they inevitably do), the foundations sustain what has then been put into practice.

3. Are you in an echo chamber?

If you tap on an ADHD clip, be ready for your feed to get filled with more ADHD content. Do the same for trauma, and you might find yourself being dumped on. You must guard your mental real estate and critical curious thinking and reflection happen outside the echo chambers of social media.

4. Influence doesn’t equal expertise

So many elements compete for our attention, affection and trust. We witness many individuals, families, youth and kids place their trust in others that influence in a way that grooms to what is popular, over what is carefully aligned to evidence based science from those with appropriate qualifications, registration status, and requisite expertise.

So, what can you do instead?

The digital age is dynamic and evolving with continuous advancements and applications. It has its place yet we encourage you to guard your heart and mind with all diligence by:

• Asking questions—don’t just rely on what pops up on your screen; ask them of yourself, too.

• Seeking out trusted advisors with appropriate qualifications in the appropriate settings to your circumstance.

• Treat online content as the starting point of a conversation, and reflection - not the final word.

• Test what you apply to your life. What you feed will grow - so test what grows for health, wholeness and alignment to your values.

True growth, learning and flourishing happens off-screen when we are embedded in community and belonging; with a commitment to learning from a trusted source.

So, ask yourself… what bits of online advice have opened your eyes? And what might really need an audit? or a broader conversation?

We’re here for you.