With more and more therapists embracing social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, the question arises — where do you draw the line in terms of boundaries with your patients? Where does a patient’s and therapist’s privacy end or begin on such sites? How do patients and therapists navigate this brave new world of connectedness and “friending”?
Dana Scarton over at The Washington Post has the insightful article addressing this issue by talking to a number of therapists across the country. These therapists have had to deal with their own challenges with social networking sites and “researching” people online once it was brought into psychotherapy by a client or a client’s actions.
Professional associations haven’t addressed this kind of technology in their ethical guidelines, but common sense rules the day. As I just gave a presentation to therapists on this very topic, here’s the upshot of what I had to say about this from a professional’s point of view …