Hey all - thought you might be interested in this article on Google, Facebook, Therapists and Clients . The comments stream is interesting because it presents a whole variety of opinions from different professionals and clients.

The article above also links to a Washington Post article about the same subject. I like the following quotes:

"Most therapists are not alarmed by the idea of a Google search. "I know my patients Google me," Massey says. "I think it's their right as consumers.""
and
"Behnke cautions therapists to assume that most clients will conduct online searches, and he urges them to make sure they remain vigilant about what gets posted."

I hope these articles are not triggering for anyone. I think they are important for two reasons: 1) They show that this area of therapist/client relationships is new and still being worked out. Our therapists are still debating what is ok or not, so it's no wonder we are often flummoxed by it as clients. 2) The emphasis here is very much on the T's responsibilities and choices - because it is their domain to control what information is available and how.

Hope this is helpful.

Jones, Thanks so much for posting this. It was refreshing to read that most therapist assume their clients will goggle them, but surprising then that they don't typically talk about it openly. Also, I read the comments section after the article where one therapist posted that googling was too invasive in her opinion. The other piece that was WOW was the idea of therapists googling clients. I had no idea that ethical therapists would even consider doing it. Even if it may be helpful to treatment, I would think they would have better things to do. Unless of course they are like Monte's T who sits around all day dreaming of her. There is just no way my current T would ever search for clients online, and I am guessing that she would expect the same discretion from me.

Thanks for posting this, Jones!

MTF

ooo- I wish my P would google me...he never would though. sigh. DF- I've missed you!

BB

I talked to my T yesterday about my Googling her and she said as clients we have a right to know about who we are thinking of seeing, especially since we're spilling our guts to them. I didn't tell her exactly what I know and she didn't ask me, although I asked her if it would bother her that I knew the names of her grandchildren that were in the photos behind me. I don't think she realized at first that I was telling her I actually KNEW their names, rather I think she thought that I was being hypothetical, but by the time we were done talking about it I feel like she realized I did know their names. She told me things I already knew in an attempt to let me in on stuff she thought I wanted to find out about her, since she asked me what I wanted to know and I wouldn't ask (too ashamed and embarrassed that she knew I was curious in the first place). Like I'm going to then say, "Um, I already know you have five kids. In fact I know their names, ages, spouses' names, some of their kids' names, seen most of their photos...", etc. I think she would have been a bit more shocked than she was.

I'll bet she has no idea that I got a lot of this info through Facebook, either. And yeah Monte, I'm sure her kids HATE that they have to protect themselves because 'Mom' has 'loony clients' out there that might be searching for stuff about her and her family. Yikes!! But she really was open to answering any questions I had and willing to tell me whatever I wanted to know. Not what I was expecting. Now I'm regretting not having asked her stuff, especially when her birthday is, because she said I can send her cards. She told me she thinks that it's the 'secret' that causes a lot of my spinning, Monte. She wants me to not keep anymore stuff from her. Once I spilled all of this stuff to her, a lot of my spinning has died down significantly. Weird, huh? So I just wanted to encourage anyone that worries about having searched their T online, if it bothers you at all, talk to you T about it. I was terrified because I was sure she was going to have a terrible reaction to it, but she was very calm and collected and treated it like it was no big deal. And I feel LOTS better just having it out there and not keeping it a secret anymore.

MTF