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Pages of psychologists and coaches on Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) are very popular among subscribers. Recommendations for improving the standard of living and psychodiagnostic tests are gaining thousands of likes. Can a social network become a useful source of information? Or is this a frivolous and potentially dangerous approach to psychotherapy?
It is difficult to answer these questions unambiguously. An obvious plus of therapy on Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) is accessibility. In the hands of an experienced psychotherapist and thoughtful user, this tool will be no more dangerous than a book from the Heal Yourself series. Surely there are hundreds of users who have been helped in one way or another by information from the pages of psychotherapists on Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia).
However, «Instagram therapy» (an extremist organization banned in Russia) is not without serious shortcomings, says psychiatrist Ravi Chandra. In his opinion, posts on a social network can be compared to fast food from psychology: they are also addictive, contain a lot of “flavors” and are practically useless. This is confirmed by a recent study.
Consider the main problems that are sometimes hidden behind an attractive picture and spectacular text.
1. Requires a lot of screen time
According to the results of analytical surveys, Russians aged 18 to 35 spend more than 3 hours a day on social networks, of which Vkontakte accounts for 51%, Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) — 41%, Facebook (banned extremist organization in Russia) — 37%, and on Odnoklassniki — 35%.
As psychologists note, the amount of time spent on social networks is directly proportional to the attitude towards oneself and one’s life. Regular users experience an increase in dissatisfaction with themselves and friends, a deterioration in their physical and emotional state, as well as a tendency to mood swings and depression.
The task of any platform is to attract and retain subscribers. The cunning tools and tricks used by promotion specialists are constantly working in this direction. Do you enjoy reading a new post or looking at an interesting infographic? Be sure you are hooked.
Perhaps you plan to view extremely useful, «therapeutic» pages and not respond to enticing ads. But even then, you’ll be spending more time on your phone, convincing yourself that you’re doing it for your own good.
After all, the brain gets used to receiving constant nourishment in the form of information, and when it is not enough, it experiences real stress. Therefore, many feel anxious and depressed if the Internet “disappears” for a long time and the gadget becomes useless. And 40% of people generally suffer from nomophobia — the fear of being left without a phone.
2. Offers an overly generic approach
Tips and techniques for overcoming a particular problem on the pages of Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) are designed for a wide audience and are of a collective nature. Just such a simplified presentation of serious material resonates with a large group of people, helps to gain an impressive number of «likes» and bring the page to the top of the views.
But only during a face-to-face consultation, a psychotherapist selects an individual therapy that is suitable specifically for your situation. A single methodology for all occasions recommended by the “instagram psychologist” (an extremist organization banned in Russia) most likely indicates his incompetence.
There is no universal knowledge of how to solve this or that problem in psychology. And the help of a specialist is not at all like magic, when, with a wave of a hand, all the bad things disappear, and you do not put any effort into it.
3. Overly subjective and simplistic
Five or six books on popular psychology, a couple of online trainings and a three-week correspondence course with a diploma in «consulting psychologist» — why not promote your page on Instagram? (an extremist organization banned in Russia)
If this is superimposed on personal experience — “How I broke up with an abuser” or “How I overcame aviophobia”, then this is already a serious application for the creation and promotion of an author’s self-help technique on the network, which will certainly have adherents.
Surveys confirm that often people with personal problems come to psychology in the hope of sorting themselves out and, having figured it out, to help others. The bad thing is that not everyone is able to solve these problems to the end.
Life experience is important, but the task of the psychologist is precisely to go beyond it and see the situation through the eyes of the client. This is possible only through personal contact.
On Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia), psychological help is more like a story about a blogger’s personal problems and views. It is good if such an author’s insight becomes a starting point to seek personal advice. But for the majority, this will remain a convenient template that does not require deep introspection and work on oneself, and hence internal growth.
And scrolling itself as a mechanism for viewing content in the form of an endless tape is not conducive to thoughtful study.
4. Reduced to one-way communication
Publications of popular psychotherapists, coaches and other psychology gurus collect hundreds of comments with questions. It will be good luck if the author of the publication finds the desire and opportunity to answer at least some.
Forgotten subscribers are offended, and for a person who really needs psychological help, such indifference can even be traumatic.
5. Often devoid of empathy
Experienced psychotherapists know that more subtle tools help a person: empathy, warmth and support, the ability to look at the situation through the eyes of another. However, the image of «Dr. House» among online coaches and psychologists is somewhat popular.
Such pages on Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia) are characterized by excessive criticality and self-confidence, full of stereotypical terms and diagnoses. But this approach also finds supporters. Perhaps many people confuse self-confident cynicism with the «hard hand» of professionalism.
Variety in the presentation of material is, of course, welcome, but contempt and a condescending tone in addressing subscribers are best taken as a marketing technique, and not as a guarantee of true knowledge.
6. Can Complicate Existing Problems
I would like to hope that most people intuitively understand the difference between “instagram therapy” (an extremist organization banned in Russia) and practical psychotherapy. It is important to understand that any person, even with serious problems, can access the methods and recommendations posted in the public domain on pages on a social network.
Some psychologists and psychotherapists prudently add a couple of lines of disclaimer to publications. The likelihood of harming oneself with psychotherapeutic techniques is small, but not illusory.
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For 10 years now, the fashion for psychotherapy in Russia has continued to grow, which means that the number of online consultants and coaches is growing. Choosing from the thousands of psychologists and the information they publish something really useful is not an easy task. Often their social media pages are similar, with topics changing as reader interests change.
You can subscribe to one “psycho-blogger” or a dozen, you can take part in online marathons and trainings, or you can only read or actively ask questions. All this will be useful only on the condition that virtual life does not replace real life, and viewing a new publication does not become a substitute for a visit to a specialist.