[junkDNA]

Saw this on post secret today!!

[DP_2017]

Interesting. I bet many do. Most would never admit. I trulywould not care at all if mine did.

[SorryShaped]

I offered mine to this therapist. He said we'd figure things out on our own and didn't need memes. I already don't much care for them and very rarely will I post one.

[Anne2.0]

A friend of mine who is about to become a social worker had a training recently where it was emphasized this wasn't ethical to do, because it messes with the intimacy of the therapy setting because clients should be secure in knowing that it's their choice what to reveal to the therapists.

I only have a skeleton Facebook profile but Linked in pops up my therapist's profile (I think because I email him and my contacts have been imported into Linked in) as someone "I may know" or whatever it is that they say. I would be surprised to learn that my T has seen my profile or otherwise googled me, but I can't say I would be bothered to ask if he had. In some ways, given the many intimate things he knows about me, it's kind of silly to think I would have to shield him from information about me on the internet available to everyone in the world.

Hilarious.
Who gives a dam.

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by Mouse_62

Hilarious.
Who gives a dam.

Obviously, the original poster does.

[stopdog]

I don't think those guys are that curious about most clients to bother with it, but I have no problem with anyone, even therapists, looking at public information.

I wouldn't care if anyone looked up what I put up on facebook publically. I put so little up on facebook they wouldn't learn anything new.

Cute.

I think a T looking up a client has totally different implications as it can make the therapy about them, esp if they start making interventions related to what they found.

[ListenMoreTalkLess]

Originally Posted by Rayne_

Cute.

I think a T looking up a client has totally different implications as it can make the therapy about them, esp if they start making interventions related to what they found.

I would hope that any T who was messing about on Facebook understands the distinction between a "Facebook life" and real life. That is truly scary but as with all things, I can totally see what you say happening to T's who are poorly trained or unskilled in general, not to mention perhaps unethical.

[atisketatasket]

Somebody linked a dissertation in Interesting Psychotherapy Articles a while back that surveyed therapists in training and found that something like 90% of them admitted to looking clients up online.

If someone looked me up, they would find almost completely academic stuff. Ho hum.

[Salmon77]

It wouldn't bother me if my T looked me up online but I can see why it might be a bad idea, like if the client posts about problem behaviors but doesn't tell T (I know a guy who tweets about how drunk he is almost every night, for example). The T would see this potential problem but not have a good way to bring it up.

[stopdog]

But is it the place of a therapist to bring up something that a client has not said they want to use a therapist to help with? I don't believe it is. If I go to a therapist about X - the therapist does not get to mess with Y no matter how much Y bothers the therapist unless I also decide I want to add Y into the mix.

[Salmon77]

No, I don't think it is the T's place to bring up an issue the client hasn't brought up. That's why I think a T should try to avoid finding things out, because otherwise they might create an ethical conflict for themselves, if there's something they'd want to address if they could.

[88Butterfly88]

I sure hope my t doesn't look me up. I guess she is allowed to but I wouldn't like it. Most of my stuff is private anyway. I was mentioned in a newspaper article once so that is probably all she would find.

[stopdog]

But that is what I am saying - even if I tell a therapist I drink a bottle of whiskey a night (I do not - this is an example) - the therapist does not get to try and stop me if I say I drink a bottle of whiskey a night and it is not something I want to change. So I don't think it matters what a therapist knows about a person or how they found it out. If a client has not said they want to deal with something - it is off the table for the therapist. The therapist's feelings about anything are not relevant in how I see it.

[Myrto]

Public info is public info so obviously it's fair game. But I agree with stopdog that I don't think therapists are all that interested in clients to begin with. Problem is, some clients want to ascribe a super deep meaning to the therapist looking them up/thinking about them. Honestly I doubt it's super meaningful. Not in the way a lot of clients wish to matter to their therapists. I also have googled some of my clients (I work in marketing) and sometimes they randomly pop into my mind. Doesn't mean much other than my brain randomly selects information.

I never doubt that many therapists look up clients - why wouldn't they? I also look up pretty much everyone I work with.

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

If someone looked me up, they would find almost completely academic stuff. Ho hum.

Same for me. I don't use any personal social media, only LinkedIn. And anonymous forums like this. But I am often quite interested in other people's stuff, including my ex therapists'. Why not? And why would they not be, at least some clients? I think it can be quite informative to see how someone handles social media and what they post, including when some people don't use it. I don't look at others' social media very regularly but sometimes I have an urge and then spend hours on it. Searching in secret, because I do not have active profiles.

[Salmon77]

Originally Posted by stopdog

But that is what I am saying - even if I tell a therapist I drink a bottle of whiskey a night (I do not - this is an example) - the therapist does not get to try and stop me if I say I drink a bottle of whiskey a night and it is not something I want to change. So I don't think it matters what a therapist knows about a person or how they found it out. If a client has not said they want to deal with something - it is off the table for the therapist. The therapist's feelings about anything are not relevant in how I see it.

Yes, I agree it should be off the table. The dilemma would be if the client is doing something dangerous or something that makes their problems worse (like drinking heavily when depressed, for example). I'm saying the T is better off not finding things out because then there's no dilemma for them.

the funniest part of this to me is that she's on a typewriter.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

Obviously, the original poster does.

I don't give a damn if my t finds my profile. The odds of him looking are slim to none. Also my profile is set to private so there's not much info to ppl who are not on my friends list

[MoxieDoxie]

Originally Posted by DP_2017

Interesting. I bet many do. Most would never admit. I trulywould not care at all if mine did.

Mine was on a waiver I signed that he would be doing a internet search on new clients.

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND INTERNET SEARCHES: At times, Mr. Therapist may conduct a web search on my clients before the beginning of therapy or during therapy. If you have concerns or questions regarding this practice, please discuss them with me. I do not accept friend requests from current or former clients on social networking sites, such as Facebook. I believe that adding clients as friends on these sites and/or communicating via such sites can compromise their privacy and confidentiality. For this same reason, I request that clients not communicate with me via any interactive or social networking web sites.

[LabRat27]

Originally Posted by Salmon77

Yes, I agree it should be off the table. The dilemma would be if the client is doing something dangerous or something that makes their problems worse (like drinking heavily when depressed, for example). I'm saying the T is better off not finding things out because then there's no dilemma for them.

Or what if the client is delusional? Say the client tells their therapist a bunch of stuff and the therapist believes them, then the therapist goes on the client's FB and finds that it's untrue. That puts them in a very difficult ethical position.

Do they change their behavior now that they know that the client's stories are delusions? Would it be unethical to not change their approach for the client's best interests? At what point could they say they would have figured it out without FB so it's okay to act on that knowledge?

[SorryShaped]

We don't know to which extent we, the product of these tech giant internet companies, have our information sold to others. This probably includes insurable companies, med companies, and even conglomerates that would include most psych practices.

Originally Posted by stopdog

But that is what I am saying - even if I tell a therapist I drink a bottle of whiskey a night (I do not - this is an example) - the therapist does not get to try and stop me if I say I drink a bottle of whiskey a night and it is not something I want to change. So I don't think it matters what a therapist knows about a person or how they found it out. If a client has not said they want to deal with something - it is off the table for the therapist. The therapist's feelings about anything are not relevant in how I see it.

Right, but are they going to come out and say it directly or instead change their behaviors based on things they read, such as questions or interventions?

I don't think good Ts would go that far...just think it's a bad idea overall.

Edit-yes the ethical issues pointed out above.