Social Media Policy

Last Updated 9/23

The basis for this policy is to truly protect our relationship and your confidentiality in session. Let’s talk about confidentiality for a moment. You are the person who can decide what you want to keep confidential. I must keep my relationship with you completely confidential except in cases where you might harm yourself or others (see informed consent for details). Thus, if you post on my page, you are opening up the possibility of people inferring our relationship or asking you about your connection to me. You get to decide what you tell people. You have the choice as to what you reveal about yourself online. I, however, will not reveal my connection to you.

The following explains how I handle different social media options:

 FRIENDING

To respect your privacy and confidentiality, I do not accept friend requests on my personal pages from current or former clients on any social networking site.

 FANNING

You may “like” my business page(s). However, the information on my page(s) is often also on my website. If you “like” my page, you are choosing to reveal that you are connected to me in some way. My business page exists to be a forum for information and inspiration. I will not engage in conversations with you on that page. However, if you find it helpful, then that is great!

 FOLLOWING

You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow me. Note that I will not follow you back. I mainly follow other health professionals on platforms. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together during the therapy hour.

 INTERACTING

Please do not use messaging on Social Networking sites to contact me. If there were an emergency, I would not be able to respond in a timely manner as I do not check these accounts regularly. The best way to interact with me is by email or phone. If

you post on my page, these exchanges may possibly become a part of your legal medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.

 USE OF SEARCH ENGINES

I do not “google” my clients or look up information on them for any reason. I think it is important that I know you as you are through our interactions. If I do come across your information online, I will move on and avoid reading content.

 BUSINESS REVIEW SITES

I do have directory pages. Some of these sites include forums where users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client.

 Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. If you do post a review, I cannot respond on any of these sites, whether it is positive or negative. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment to your confidentiality. If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy process. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide that we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means I cannot tell people that you are my client, but you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided you, in any forum you choose.

 If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.

If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical, and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can submit a licensure complaint with the state of Washington through this link:

https://www.dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/file-complaint

 CONCLUSION

Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures, or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.