@ArtleyWilkins: I don't think it's a double-standard for clients to look therapists up but not be okay with their therapists looking them up. As I explained, the therapy relationship is one-way where the client is opening up and sharing much about him- or herself to the therapist. It's understandable for clients to look their therapists up to find out more about this stranger who they're opening up to. If the therapist is Googling a client out of concern for his or her safety, it would be appropriate and understandable - perhaps even ethical and necessary. If a therapist is working with someone who is potentially a psychopath and dangerous, then it's understandable and appropriate for the therapist to look up the client because it concerns the therapist's and other people's safety. But to look a client's last name up purely out of curiosity isn't appropriate for a therapist to do given the nature of the therapy work and relationship. Therapy is about what the client brings into the room.