[Soccer mom]

So we've all mentioned we google our T and/or look them up on FB. Do they do the same? My T has a FB page but it's very private and we only have 1 mutual friend in a small town. If I was them, I would to gain insight.

[stopdog]

I think they mostly don't care enough to bother. Some possibly do but I would guess most don't care.

[kororain]

I really don't think so. We're just a paycheck baby. They're not trying to hang out with us after session. You know?

[Mactastic]

Highly unlikely. As someone pointed out, we are just work.

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[SoupDragon]

I would think they would want to do something else in their spare time, like getting on with their own lives. (scary thought though )

You actually find peoples' FB pages insightful? I mean, most people don't post terribly deep info about themselves on their FB page. Pictures of their kids playing or links to videos or articles they think are funny, maybe a bit about a vacation or complaints about a bad day at work. But deep, reflective insights about people are few and far between on FB. I suspect therapists know that already and most would not be interested. Nothing there would come close to the insight they would gain in session about things none of us would ever begin to post on our FB page.

[NowhereUSA]

I don't think we're "just" work. if it was, then they wouldn't be very good ts. that said, i don't think they do it not b/c they aren't curious, but more likely not to interfere with therapy.

[SoupDragon]

Phew!! Just googled myself and nothing came up

[anilam]

Id be seriously worried about a T looking up his clients online...

[Perna]

I think it would be an individual thing. Therapists are more/less interested in some people and maybe would look to see if they could understand where the person was coming from better or if the person spoke of something of theirs online, etc. I know my T was talking about a movie and I went to see the movie and we discussed that. Books, too. And I talked about a group function I was part of and she attended that (and I ducked behind some tables and asked a friend to keep and eye on her, tell me what she was doing, LOL). I think T's may be curious () about someone, have a question between sessions that may interest them but not necessarily have anything to do with therapy. I don't think they get obsessed about their clients or anything like that, sit around like we do spending a whole lot of time over and over looking up one person (or a list of people :-)

I highly suspect T's are MUCH less pre-occupied by thinking about us outside of session than many of us are with thinking about them outside of session. Let's face it. We are one of probably dozens of clients he works with. He doesn't have enough time in his life to spend much of his free time focused on us outside of our sessions. Do we cross his mind? Sure, for perhaps a few minutes in the week, maybe more if he's particularly concerned about us that week for some reason, but he doesn't spend hours and hours thinking about each client. He couldn't possibly.

[NowhereUSA]

Originally Posted by 1914sierra

I highly suspect T's are MUCH less pre-occupied by thinking about us outside of session than many of us are with thinking about them outside of session. Let's face it. We are one of probably dozens of clients he works with. He doesn't have enough time in his life to spend much of his free time focused on us outside of our sessions. Do we cross his mind? Sure, for perhaps a few minutes in the week, maybe more if he's particularly concerned about us that week for some reason, but he doesn't spend hours and hours thinking about each client. He couldn't possibly.

agreed. they can't. my hubs has a job where he deals with people in a somewhat similar capacity to a t and he cares about people, but he has to 'turn it off' in order to be home with us and to be able to take care of life.

[melania]

Depends on t. I stalk some of my patients on facebook if im interested in them but i think its little bit crazy.
Maybe some ts think that its bad to look on their clients on facebook. People and their thinking are so different.

[Rapunzel]

It is generally regarded as a boundary crossing and discouraged. Clients get the opportunity to bring what they want to into the therapy session. When I am working with teens sometimes I check their social media to see if their public image is healthy and appropriate. Usually I do that with the client. I had a teenage client tell me they had inappropriate material on their social media page and asked me to help them delete it. But I don't feel right about googling my clients or looking them up on facebook. Besides, clients usually have one therapist while therapists have many clients. I care about my clients, but I do need to have a life outside of work and I don't need to spend extra time doing something that is not very helpful or therapeutic that I would feel that I need to keep quiet about for fear of being found out doing something that could be inappropriate.

[Ford Puma]

I am on G+ myself and no where else. If T Google'd me she would find.... not very much at all. apart from art and photos I post nothing much. I know T has a Facebook page but as I don't bother with that I don't look. T is on G+ too but a private page and I would be too embarrassed to follow her so I don't. I would imagine it would cause issues if we crossed wires on networks.
Yet another thing I could talk to her about I suppose

[SoupDragon]

Actually I am on a certain social networking site(not FB) and it tells you if anyone had visited your site and T had been looking. l assumed he would have been probably more mortified than me so l never said any thing, didn't want to make him cringe.

[healed84]

Well, being that T has admitted that he has looked at my fb page, I really don't think it is that unlikely that Ts haven't googled a client or two. I happen to think it its totally within the realm of possibility.

Though, I don't think they would do it over and over again..

[Wren_]

I had a previous T telling me he googled me so I know it happens sometimes. Seems to be an ethical question as well - this article is interesting
To Google or Not to Google...Our Clients

My t has looked at my webpages, and we are also on each others face book pages. There is other stuff online about me that she has seen as well.

[iheartjacques]

On each other's facebook pages? wow...
I don't think any of mine have looked me up. If they did, they'd be disappointed, everything is private as I work in a school.

[InRealLife45]

i strongly doubt it. they dont care about us after we walk out of our paid for session.

[Eliza Jane]

I could see a T googling a new client if they were concerned the client might have a criminal history and the T was worried for safety reasons. Many T's work alone and at night. I know I would worry if I were meeting strangers under those circumstances.

Idk if that really happens, but it would make sense to me if it did.

I think more of them do it than would admit it. It just takes a few seconds to google someone.

[sailorboy]

I'm sure they do, especially before meeting them for the first time.

[Raging Quiet]

I know my T has saved my email address and in the past she's joined sites with her email account that have automatically invited me.

She doesn't use the internet much as she is in her 70's so I think I'm safe from that..!