Social Media Policy

This document outlines Creative Psychotherapy Studio’s use of Social Media, how I seek to conduct myself on the Internet as a mental health professional and also how you can expect me to respond to various interactions that may occur between us within this domain. If you have any questions, I encourage you to discuss them with me at the earliest opportunity. As the use of the internet changes and new technology develops, this policy will be updated.

As a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychologists, I abide by both their Ethical Framework and Code of Conduct for the counselling professions. As such all that we discuss and explore together is completely confidential. There are certain provisos with this, and these are outlined in my Privacy Policy.

I am acutely aware of my influential position with respect to clients, and subsequently avoid exploiting the trust and dependency placed on me. Therefore, I make every effort to avoid conditions and relationships with clients that could impair professional judgment or increase the risk of exploitation. Such relationships include, but are not limited to, business or close personal relationships with a client or the client’s immediate family.

While working with me, I am committed to maintaining a professional relationship at all times, not just within psychotherapy sessions but other forms of communication also: emails, mobile phone messages and telephone conversations. No form of client communication is 100% guaranteed to be private, as conversations can be overheard, emails can be sent to the wrong recipients and phone conversations can be listened to by others.

In today’s age of e-mail, Facebook, WhatsAp, Twitter and other social media, Psychotherapists have to be more aware than ever of the ethical pitfalls they can fall into by using these types of communication. Although they add convenience and expedite communication, it is very important to be aware that computers, e-mail and phone communication can be accessed relatively easily by unauthorized people and hence compromise the privacy and confidentiality of such communication.

I endeavour to ensure that both my personal laptop and mobile phone are equipped with a firewall, virus protection, encryption and passwords. I also password-protect and back up all confidential information on a regular basis.

If you need to cancel or change an appointment time, a telephone call, email or text message in a timely manner is very important. Please let me know if you are seeking to minimise your use of e-mails, mobile phones or text messages, or use alternative forms of communication, so that we can agree the best way to contact each other during our time together.

I also request that you do not use e-mail or text for emergencies. Due to computer or network problems, such messages may not be deliverable and I cannot promise to check in-boxes daily. As such, please call ……

If you communicate confidential or private information within text-messages or e-mail, I will assume that you have made an informed decision, will view it as your agreement to take the risk that such communication maybe intercepted, and I will honour your desire to communicate on such matters via this method. However, if you e-mail me content related to your therapy sessions, please note that e-mail is not completely secure or confidential. If email communication outside of therapy requires more than 5 minutes reading and responding to, I may charge for my professional services rendered in 15 minute increments. Please indicate if you intend to pay these charges, or I will simply save this message so we can review it together during your appointment time.

Please do not send forwarded messages, regardless of how inspirational they may seem, to my professional e-mail address. I use this for work related issues and do not want to risk viruses spread by forwarded e-mails.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHOULD BE CONSIDERED PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: Messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn is not secure. It could compromise your confidentiality to use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me online if we have an already established client/therapist relationship. Therefore I do not communicate this way. If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone 07590 433866 or direct e-mail at hello@creativepsychotherapystudio.com

FRIENDING MAY EXPOSE OUR PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP AND UNDERMINE YOUR PRIVACY. Therefore this social network policy serves as your notification that I will not associate with you on such sites, either as friends or contacts, as this would compromise your confidentiality and my own professional integrity. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with me, please bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy hour.

I DO NOT USE SEARCH ENGINES TO LEARN ABOUT YOU: The only information I have has been provided by you alone.

FANNING/LIKING MY PROFESSIONAL PAGE MAY IMPLY ENDORSEMENT: I maintain Facebook and Instagram pages for my professional practice to allow people to share my blog posts and practice updates with other users. Some of the information shared on these pages is available on this website also. You are welcome to view these and read or share articles posted there, and comment on them. However, referrals from other clients are one of my best sources of business. My website and these pages are intended to let others know who I am as a professional and to make it easy to refer those you feel would benefit from my services. I will not confirm nor deny any professional relationship between clients on any social network site.

BUSINESS REVIEW SITES ARE INEFFECTIVE PLACES TO VOICE YOUR COMPLAINTS: Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. Far better, if we are working together, to share your feelings and reactions to our work directly with me at the earliest opportunity, so we can discuss your concerns and make adjustments accordingly. This can be an important part of therapy, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your therapist or how you feel about the treatment I provided you, in any forum of your choosing.

Thank you for taking the time to review my Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to my attention so that we can discuss them.