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[CA ASW]

Probably most of the people in this sub follow a few or more social media psychotherapist influencers. We might do this to get some quick ideas or simply gauge what the pop psychology world is currently talking about so that we can dispel misinterpretations with our clients. Of course, this medium is so brief and surface-level that it can’t possibly convey complex psychological topics in a robust enough way to be very useful. In recent years, may of these influencers have leaned into progressive politics as part of their brand, in order to appear more accommodating to marginalized communities, more approachable to the layman, or otherwise trustworthy. However, this is simply another marketing tactic that cannot be divorced from capitalism writ large.

This morning I stumbled upon one of these influencers - a person of marginalized identity that preaches some vague neo-left political signalling and its accompanying lexicon, topical subject matter, and penchant for punchy quips. The influencer was lamenting his contradictory feeling about his plans to expand his private practice into a group practice in which he would employ associate therapists, even though he recognizes the system in which associates are severely exploited is unjust. He expressed this as an unfortunate inevitability that he should be put in such an inescapable situation so he was setting up a crowdsourcing campaign for low income clients to pay and maybe, if I’m understanding correctly to pay his associates a bit more.

I commented that he was making the voluntary choice to take on such a role as an exploiter as a matter of fact, not of opinion and that perhaps instead he could set up his practice as a cooperative in which the workers are also co-owners that all share in the profit of the practice and make consensus decisions regarding reinvestment. His response was to immediately block me.

I bring this story up because it speaks to a wider misconception about left politics. One can embody as many marginalized identities as they identify with, speak the language of accessibility, have a demeanor of approachability, seem knowledgeable about history and current systems that can affect mental health but still voluntarily become part of the problem they claim to be against. With the right amount of effort, most LCSW’s can make a living wage. Of course, it would increase their salary to employ associates but it is not necessary to get by, or even make a handsome income.

Being a business owner that extracts part of the labor value from an employee’s labor makes someone a capitalist. Nobody forces them too. They carry on the cycle of exploitation and in this case - the cycle they preach that they are against daily in a public forum to increase their potential client pool. In fact, I’d argue that psychotherapist influencers almost have to be addicted to external validation to streamline their online presence and ensure their metrics are yielding the highest results. This sullies content presented because it is not presented as objective findings through something like a peer-reviewed hypothesis; it is presented as fact when it is oftentimes personal opinion presented as consensus of the psychology community.

I do not believe in purity tests but I do believe in definitions. Anti-capitalism does not involve voluntary capitalists proclaiming their guilt but continuing their exploitation. It involves the cessation of these systems and replacing them with better systems that have their own means-tested history.

Do any of you have thoughts on this topic?

tl;dr - Therapist influencers give me the ick and most are full of sh*t, especially the ones that signal left-of-center political positioning.

Originally posted by u/Jeremy-O-Toole on Reddit.

Top comment by u/Co-op_Therapist

I agree so much with your critiques here.

I’m planning on leaving the agency I’m part of in about a year and starting a co-op for exactly the reasons you mention. I am excited at the thought of providing clinical supervision and supporting new therapists, but I have zero desire to be anyone’s boss. I want all of us together to see exactly what money has come in, what the rent costs, the EHR, insurance, etc. and when we start making more funds deciding what to invest in the business vs. what to pay out as bonuses.

Because I have looked at the sorts of things that any new agency owner would also look at my social media as are full of “how I make over 200k a year by owning a group practice and only working 3 days a week” ads that just make me feel disgusted with whichever alleged therapist is in the ad. I can argue that it’s bullshit when insurance companies (cough, Cigna) don’t pay us what our time is worth without thinking it is ok to make up the difference by exploiting someone straight out of grad school.