Introduction
In today’s day and age, therapy has become the new brunch. A few years ago, therapy was still deeply stigmatised. It would be talked behind closed doors in hushed voices. Thanks to media platforms, therapy has now become an open and safe topic to talk amongst almost all age groups. Although not completely free from stigma, social media and westernised values have ensured that therapy isn’t a taboo topic anymore. As a society, the de-stigmatisation of therapy is a great move! However, we need to tread carefully when it comes to moving towards the other end of the spectrum- glamorisation. In recent times, therapy has started to be considered a lifestyle aesthetic rather than being deeply committed to the inner work.
The Therapy Flex- A new social trend
With the youth being more open to talking about therapy, there has been a noticeable shift in value systems of developing countries like India. A few decades ago, even the wealthiest in society weren’t open to the idea of therapy. However, now that social media explores various upsides of therapy such as increased awareness, accessibility and breaking the generational silence, people have started talking about therapy as if it’s a trend. No doubt that increased awareness and talking about their experience in therapy is a good thing for breaking the stigma. However, the main question which arises is that- “ Are people doing it because it’s a trend? Or are they doing it because they feel committed towards working on themselves?”
It might be easy to spot people who might be going for therapy for the sake of it versus someone who’s going to therapy to make meaningful changes. For example, someone who brings up their therapist and their experience repeatedly even in conversations which are not related to it could be doing it to increase their social status or appear cool in front of others. Mentioning one’s therapy experiences and their perspectives on their therapist isn’t inherently looked down upon. However, when someone uses therapy as a tool to look good or fit in with others, that is when it starts getting problematic.
The influence of social media
Social media has a huge role to play in glamorisation of therapy. With videos and reels acting as a quick medium to share our experiences, many of us are starting to misuse their purpose to instead talk about therapy in a casual way, instead of realising it’s actual process and impact. Recently, many users have started name dropping diagnosed disorders as if it’s a personality trait. What we might not realise is the grave impact of mentioning symptoms online which led to the disorder. This promotes a culture of self diagnostics, worry and persistent anxiety amongst users experiencing the same symptoms.
When therapy becomes a shortcut, not a solution
It’s great that people are finally opening up about their reflections during sessions to others and online. However, therapy is much more than that. It’s about reflecting on self awareness, not just to others, but also to yourself to actually break out of our unhealthy patterns. What might help us is the perception of therapy as a process instead of a performance. In order to achieve growth, we might need some time to actually be present in the moment during the session without thinking about narrating those reflections to others. What we’ve learnt in therapy should definitely be shared to others, but not at the cost of losing out on self work which is a core requirement of therapy.
As a result of glamorisation, people have started with something which is now known as “ therapist hopping” or “therapist tourism”. Therapy hopping refers to the practice of repeatedly changing therapists or therapy approaches without a clear and justifiable reason. This can be problematic as it can disrupt treatment progress, create inconsistencies in care, and hinder the therapeutic relationship.
Doing the Uncool Work- What Real Healing Looks Like
Therapy was never meant to be easy. It can be uncomfortable to sit with our own emotions and it can feel weird opening up about things we have never said aloud to a stranger. Real progress involves sitting with our own unhealthy patterns and dysfunctional beliefs, having the curiosity to understand where they came from and work on building a healthier way of looking at the world. However, the effort taken to go through hard progress is ultimately worth the reward. The reward lies in lesser anxiety about everyday things, more self awareness and enriching relationships which come from a place of empathy and shared understanding. Therefore, growth occurs when we understand the meaning of certain beliefs in our head and apply that understanding to the outside world, not just within the 1 hour session.
Therapy is not the problem- the performative consumption of it is. Therefore, if you feel like you’re stuck in a similar phase, ask yourself “Why am i going to therapy? Is it for healing or branding?”
Conclusion
This is the right time for us to realise the shift of therapy from vulnerability to virality before it gets out of our hand. We’ve come a long way in making social media a safe space for others to share their genuine experiences and struggles, but at the same time, it’s important for us to be able to differentiate between genuine vs inflated narrations. Therapy is meant for growth, not glorification.
