In a September interview with The New York Times, bestselling author, podcaster and research professor at the University of Houston Brené Brown was asked about the world of online self-help gurus and her place in it.
“I think there are a lot of well-meaning, well-intentioned, well-trained people in that space,” she told the interviewer, “and I think they make up about 30% of that space.” Another 30% of people offering self-help content online are “underqualified” and only sometimes helpful, she said.
“And I think there are 40% sheer grifters. Everything they say is predatory advice-giving,” she said, offering the example of caster oil and brain teaser ads promising life-changing results.
People might put her in any of those different categories, depending on who you ask, she said. “I always tried to be very, very careful when I was in that space.” And she’s since tried her best to leave.
At some point, she realized people were chopping up points she’d made to create provocative, advice-giving clips. “There was a moment when I made a very specific, tactical ‘get the hell out of Dodge’ decision to not be anywhere near that space,” she said.
Licensed mental health counselor and content creator Lauren Larkin is well versed in the world of online self-help. Though she knows what Brown is talking about when she mentions “grifters,” she wouldn’t quite put it that way.
“I do think there are a lot of people out there who are perhaps trying to sell or make really punchy, really ‘self-helpy‘ content that provides or offers some sort of quick fix when there really isn’t one,” she says.
People are complicated creatures. Addressing whatever it is they’re going through is a nuanced and complex process, she says. Good mental health takes a lot of time and work, often with professionals.
Regardless of what some people try to sell you on Instagram or TikTok, “there is no one size fits all,” she says. “There is no quick fix.”
Still, Larkin wouldn’t necessarily commit to saying 40% of online self-help gurus are sheer grifters. “These blanket statements are exactly what gets people in trouble online in the first place,” she says.
Instead, she’d offer up advice about what to do when you see this content. When you see someone sharing a nugget of feedback or promoting a specific product, consider, “are they selling you on something that feels like there’s work involved?” she says. “Or are they selling you on something that feels like it’s almost glorifying them?”
Look up people’s credentials as well to get a sense of their qualifications and authenticity and bring whatever they said that you’re mulling over to your real-life therapist.
Think, “does this apply to my situation?” Larkin says. “And if so, who do I want to talk about it with that is a safe, trusting, qualified person that’s on my care team.”
Ultimately, “take every single thing that you consume,” she says, “including my content, with a grain of salt.”
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