Social Media Policy (SMP)
The use of social media and electronic communication is a convenient and often preferred way of communicating. However, privacy and confidentiality are not guaranteed in these forms of communication. The Family Counseling Staff and Clinicians do not communicate with, or contact clients through their personal social media or networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Additionally, if they discover that they have accidentally established an online relationship with you, they may cancel the online relationship. This is due to the significant security risk these types of casual social contacts can create for you.
The Family Counseling Center Clinicians may participate on various social networks for personal and marketing purposes, but not in their professional capacity as a Counselor. If you have an online presence, there is a possibility that you may encounter them by accident. If that occurs, please discuss it with your counselor during your next session. We have researched this issue and concluded that social media communications with clients have a high potential to compromise the professional relationship. Please do not attempt to contact your counselor through social media outlets.
If you have any questions about anything in this policy, please bring them up with your counselor. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when we may need to update this policy. Clients will be notified in writing of any policy changes.
“FRIENDING”
Our counselors do not accept invitations from current and/or former clients to participate in their online social networks, nor do they invite clients to participate in their own personal online social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). The practice of adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. If you need to contact your counselor between sessions, please email, phone or text (depending on the preference of yourself and your counselor). If you have questions about this, please bring them up when with your counselor in your next session.
FOLLOWING
The Family Counseling Center at times will post articles related to wellness and psychology on their professional Facebook page and may make other posts on Instagram. We have no expectation that you as a client will follow these posts and they do not constitute therapy or as therapeutic advice. Comments may be disabled or deleted as warranted. Our primary concern is your privacy. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow The Family Counseling Centers posts. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with your counselor, please bring them into your session where you can view and explore them together, during the session.
INTERACTING
Please do not use messaging on social media or networking sites to contact your counselor. These sites are not secure, and the messages may not be read in a timely fashion. Engaging with your counselor in these ways can compromise your privacy, and may also create the possibility that the exchanges will need to be documented and archived in your client records, becoming a part of your legal record.
Our counselors recognize that viewing clients’ online activities without their consent, and without explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose, could potentially have a negative influence on the working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with your counselor, please bring them into your sessions where we can view and explore them together.
USE OF SEARCH ENGINES
Counselors will not use web searches to gather information about you without your permission. It is our belief that this violates your privacy rights; however, we understand that you might choose to gather information about your counselor in this way. There is an incredible amount of information available about individuals online, much of which may actually be known to that person and some of which may be completely inaccurate or unknown. If you encounter any information about your counselor through web searches, or in any other fashion for that matter, please discuss this with your counselor during a session so that you can discuss its potential impact on your treatment.
Although it is not a regular practice for our counselors to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines, extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If your counselor has a reason to suspect that you are in danger or if it becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if counselors ever resort to such means, they will fully document it and discuss it with you in person as early as is feasible.
LOCATION-BASED SERVICES
If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. If you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may conclude that you are a therapy client due to your location.