Therapist googles me

I've seen quite a lot about people googling their therapists but not the other way round.

My therapist mentioned in session he had looked at some of my professional work online and elsewhere. I was slightly taken aback but wasn't upset. However, over the past couple months I can see that my therapist has visited my online professional portfolio with frequency. I don't think this has much to do with my therapy and I'm not sure it's altogether appropriate. Just curious others thoughts on this....

For him to visit once is showing an interest, but to look at it frequently does seem a bit surprising. I'm surprised that you can tell he has been visiting your online portfolio, I thought that if you visited a website it was anonymous. Does that mean my T can see when I've visited her website?

I guess it would only be if you were registered to the site, For example I frequent a poetry site and I can see which members have viewed my poems but if an unregistered person views them it shows up as "guest". If the site is run by Google or some other popular company T might be logged in and showing up without realising.

I agree it's unusual...how do you feel about raising this with T?

I don't feel any different about therapists accessing material/information on the internet than I do about clients doing it. It's posted on the internet and that means that you give permission for public access. I don't think I can scold or tell therapists not to be curious any more than I could say that to someone on here who is looking up information on their own therapist.

Yes, some people abuse this access for "weird" reasons, but I think it's impossible to determine who is doing the "peeking" for weird reasons just by noting how many times a person visits a site. If a therapist or client was accessing the information for creepy reasons, such as stalking information or blackmail, then the person who posted their information might have to take action to remove the material or seek legal assistance. If a therapist accessing one's employment or creative material on the internet bothers a person, perhaps the person needs to reconsider his/her decision to post in the first place. Being cautious about what one posts is a good idea. Lots of weird people out there! Hopefully it's NOT one's therapist! Just my thought on the issue.

I have to admit that it made me squirm a bit when a therapist I had sought out one of the books I published, read it and then wanted to discuss what she discovered about me when she read this work of fiction. When I write fiction I consider it to BE fiction, but like most psychologists she saw it as grist for mill. Made me a bit uncomfortable and with subsequent therapists I didn't mention my published works because I didn't want the same thing to happen.

my website comes with a site stat-- something that logs users ip addresses. Some have the organization listed. My T works within a hospital and the hospital pops up. I can see which pages have been accessed and it logs each time that particular ip address. I mainly use it for hack attempts because it logs those but I saw that and I felt slightly uncomfortable + my t's admission of googling. Since this is my first jaunt into therapy I don't know if this is considered ok and ethical or not. I don't google my therapist, I just assumed it would be the same the other way round.

I think therapists do this much more than people realize. People here usually say they don't have the time or inclination to google clients, but I have read many articles where it is actually recommended they do so. I think it's fairly common.

I think if it is open on the internet, anyone can look at it. I see no problem with therapists looking up clients if they are so inclined.
I always find the therapists are too busy argument to be baffling - therapists are no busier than other people. Some may have busier businesses than other therapists, but not busier than anyone else by simple virtue of working as a therapist.

But does it serve any therapeutic purpose I guess is my real question?

It may weird me out a bit, but no more so than other accessing my info.
Would you feel cofortable bringing up the issue with t?

There's a major difference between a therapist and a client: the therapist has the "power", they know a lot of intimate things about you. Meanwhile you often know next to nothing.
So for people to google their therapist can be a way to "take back that power"
I see nothing wrong with this.
On the other hand, a therapist googling a client is a bit weird to me: what's their purpose? are they going to find out info you're not yet ready to divulge for instance? There's a question of trust in my opinion.
True, public information IS public but it's different when a therapist does this.

I can't imagine why your therapist would visit your portfolio that often. I'd be creeped out to be honest.

I agree about " being busy", not a valid argument.

I am so busy it's not even funny. During school year I work two jobs ( day job very demanding) that adds up to 70 hours. I commute an hour to my day job. On top of it I have two time consuming hobbies, work out, date and maintain friendships and family. I have no spare time.

And yet everyone can see how much time i spend on PC. Lol i do everything on my phone I can google whoever I want every where I am.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, could I google your web site, Flatfeet? You've got me curious.

Not being sarcastic, but I do like to visit professional web pages, on many topics from art, to horse farms, to where to buy unique car seat covers, etc.etc. Frankly, I think a therapist could learn a lot from someone's web site if it tells or shows a lot about them and their product. As Freud was always explaining, everything the client says, dreams, and does, has meaning.
And I agree with the others who posted, that Anything you put on the web is accessible to anybody. And if your site has several pages, the T might return numerous times. I don't think it's weird of T, but an effort to help you.

I have a professional art website (several actually) and wish my T would see them, especially the article I wrote about the meaning of dragons in mythology.

Note to self: stop stalking his website and blog ! he probably knows its me.

I would want my T to look at my website. It would give her a chance to be better able to understand me. I haven't offered it to her simply because I don't think she would look at it.

But I've googled myself and know there's not much about me that links to my real name. I prefer it that way. There are people in my past I want nothing to do with and don't want finding me.

And btw, if you look people up on fb, they can find out. It will suggest you as a friend to them...

How often does your professional profile change?