[owlpride]

T has a blog. I've been following it for a while and I have been continually surprised that he never mentions his clients or his work, ever. Where does a T draw his insights from if not from his work?

Now it's become clearer. A recent post had as its title something I said in session 2 days prior. I remember because it was a way-out-there thought about a problem I've been having, and when I shared it with T, he laughed out loud and said that it would be an interesting premise for a movie.

He used that and a few other thoughts of mine from that session in his post, in a way that suggested that they were his own ideas. I'm hurt and disappointed. Of course I didn't expect a proper APA-style citation (confidentiality and all), but he could have acknowledged that the idea was not his own. ("The other day, one of my clients shared an interesting thought.")

Now I'm wondering if his whole blog is just plagarized off of other people.

[feralkittymom]

I'd call him on it.

[Asiablue]

I wouldn't like that. It somehow feels a bit dishonest or something... can't quite put my finger on it but it just feels a bit off.

[Anouk]

I would talk to him about it too

[nottrustin]

Yeah that would bother me...T occasionally will say one of my clients said....

She also tells me that she now uses one thing I said a couple of years ago but always says one of my clients said..... We were discussing a situation I was in with my family (not hubby and kids) where I was feeling overwhelmed with being everybody's caregiver. I said something about being the caretaker. Then I stopped and asked why caregiver and caretaker are used interchangeably. It seems to me that the person is always giving of themselves and never taking.

She completely agreed

[anilam]

My T having a blog and posting info from our sessions on it would bother me- I'm paranoid about this so yeah, could be a potential deal breaker for me... Him not giving me a credit would not matter that much :/

[stopdog]

Originally Posted by anilam

My T having a blog and posting info from our sessions on it would bother me- I'm paranoid about this so yeah, could be a potential deal breaker for me... Him not giving me a credit would not matter that much :/

It would bother me like this too. I would say something to him.

[Auntie2014]

I would be going to one last session with T armed with printed copies of blog posts with anything that I felt was "borrowed" from our sessions highlighted. Read T a riot act ending in formal termination on my part.

The question is: are your thoughts so original and unique that he couldn't have already thought of them himself or perhaps heard similar things from other clients too? I see the title duplication if that was something particularly unique/catchy (but maybe I'd just be flattered that he liked what I'd said that much rather than upset about it). I know we think we all are having original thoughts, but I suspect our T's have heard a great deal of what clients say more than once. Just a thought. No one throw tomatoes.

[feralkittymom]

It sounded in the original post that it was something unique used in context with other statements from the same session? I would wonder, too, if there isn't some sort of client release needed for on-line writing, the way there is if a T were writing something for publication in a traditional format. That's not for citation purposes, usually, but for protecting confidentiality.

owlpride, I would ask him about it. My T often tells me to tell him when I'm bothered by anything he says or does, because that can get in the way of therapy. For me, that is very much the case, and even if your T did not in fact get that from you, it sounds like something that would be worth getting out in the open.

If I may digress...

Originally Posted by nottrustin

We were discussing a situation I was in with my family (not hubby and kids) where I was feeling overwhelmed with being everybody's caregiver. I said something about being the caretaker. Then I stopped and asked why caregiver and caretaker are used interchangeably. It seems to me that the person is always giving of themselves and never taking.

She completely agreed

Oooh, what an interesting question! I had to find out more about this. Apart from the fact that "caretaker" can also be used about people who take care of buildings or other inanimate things, while "caregiver" is almost never used in those contexts, there is a historical difference: "Caretaker" was seven times as common as "caregiver" in American English 1810-2009, while "caregiver" was about 1.5 times as common as "caretaker" in American English 1990-2012, which means that "caregiver" has really taken off at some point over the last two hundred years. Perhaps the reason people choose the "giver" variant is just what you say - the care provider gives, but doesn't take. Thank you for this! (My sources are collections of historical and contemporary American English, stored at corpus.byu.edu )

[IndestructibleGirl]

Originally Posted by Auntie2014

I would be going to one last session with T armed with printed copies of blog posts with anything that I felt was "borrowed" from our sessions highlighted. Read T a riot act ending in formal termination on my part.

This made me

But yes, I'd flip my lid at that. Hopefully, you can resolve it if you point it out? It may just be a thoughtless attempt at protecting confidentiality?

[missbella]

I think the sole focus and purpose of a therapy session should be to benefit the client, not to be generate "material" for a therapist's self-promoting blog. And therapists use blogs to fish for new clients. (See topics such as "practice building" or marketing.)
How to build a Successful Private Practice and Solid Financial PlanPractice Building for Therapists | Helping therapists thrive in private practice!

Writers sometimes face dilemmas around exploiting friends or family as fodder. I think this should not even be an option for a therapist.

[owlpride]

Originally Posted by missbella

I think the sole focus and purpose of a therapy session should be to benefit the client, not to be generate "material" for a therapist's self-promoting blog. And therapists use blogs to fish for new clients.

Writers sometimes face dilemmas around exploiting friends or family as fodder. I think this should not even be an option for a therapist.

I personally like therapists who blog. It lets me learn about their approach and their personality without having to schedule a session.

I do however believe in informed consent. If a therapist writes about his work, that ought to be disclosed in the intake session. The more prominent writer-therapists all seem to do this.

Originally Posted by IndestructibleGirl

It may just be a thoughtless attempt at protecting confidentiality?

You are probably right.

This is a sad commentary for any T. He actually resorts to breaching confidentiality online?? Well, now you have it in writing. He should be called out on it and admonished. He should be ashamed of himself. I think this speaks volumes about your T. He sounds like a sick man. Be careful what you tell him in the future if you continue to see him. Sorry this happened to you.

[elliemay]

I probably wouldn't get too wound up over this, although I would mention to him that I had seen it.

Actually, I would probably begin to worry if my statements in therapy were blog-worthy or just run of the mill boring crap.

[tametc]

Originally Posted by owlpride

T has a blog. I've been following it for a while and I have been continually surprised that he never mentions his clients or his work, ever. Where does a T draw his insights from if not from his work?

Now it's become clearer. A recent post had as its title something I said in session 2 days prior. I remember because it was a way-out-there thought about a problem I've been having, and when I shared it with T, he laughed out loud and said that it would be an interesting premise for a movie.

He used that and a few other thoughts of mine from that session in his post, in a way that suggested that they were his own ideas. I'm hurt and disappointed. Of course I didn't expect a proper APA-style citation (confidentiality and all), but he could have acknowledged that the idea was not his own. ("The other day, one of my clients shared an interesting thought.")

Now I'm wondering if his whole blog is just plagarized off of other people.

I'd be uncomfortable about this. My old T and I were talking one day in one of the very few family therapy sessions with my ex-H, and I was talking about how I felt like the one in the family who had lots of responsibility but no authority (my T called it "over-functioning"). I think I was referring to something about letting my kids know I was the "top dog", so to speak, in the family "pack", and referred to myself as the "alpha b.i.t.c.h". He got a grin on his face, and said, "That's a nice turn of phrase. Do you mind if I use that in my workshops?" I just laughed, and told him to go ahead. And then he asked if he should cite me as the source; I declined.

[CameraObscura]

Yeah, I'd be pretty honked off. I would expect him to at least ask me if it was okay if he used my words anonymously or not, especially if he knows his clients read his blog. (And duh. Of course they do.)

It sits less well with me the more I think about it.

[blur]

my snarky response: you could always leave a comment on the blogpost.

my serious response: i'd talk to him and tell him you are uncomfortable with this.

It's not actually a breach of confidentiality if nothing identifying was mentioned or attached to the phrases/words/ideas.

If it were me, I would likely address concerns about confidentiality and ask to go over specifically what their policy is. After I was certain we had discussed to a point where I understood what my therapist says is the policy, I would then ask how that applies to the blog and online writing.
Maybe ask why they don't need my permission to use my ideas as well.

But going in, guns blazing, is likely to give you only short term satisfaction and little actual explanation for what they are doing.

[growlithing]

How do you know about his blog? Is he vocal about this blog? Is his practicing name attached to it? Is he seeking professional attention for this blog? If one of my therapists were writing a private blog under a pen name, I would be less bothered about her mentioning something I said under the cloak of "my client said something interesting" than if her name and practice was attached to the blog and she wrote something I didn't consent to about me on it.

If the blog is under a pen name, did he give you a link to it or something? It just feels odd that you would be able to access a blog that might be personal if he's discussing potential movie plots on it.

However, even if you throw away how it was connected to him, as an artist, I feel very VERY strongly about things like this. I wrote something long and ranty, comparing it to stealing other musician’s music, but I think it was a little too extreme because it talked about stealing stuff and monetizing off of it. But if his blog had ads on it… then it wouldn’t be. Anyway... so I enjoy taking photos. I hesitate to call myself an amateur photographer because that is too serious for what I do. I just like taking pictures of animals and nature or city views. I took some pictures of my guinea pigs and my younger sister saw them and asked me to send them to her because she liked them. I did. A few months later, I found her deviantart and saw that she posted MY pictures to her profile and credited it to herself. Furious, I waited for her to be not at home, then went on her laptop, on her profile, deleted all of the pictures and posted a message saying "Dear my fans, I stole all of my photos that I posted here from my older sister and they have thus been taken down. I'm sorry that I lied to all of you and you can follow my sister to see all of the removed photos at *inserted my own links*". When she noticed it, she was angry took it down and reuploaded everything but not before getting some upset messages and losing people on her page. But that's how I feel about taking someone else's content even on a less professional level. She reuploaded everything because if she didn't have a problem stealing my work to begin with, then she doesn't have a problem stealing it again. So I would absolutely call him on it and then probably never talk to him again not because I'd be afraid that he'd do it again, but because I know he would. If he had no moral dilemma writing that the first time around, Hell, even on my blog, I don't copy other people's posts or write an idea my friend had and call it mine and my blog is completely private. I don't do that because I hold my own personal artistic ethics over anything else. Everything I put my name on is going to be genuinely my work because I don’t want to be successful by lying and cheating and exploiting others. Anyone who doesn’t think that taking someone else’s ideas is directly exploiting them either for money or notoriety is extremely self-centered, potentially sociopathic or psychopathic, and not anyone I would associate with on a professional or personal level.

But that’s just me. I would call him on it regardless of how you decide to handle seeing him further.