The relationship with your therapist is sacred, and any therapist worth their salt will lay out those boundaries at the very beginning of the relationship. They will share nothing that comes to light in your work together externally unless they worry that you are in danger of hurting yourself or someone else. Even then, the steps they will take to involve other medical professionals or the police will still be in consultation with you. The trust is sacrosanct. They are your partner to help you heal past traumas and find a version of yourself better equipped to navigate the world as a stronger person. At no point should you ever feel like you are just the next chapter in their book or their next viral video.

Last month, I read an article in the New Statesman about TikTok not being the appropriate platform to receive mental health advice; I also read a recent study from Hall & Partners that found TikTok was increasingly becoming the top place to seek medical advice in place of going to the doctor, with over 25% of millennials turning to the site to discuss, highlight and cope with chronic conditions. I’ve watched my fair share of mental health videos on the platform and believe that TikTok is casting a wider net than other services can and reducing the outdated stigma and shame that was long associated with needing counselling in the UK. The stiff upper lip need not apply here.

That said, I liken using TikTok to self-help books: the available advice should be sense checked and you should always review the source of information, but investing time and energy into your mental health is ultimately a good thing. And not everyone has access to or funds for one-on-one counselling. In fact, it currently takes over three months for mental health treatment on the NHS to be available in most cases, and even then the availability of services is limited, except in the most severe circumstances.

Let’s talk about the ethics of your therapist having access to you on social media