This document outlines Caroline Hutchins Counselling’s social media policy. It aims to provide transparency for clients about how, as a counsellor, I conduct myself and how I might respond to any online interactions between myself and my clients.
The Internet and social networking sites are regularly used for personal and professional purposes. Any uploads or posts can still be traceable even after they are deleted. While you can post what you wish online, my commitment and ethical responsibility is to protect client confidentiality, meaning that I will not reveal my connection with clients. Therefore, this policy is designed to protect our therapist/client relationship alongside your privacy.
Email Communication
Please be aware that no email service is completely secure or confidential, and system administrator(s) from our respective Internet service providers can, in theory, have access to email logs. As such, I ask that clients please refrain from emailing content related to their therapy between sessions.
Search Engines
I understand that clients may wish to gather information about me using search engines. If you find information that you wish to discuss from your searches, please do discuss it with me in our sessions so that we can explore any potential impact on our work together.
Social Networking: Personal Accounts
I do not accept friend or contact requests from existing or previous clients on any social networking site, including but not limited to Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn relating personal accounts. Similarly, I will not send you invitations to join my personal social accounts or interact with clients on these sites. If I discover that we have accidentally established a relationship online, I will withdraw this relationship to ensure our respective privacy.
This is to protect our respective confidentiality and privacy as well as ensuring the maintenance of our professional relationship. You may have content you wish to keep private and viewing your online content outside of our relationship can blur therapeutic boundaries. However, if there are elements of your online life that you wish to discuss, you are welcome to bring these to explore within our sessions.
Social Networking: Business Accounts
I will occasionally post content relevant to my practice on social media and via my website. There is no expectation for you to follow these social channels, though clients are welcome to like and follow my Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn business accounts. However, please be aware that engaging with my business content can reveal our connection in some way. Therefore, do think carefully about whether you want this information to be revealed publicly. To maintain confidentiality and therapist/client boundaries I will disable comments on my posts and refrain from engaging in online conversations with you on these pages if you do choose to do so.
Social Media Interactions
I ask that our interactions remain within the confines of our sessions and correspondences through text or email. Contact via social media channels through interactions on posts, such as wall postings, are not secure and they are public-facing. Any online exchanges could compromise confidentiality. I welcome initial contact from prospective clients via these platforms, but I cannot guarantee as timely responses as those made through my website of via email.
Business Review Sites
Caroline Hutchins Counselling may be searchable on certain business review sites such as Google, which often include a feature where users can rate and review their service provider. I do appreciate clients sharing their experiences of our work together at the end of our therapeutic journey, but this choice is down to the client.
If you do choose to write something on a business review site, it is important to keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. Please note that due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review, whether positive or negative.
Questions & Concerns
Please do make contact or discuss with me within session if you have any questions or concerns relating to the content of this policy.
Policy Updates
With technology and our Internet use changing so frequently, this policy will be regularly updated in order to keep up with these changes. Whenever these changes are made, I will notify my clients ensuring that they have a copy of the updated policy, which will also be updated on my website.
Thank you for reading through my Social Media Policy. If you would like to discuss these policies and procedures, please do get in touch.
