"What I Share Is Not the Same as Therapy": Psychologist Experiences of Instagram Use as a Mental Health Influencer

Abstract

Background and Aims: The use of social media by health practitioners as mental health influencers is rapidly increasing in prevalence. Multiple papers have questioned ethical issues which may arise from social media use by psychologists, yet most ethical guidelines are still not comprehensive enough with the focus typically on personal social media use rather than professional use. There is a gap in the literature with no qualitative research exploring the psychologists' own views. Therefore, this study aimed to explore practitioner psychologists' experiences of Instagram use as a mental health influencer. Methods: The study used a qualitative design to gain rich insight into the psychologists' lived experiences. Twelve UK-based practitioner psychologists were interviewed who had an Instagram account that they used as a mental health influencer. The semi-structured interview transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Analysis: Three themes were developed from the analysis related to the experiences of psychologists on Instagram, each with four subthemes. The first theme '"I'm a psychologist but I'm not your psychologist": boundaries as a mental health influencer' explored psychologists' experiences of trying to input boundaries on Instagram around self-disclosure, risk management, time management, and client work. The second theme '"anxiety about not wanting to do the wrong thing": psychologist mental health as a mental health influencer' highlighted the impact of an influencer presence on psychologists' own mental health. The third theme '"I share what I think is going to be helpful for other people and myself": motivations for using social media as a mental health influencer' considered the purpose of psychologist use of Instagram for social justice advocacy and business promotion and questioned if the psychologist or the public benefit. Conclusion and Implications: There are contradictions between psychologist motivations and use of social media for social justice advocacy and for business purposes. The unexpectedly large focus on social justice advocacy is indicative of the changing times with psychologists perceiving Instagram as a tool to support people in a way they feel they cannot through current mental health services. Psychologist use of social media as a mental health influencer can be utilised as a form of social justice advocacy to increase public mental health literacy and reduce stigma, in addition to raising critical consciousness. Psychologists can use their training to share evidence-based credible research as a free widely accessible form of psychoeducation acting as a first step into therapy. However, there are still many ethical ambiguities thus updated guidance specifically for an influencer presence can reduce psychologists' anxieties and potential risks.

Date of Award	8 Jul 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Terry Hanley (Main Supervisor), Ishba Rehman (Co Supervisor) & Mark Carrigan (Co Supervisor)