Is the Clinical Psychologist Becoming an Influencer? Platformization of Labor, Technostress, and Content Production on Social Media

Abstract

This study aims to examine the impacts of the platformization of labor on the health of clinical psychologists in Brazil, focusing on online clinical practice and social media content production. It addresses the following research question: How does platformization reconfigure clinical psychological work and generate specific effects on professionals’ health? Using a mixed-methods design, the study combined data from ten in-depth interviews with an online survey administered to 170 psychologists, including a sociodemographic questionnaire and the Technostress Scale (RED/TIC). The findings indicate that platformization deepens long-standing processes of professional informalization, reflected in extended working hours, multiple employment ties, and the predominance of self-employed work arrangements. Furthermore, content production on social media emerges as an invisible form of labor, framed by a regime of visibility and self-management that impose significant subjective pressures. While this activity contributes to patient acquisition, it also generates distress associated with constant exposure, engagement demands, and the blurring of boundaries between personal life and work. According to the RED/TIC scale, 40% of participants reported moderate levels of technostress, and 9% high levels. Notably, significant prevalence was found in the areas of fatigue (32%) and anxiety (20%). The study argues that technostress should be understood as a socio-psychic form of suffering, expressing the paradoxical demands imposed by the platformization of labor. Although individual coping strategies were identified, the analysis highlights the central role of collective networks of professional exchange as protective factors for mental health.