A TikTok post shared by creator @lillys.healingera on April 7, 2026, shows a slideshow about moving on after a breakup. The post had drawn more than 464,000 views and about 39,900 likes at the time of publication.
The TikToker says a therapist gave her "5 weird hacks" for moving on. Each numbered slide describes an exercise the therapist asked her to do.
The first exercise involved writing a goodbye letter to the future she had imagined with her ex. It covered the wedding and the names she says the couple had chosen for their children. She then wrote a second letter "for the future that was still mine. FINALLY i [sic] had closure."
The second exercise required her to say, "this is withdrawal, not love," every time she missed him. Naming the feeling helped reduce its power and allowed her to process it. The third exercise asked her to write down what staying in the relationship would have cost her in one year and five years.
She says seeing the costs on paper changed everything. Her caption on that slide says she is "glad i [sic] got out" of what she believes would have been a miserable marriage. The fourth exercise asked her to write what she would tell a best friend in the same situation.
"I was giving everyone else the advice I refused to give myself," she recalls. The fifth exercise involved creating a plan with a specific action for each stage of grief, including denial, anger and bargaining. She says that when each stage hit, she knew what to do "instead of crashing out."
The next slide described a promise not to wait for time to do the work. She says the therapist had her say aloud, "I won't let time heal it." After that, she downloaded Breakfree, a no-contact app. A screenshot on the slide shows 125 days without contact.
The final slide tells viewers, "just keep going. it will get better." She adds, "proud of you for choosing to heal and move on." She also says the love a viewer has always needed is waiting for a healed version of them.
In a reply to a viewer, the creator explained what she meant by withdrawal. She listed "lack of appetite, poor sleep, intense devastation" among common symptoms. She said her most difficult stage was bargaining, or a lack of acceptance. She "WANTED to move on," and no contact gave her space to think and process her feelings.
One reply addressed the creator's advice about journaling. "Thanks for sharing! it is really hard I started my journal but this is a good guide," the commenter wrote.
Another viewer discussed the exercise of writing a goodbye letter. "This hurts to think about but I have it on my calendar to do Tuesday," they wrote.
One commenter addressed the cost of therapy. "Thank you for sharing this! Its [sic] a big help for someone who is going through a break up but cant [sic] afford a therapist," the commenter wrote. They added, "I hope your heart finds the peace it deserves."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims described in this TikTok, including the therapist's existence and credentials. The details above reflect @lillys.healingera's account as shared on TikTok. Her identity, her ex-partner and the commenters' usernames have not been confirmed.
