info on therapists

I am not that curious about the personal life of any therapist but I was told by one I see that is it usual/normal to be curious about another person with whom one shares personal information. I believe students and potential clients search info out on me (I have been told by them they do). It does not bother me, I search myself every so often to see what is easily found (I am no deeply skilled searcher of such info), I know how to check court records and can get records checked fairly easily if it is worth the bother to me.
I am wondering how others view their curiosity and where people draw the line. I am not bothered by the amount I have and do not really think it is bad for people to be curious or to look.

More than one response is allowed on the poll.

I do a job that means there's a LOT of information about me on the internet. I'm cool with it, I have drawn a line between what is and isn't okay to put out there, and only use my maiden name for work, my married name isn't associated with it.

I don't really mind because it's nothing I really keep secret anyway. T and I once had a very interesting conversation about whether it was okay that I'd googled him (it was) and how I'd feel if he googled me.

I searched when I first went to my t, and the same with the group t. I don't have any interest in personal information, but I wanted to see if they had a professional website, and see if they had any reviews.

Stopdog, you're the best pollster! I don't need a poll to tell me that! Thanks for these.

I have done extensive research on my therapists past and present...one thing my psychology classes have taught was to know who you are dealing with.. the example my professor used was ...."you wouldnt let just anyone take care of your children, fix your plumbing, remodel your home, and even things like fix your car work on your lawns...why would you let just anybody be privy to your most personal thoughts, problems and how would you know whether they were an abuser or criminal posing as a treatment provider, yes it does happen think about it do you really want for example your classmates to know your deepest most inner thoughts, sexual positions, sex problems, whether you have depression, schizophrenia and what have you? Then he assigned homework to pick 5 treatment providers off a list he gave us and do a complete background check that included things like contacting the state ethics board for information on that treatment provider, whether or not they have had issues with the law, and even things like whether they had been married, divorced, gone into bankruptcy. i was so surprised to find out that one of my treatment providers was on his list and that my treatment provider I was with then was not state certified nor licensed, and other problems that were in fact a big part of some of the problems he and I were having in our sessions..not to mention he was wanted for committing rape and other crimes in another state..If I hadnt done this research assignment I would have been his next victim.

I reported the guy and he was taken into custody and is now in prison.

now I do an extensive back ground check each and every time I either add a new treatment provider or change to a new treatment provider.

My T has a page on his practice's website that gives his educational background, etc. That was really enough for me. He shares information about his family life, etc., so I really don't have any reason to go snooping around the net for more information about him.

I did the standard check I would do on any healthcare provider - name search first, then look at their webpage (if they have one), then look at a healthcare rating site. When I looked up my T, one of her papers came up at the top of the search as well, so I read it, just to get a better feel for her.

My T does not have a facebook or other social media site, just her professional webpage. My pdoc, on the other hand, has a facebook page, but no website. Go figure.

I'm good with the research I did, and haven't mentioned it to my T. I'm sure she figures I at least did some research on her, and we've talked about how I researched my pdoc before going to see him.

I did the same. Before I met T for the fist time, I looked her up to verify that her license was valid, that she had no complaints or negative reviews, and to see if she had a website or bio that listed her specialties, her mode of psychotherapy, and her philosophy on therapy. In the Information Age, I think being a responsible consumer or client entails verifying the credentials of people who provide professional services and weeding out those who have complaints filed against them. I was also hoping to get a sense of her personality and approach to therapy to see if she seemed like someone I would click with, but there was only enough info about her available to assure me that she was licensed and in good standing. I don't have the desire to look up any private or personal information about my T. If I want to know something about her, I just ask. Since I've always been respectful and never had a problem maintaining boundaries, she typically answers any questions I may ask her. Of course, the questions I ask are related to whatever topic we are discussing and make sense in context.

First I did a search on her name and found her website. Or, maybe she told me about and then I looked it up. There wasn't much else about her back then. I originally found her form the PsychologyToday site, so that had her photo and other information.

I eventually looked on FB and only found 1 photo, so I looked up her H and kids. I told her about that because I was ashamed.

I do genealogy so I looked up her parents and found their birth and death dates. I told her that too, because I knew it was wrong to do it. I just felt curious. She had readily told me her maiden name when I asked so it was easily. I never paid for a search or anything like that.

When she told me not to look up her H on FB I stopped, but I googled him still. I saw some youtubes he made. I googled her because I was anxious and probably it's an OCD thing. I kept doing it over and over, and found some new information that was right there. I kept looking at the same stuff, and her photo, over and over. I don't know why!

When she asked me not to google her because it obviously upsets me, I listened. Two weeks with no googling or looking up her or her family.

I don't think a general google search, once, is wrong. I feel what I did was intrusive, though, and I feel guilty that I did it.

I looked up my t, she has facebook, twitter, writes lots of letters to magazines complaining about the exploitation of women- I love reading those. She has a facebook page where she post up articles and other things that might be of interest and she is also on the radios being interviewed.
I haven't told her I google her though, I am too ashamed.

There is a ton of info about my t on the internet because she is well known. She told me early on that i was welcome to search the web for info about her to check her out because she has nothing to hide and wanted me to feel comfortable with her. So i did. Idont feel bad about that.

both of my therapists were recommended to me the first one was before the intenet really got hot. He was the best though. the 2nd one was very popular on the convention circuit and was known for his addiction specialty so at the time it was good but he wasnt good with anything else. I was lucky to have my first T for 10 years and he helped me so much,I dont see a T right now I left the 2nd one after 6 months, he was nice but we could not discuss my problems but did very well at talking about him and his family.

At one point I told Madame T I was going to hire a private detective. (Break that blank slate over her head!)

She has a very small electronic footprint so I didn't find anything interesting.

As for Mr T, I'm not obsessing over him so I read his website and no more.

I checked out to see if there was any professional info my my T before I changed. I wasn't out looking for private info.....eek, and I'm glad I didn't see/find any. I was still a bit shy about admitting I'd Google'd my T though. I wanted to know what I was getting into though, before the first session. He had a personal website, so I figure that's fair game for me to look at, and he was fine with it.

Were you just kidding?

If not, that's kinda scary.

When I first started going to see T..I googled general info about him... My T runs his practice fb/twitter page and has his own fb/twitter page. I have seem them all.. I don't feel guilty at all.. His fb page is private twitter not.. He is very internet savvy and knows what he is doing.. You gotta figure some of your clients are going to find you on social media!

I am so guilty of the same stuff. Her Facebook page is locked down and never changes but I check it at least once a day anyway. I've been doing this for over a year. It's obsessive and almost addicting. At the same time, if I do find something about her I get very upset. So it's a double edge sword. I think I'm just trying to stay connected? Funny because I just brought this up to her last week that I do this. She downplayed it and says it is common and she had done it to others on occasion. I told her that she wasn't understanding, that I obsess over it daily! I don't think she had a good answer for me, at least not yet.

Most of my searching was just curiosity about papers and studies he has written, and his areas of expertise, curious about his resume. That stuff I feel ok about.

I did facebook search on him and his family. His daughter does not have privacy settings. That, I do not feel good about doing at all.

I've done these searches:
--On his credential at the state department of health. This tells when he got his license, if it's ever been suspended, etc. I do this for all my health care providers.
--I did an academic literature search for him as an author
--this one I'm embarrassed about: I searched his name on amazon, found his "wish list" and looked at what books were on it. Only did this once. My creepiness surprised me.

I never thought of that. Now I'll always wonder...

I did not know you could look at other people's wish lists on Amazon. That upsets me. I put some books on there so I could remember to get them when I have extra money, and if other people can look at them, then they know things about me that I would rather they didn't. Not that I think anyone is that particularly interested in looking me up.

How do you do that, btw, if you don't mind sharing? LOL.

You can mark Amazon wishlists as private if you don't want other people to see them.

I have just looked up my T's actual wishlist. I figured I'd give in to temptation eventually so I may as well just get it over with now. I don't think I'll ever tell him I've done this, because - like most people - he probably hasn't realised it's possible, or imagined that clients might look him up, and I also feel kind of creepy about doing it, and fear it would seem very creepy to him!

I had no idea about this either. I'm actually feeling like throwing up right now. Cant anything be private anymore? Now I know not to put anything on my wish list. I wonder if it also shows the books you bought, the samples you tried on your Kindle, the pages you viewed.....ugh. Okay sorry. Guess I will have to try to figure out privacy settings or something.

I think that I am totally backwards in the current society. Rather than choosing the things that I WANT to share with others, it sounds like I need to be much more focused on attempting to hide every miniscule little thing that I might be inadvertently sharing with anyone who feels curious.

I repeat: you can make your wishlist private! And even if you don't, people can't see what you've bought or what samples you've tried (even you can't see a list of what samples you tried). Look in the wishlist settings.

And this is the reason the argument people make that if it's out on the internet it's fair game doesn't work. Privacy settings get changed or we don't realize some things are not privacy protected, some information is leached without our knowledge at all by websites that grab everyone's information off of peoples' email lists, etc., etc. Blaming the "victim" for not hiding their information is like blaming a person for getting the flu because they just happened to be in the room with someone who they didn't even realize was contagious.

I agree with someone who said that just because we "can" doesn't necessarily mean we "should". We "can" drive 100 mph down the highway, but "should" we? We "can" shoplift items in a store that has lax security, but "should" we? Somewhere we have to choose to do the right thing rather than just giving in to our impulses.

Certainly it seems fine and probably quite prudent to look up information about a therapist's professional background. That is just being a smart consumer. But to look up their personal information and/or information about their family members, etc., just seems intrusive.