Psychology on social media: Perceptions and psychotherapy expectations

The aim of this thesis is to examine how psychology-themed content on social media shapes psychotherapy expectations and how these contents are perceived from the perspectives of both individuals without prior therapy experience and psychotherapists. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve individuals with no psychotherapy experience and twelve psychotherapists familiar with psychotherapy-related content on social media. The data were analyzed using the reflexive thematic analysis method. While participants highlighted that information about psychotherapy on social media could sometimes contribute to themselves and the therapeutic process, they also reported that it could create confusion. Psychotherapists emphasized that such content could shape therapy expectations in various ways, but may also have potentially harmful effects. Both groups stated that the content might direct individuals toward psychotherapy. The findings suggest that psychology-themed content on social media can have a dual impact on individuals and their expectations of psychotherapy. Therefore, it is important for psychotherapists to structure the process by taking these expectations into consideration.