Healing Is Not a Trend: What TikTok Therapists Get Wrong

In this episode of Beyond the Spot, Tracy Gantlin-Monroy, MDiv, LPC calls out the rise of viral therapy, toxic positivity, and “manifestation on steroids.” From TikTok therapists to Instagram healers, we explore how modern wellness culture has turned trauma recovery into content—and why that’s a problem.

Tracy breaks down the harm of aesthetic-based healing, spiritual bypassing, and one-size-fits-all advice—and offers a return to embodied, lineage-rooted healing. Through Brainspotting, she shares how true transformation doesn’t perform. It resonates.

If you’re tired of chasing algorithms and ready for something sacred, this episode is your invitation to return to what’s real.

Episode 12 Reflection Invitations

1. What does “healing” mean to me when I strip away the social media version?
   • Journal about what healing feels like in your body versus what you’ve been told it should look like.
   • Notice if any of your images or expectations come from trend culture instead of your lived truth.

1. Where have I felt pressured to perform my healing?
   • Recall moments you posted or shared progress to prove worth or credibility.
   • How did your body feel in those moments—open, grounded, and safe, or tense, shallow-breathed, and alert?

1. When have I been harmed by quick-fix advice?
   • Write about a time a meme, soundbite, or “manifestation” tip minimized your lived experience.
   • What truth did your nervous system know in that moment?

1. What practices feel sacred, even if they’re not shareable or “pretty”?
   • Name three ways you’ve supported your healing that no one else has seen.
   • How do those private acts of care nourish you differently than public ones?

1. Where am I ready to slow down?
   • Identify one area of your healing you’ve been rushing because of comparison or pressure.
   • What might happen if you gave yourself permission to linger, to feel, to be incomplete?

1. Who in my lineage practiced healing without the internet?
   • Bring to mind ancestors or elders who embodied grounded, embodied care.
   • What rituals or values from them can you reclaim now?

1. How does my body signal ‘enough’ when I’m consuming too much online healing content?
   • Track physical cues: fatigue, tension, irritability, shallow breathing.
   • Experiment with stopping at the first sign of overwhelm and turning toward a regulating practice.