Unconventional ‘Therapy’: Mental Health Pros Use Pithy Instagram Posts To Reach Young Adults
Mental health professionals are speaking to the “therapy generation” through social media platforms. And it’s bringing in business, The New York Times reports. And while less intentional, anonymous customer service reps are increasingly finding themselves conducting listening sessions.
The New York Times:
Instagram Therapists Are The New Instagram Poets
Scroll through Lisa A. Olivera’s Instagram grid and you’ll find a distinctly 2019 tableau: a desert palette of blush, mauve and slate backgrounds with cream sans serif text. Her logo, a line drawing of a hand grasping desert poppies and wild grass, appears on many of the squares. These colors and icons are trademarks of influence in the age of peak wellness, the trappings of nonexperts who assert that drinking warm lemon water, de-puffing your face with a jade roller and bathing in rose petals will make you a better person. (June, 6/26)
The New York Times:
Is Customer Service The New Therapy?
When Kate Lacroix was driving alone from Seattle to Vancouver for a funeral, she called AT&T to get an international wireless plan. By the time she arrived, not only did she have a new phone plan, she also had a refreshed outlook on life and death. “I was feeling lonely and wistful,” she said, “so I shared, ‘I’m headed to a funeral for a person who was a stranger but became a friend.’” The customer service agent said, “Well, everyone’s a stranger before they’re a friend.” (Parker, 6/27)
