A self-help microinfluencer defended re-enacting a 'trauma-processing technique' for TikTok after viewers ridiculed her for filming herself screaming and shaking in bed
- Tammy Chow posted a video of herself screaming and shaking, calling it a trauma-processing technique.
- The self-help creator was widely ridiculed for setting up a camera to re-enact the emotionally raw moment.
A TikToker named Tammy Chow, whose bio identifies her as a "trauma healing and soul alignment coach," is defending herself amid a flood of backlash in recent weeks for filming herself re-enacting a trauma-processing technique, which involved sitting on her bed while shaking and screaming.
In late May, Chow, who goes by @somaticspirit on TikTok to her 58,000 followers, posted a video of the so-called "shaking" technique. She explained in a voiceover that she was "processing the most triggering breakup" she's had in nine years – the day before she was slated to fly abroad to meet her parents on vacation.
Chow's video went hugely viral with 5.9 million views. But rather than empathizing with her emotional journey, commenters ridiculed her for choosing to stage and film the raw moment, with one likening it to an "SNL skit."
"The thought of you setting up the camera to record that first clip is SO FUNNY LOL," reads the top comment, with 22,000 upvotes. "No matter how delulu i am, i would never be able to post this omg," another wrote.
In response, weeks later, a man claiming to be Chow's ex-boyfriend (of the "triggering breakup") appeared in another TikTok video to defend her. Sitting beside Chow in a car, he argued that the "shaking" technique was valid and urged viewers to have "compassion."
But this only added to the pile-on. "No way she did the Harlem shake over this guy," one commenter retorted, while another criticized the trend of self-help TikToks more broadly: "This is why these ppl selling courses online have to be stopped. (On her website, Chow offers a six-month "Awakening the Wild Woman" workshop, as well as one-on-one sessions.)
The backlash had grown so widespread on the app that it's almost become a meme. Brandon Calvillo, a creator with 4.2 million TikTok followers, posted a parody last week showing himself setting up a tripod to film his emotional reaction after learning his "entire family died in a plane crash."
Finally, over the weekend, Chow returned to TikTok to address the issue more directly. In a video responding to a critical comment, she explained that shaking enabled her "nervous system to expel the built-up survival energy that needs to leave [her] system," but acknowledged that the clip had been staged.
"It didn't feel authentic to actually take out my camera during a time which I'm going through an extreme panic attack," she said. "I can go through my process and then reenact it so that I can share my story."
Chow subsequently posted another video, this time in jest, showing a shaking session to process the "triggering internet trolling."
She also urged viewers not to contribute to cyberbullying.
"It is my sincerest hope that we don't respond to people with complex PTSD with bullying because it actually leads to suicide," she said.
Chow did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.