Not Everything Is ‘Toxic’: The Rise (and Risk) of Therapy Speak

Not Everything Is ‘Toxic’: The Rise (and Risk) of Therapy Speak

“Sorry, I had to cut her off. I’m setting a boundary—she was just so toxic.” You’ve probably heard it. You’ve probably said it. Or something like it: “That’s trauma.” “I don’t have the capacity for this today.” These phrases—once confined to counseling sessions and psych textbooks—have officially gone mainstream. Now they’re everywhere: on TikTok, in group chats, in Instagram captions from people who definitely don’t have a license to diagnose. …

The journalist and television presenter Melissa Durán moved her followers on their social networks, joining a popular trend of TikTok with her daughter Amanda and sharing the result on her Instagram profile.In recent days, the trend of “toxic phrases” has flooded social networks. This challenge is that mothers or fathers say the start of a typical scolding phrase and the children must complete it according to what they think it follows.