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DM Conversation Between Viewer and Influencer

DM from @healinginprogress_ to @thatgemrubySent: Tuesday, 1:13 AM Hey Ruby, I know you probably get messages like this a lot, but I just wanted to say thank you. Your videos...

📚 Works Cited

Bell, Emily. “Mental Health Experts or Content Creators? The Rise of TikTok Therapists.” The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2023, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/03/tiktok-therapy-mental-health-videos/673920/. Huston, Joy. “Parasocial Ties and Therapy Talk: The Psychology of TikTok Mental...

🧠 What I Learned About Mental Health on TikTok

Writing this series deepened something I’ve been thinking about: how digital spaces—especially TikTok—shape the way we talk about healing. There’s something powerful in those therapy influencer videos: the soft lighting,...

TikTok Therapy Feels Good—But It’s Not a Substi...

by Ruby Backstrom If you scroll through TikTok, you’ve likely encountered the soft-spoken creators in cozy lighting gently explaining terms like “anxious attachment” or how to “set boundaries with toxic...

Mental Health on the For You Page: Healing or J...

📘 Introduction Like many people my age, I’ve spent more nights than I can count scrolling through TikTok until the early hours. Somewhere between the dance challenges, recipe hacks, and...