We all know that social media is messy. In this episode, we explore two questions that have been taking up space in my brain lately:

1. How much pseudoscience is spread by respected therapists with HUGE platforms, even amongst fellow therapists (think: psychologists with longstanding bestsellers)
   
2. How harmful we are to each other in the comments. Why do we dogpile on each other so hard? Why are therapists just as culpable of piling on each other? Is speaking to each other this way online effective? And importantly: is there a better way?Thank you to Loretta J. Ross’ for her work on Calling In - links to her work referenced below!

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Links Mentioned:

Loretta J. Ross’ TED Talk: "Don't call people out -- call them in”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw_720iQDss&t=850s

Loretta’s book: "Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel"

https://amzn.to/439WHfC

(this is an affiliate link)

Article: "Addressing misinformation about mental health with patients”

https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-mental-health

Article: "An experimental online study on the impact of negative social media comments on anxiety and mood”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-10810-8

Article: "Online disinhibition mediates the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and uncivil communication"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-81086-7

Article: "The online disinhibition effect”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15257832/

Article: "Calling IN: A Less Disposable Way of Holding Each Other Accountable”

https://www.bgdblog.org/2013/12/calling-less-disposable-way-holding-accountable/

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

Lots of private practice therapists are seeing a drop in referrals lately due to an array of factors, including the ongoing growth of big tech therapy and AI-based services. It raises the question: is private practice still sustainable?

In this episode, I share my personal take: private practice isn’t going anywhere. And, if we can stay grounded in our roots of offering specialized, individualized, dynamic therapy, we can differentiate ourselves from big tech therapy.

I share my take on this in this episode. What do you think? What pieces did I miss?

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Related Episodes:

"Trying AI Therapy (I'm a Psychologist)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqpxi_oCpYc

"Beat Big Tech Therapy by not Playing Their Game”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKrlL6oxUX4

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

I typed into Google "why do therapists..." and let Google autosuggest what it thought I wanted to ask. The suggested questions were interesting! Sometimes curious, sometimes controversial, I tackled these questions in this episode.

Thank you to Paubox for sponsoring this episode. Paubox makes HIPAA-secure email easy and streamlined. Check them out here:

https://bit.ly/pps_paubox_spotify

*Get $250 off your first year with Paubox with coupon code "SKILLS"

*Bonus Deal:* If you add the Paubox badge to your website you get an extra $100 off your first year - that means you can get your whole first year free if you apply both deals!

Links mentioned:

Prior Episode: "Why Does my Therapist Do That?”

https://youtu.be/rN3MYbFwWLM

NPR: "Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here's why"

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/08/24/nx-s1-5028551/insurance-therapy-therapist-mental-health-coverage

Average Therapist Salary on Indeed:

https://www.indeed.com/career/therapist/salaries

"Certified Life Coach: What It Means and How to Become One"

https://www.coursera.org/articles/certified-life-coach

Reddit Post on Life Coaches:

https://www.reddit.com/r/therapists/comments/1pqc60p/for_fun_i_obtained_details_on_how_much_life/?force_seo=1

LINKS:

*Some links are affiliate links. A percentage of purchases come back to me and help my channel immensely!

👉 FREE Guide: Start a Private Practice in Counseling: https://tinyurl.com/y9ek9en8

👉 All my filming gear: https://kit.co/privatepracticeskills/all-my-gear

This podcast is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field. Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

Website: www.privatepracticeskills.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/privatepracticeskills

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/privatepracticeskills/

This podcast is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.