Durban - Professionals of all types have become accustomed to sharing their knowledge and expertise with social media users.
However, this came back to bite Bree (unusuallybree), an American therapist, when she was fired for suggesting that men work on becoming more emotionally intelligent.
The 27-year-old posted a video on TikTok that cited an article from “Psychology Today” that said that men are increasingly becoming single due to a lack of addressing their deficits to meet healthier relationship expectations.
Watch: therapist tells men they will stay single if they don’t go to therapy to confront issues (Warning: strong language)
@unusuallybree #stitch with @Kiera Breaugh communication goes a long way #singlelife #men #dating #bbtho #fypシ ♬ original sound - Bre
Bree received a lot of backlash for the post across various social media platforms, with some accusing her of hating black men and being a misandrist (a person who dislikes, despises, or is strongly prejudiced against men).
Later, she apologised for the video and admitted to using “colourful” language. She said that certain individuals even questioned her blackness in their responses.
“I entered this field because I saw a dire need for black mental health professionals. So, I apologise to individuals if you felt like my language was colourful,” she said.
On the issue of the type of language she used, one user said Bree’s critics were too busy focusing on tone policing (criticising the angry or emotional manner in which a person has expressed a point of view, rather than addressing the substance of the point itself), on the delivery that they missed the message.
“Everything you said was completely right, some egos are just too big to hear it. sorry twitter got to you. sending love,” said another user.
Watch: Therapist apologises for telling men to go to therapy
@unusuallybree Saying my peace #part1 #mentalhealthmatters #bbtho #accountability #fypシ ♬ original sound - Bre
The therapist primarily blames Twitter for fanning the flames on the controversial video that resulted in termination of her employment.
“You scream that you want to protect women, specifically black women. But, you have done nothing to protect this black woman who has been serving the community. I have been violated,” she said.
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