From Freud to TikTok: How Therapy Trends Have Changed Over the Decades

Freud On TikTok

Once upon a time, therapy meant lying on a couch, staring at the ceiling, and confessing your deepest secrets while a stern-looking therapist scribbled on a notepad. Fast-forward a few decades, and now therapy advice comes in 30-second TikTok videos featuring life coaches in yoga pants, telling you to “just raise your vibration.”

So, how did we get here? Let’s take a whirlwind tour through the evolution of therapy. From Freud’s cigar smoking psychoanalysis to the rise of short-term, solution-focused approaches and yes, the TikTok therapists of today.

The Freud Era (1900s–1950s): When Everything Was About Your Mother

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, had one simple rule: If you’re struggling, it probably has something to do with your mother. His therapy approach involved:

• Talking endlessly about childhood experiences—because, obviously, that’s where all your problems began.

• Interpreting dreams—because dreaming about a train entering a tunnel meant… well, you can guess.

• The couch—which wasn’t for comfort, but to help clients avoid eye contact while spilling their darkest secrets.

Therapy in this era was long, intense and very focused on repressed desires (translation: it took years and didn’t always make you feel better).

The 60s & 70s: The Age of Feelings, Hippies, and Group Hugs

As the world embraced free love, flower power, and self-expression, therapy started shifting. Carl Rogers introduced person-centred therapy, where the therapist’s main job was to nod empathetically and say, “That must have been really difficult for you.”

Meanwhile, gestalt therapy encouraged people to talk to an empty chair as if it were their dad (surprisingly effective, if not a little strange). Therapy became less about the unconscious and more about "being in the moment"—which sounded nice but didn’t always lead to breakthroughs.

The 80s & 90s: The Rise of ‘Fix It Fast’ Therapy

By the time we hit the 80s, people were too busy working and watching MTV to spend 10 years in therapy. Enter Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)—a no-nonsense approach that basically said:

• “Thoughts create feelings.”

• “Feelings influence behaviour.”

• “So… let’s change your thoughts and be done with it.”

CBT made therapy quicker, structured and more results driven. But some people found it too clinical—like trying to rationalize emotions instead of actually processing them.

Then, in the 90s, eye movement therapies like EMDR started making waves. Therapists discovered that moving your eyes in a specific way could reduce the emotional charge of traumatic memories, a technique so bizarrely effective that it seemed like magic.

The 2000s–2010s: The Wellness Boom & The Therapy Buffet

By the 2000s, self-improvement became trendy. Therapy expanded beyond clinical settings into life coaching, mindfulness, hypnotherapy, and neuroplasticity-based techniques.

Suddenly, we had a therapy buffet:

• IEMT (Integral Eye Movement Therapy)—where you move your eyes in a specific pattern while recalling negative memories, which helps clear the emotional charge . It's fast, effective and non-invasive—no couches required!

• Hypnotherapy—which helps people reprogramme their subconscious beliefs (but, no, it won’t make you eat raw onions thinking it’s an apple).

• Somatic therapy—based on the idea that emotions are stored in the body . So instead of talking, sometimes you just shake, breathe, or do some movements to release trauma.

At this point, people stopped sticking to just one form of therapy. Instead, they mixed and matched techniques like a Spotify playlist.

The 2020s: TikTok Therapy, Emotional Biohacking & The One-Session Revolution

And here we are. Therapy is now:

• Fast. People want instant emotional relief, not 10-year talk therapy marathons.

• Accessible. No need for a waiting list—just scroll through Instagram for quick mental health tips.

• Holistic. It’s not just about talking anymore—it’s about rewiring the nervous system, using subconscious tools, and even biohacking emotions.

Some of the biggest trends today include:
✅ IEMT, EMDR, & Hypnotherapy – Quick, effective, and subconscious-focused.
✅ Therapy Stacking – People use multiple approaches for faster change.
✅ Somatic & Nervous System Healing – Healing through the body, not just the mind.
✅ TikTok & Instagram Therapy – Short-form mental health advice (some good, some questionable).
✅ Self-Guided Therapy – Workbooks, hypnosis audios, and online courses for DIY healing.

So, What’s Next? The Future of Therapy

We’re moving towards personalised, rapid and results-driven therapy. The goal is no longer just to “understand” your emotions—it’s to transform them quickly and effectively.

Traditional therapy isn’t dead, but people now want:
✔ Shorter, high-impact sessions (like IEMT & Hypnotherapy).
✔ Tech-assisted mental health (VR therapy, AI therapy apps).
✔ Deeper emotional shifts in less time.

Final Thoughts

Therapy has come a long way from Freud’s fainting couches and years of soul-searching to rapid techniques that help people shift in real-time. These days, no one wants to spend a decade analysing their childhood—they want results, and they want them now. Whether it’s rewiring the subconscious with hypnotherapy, dissolving emotional triggers with IEMT or hacking the nervous system; modern therapy is about transformation, not just coping. And if Freud were alive today? He’d probably be analysing his own addiction to scrolling through therapy TikTok.