This document outlines the policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how I conduct myself on the Internet as a mental health professional and how you can expect me to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet.
If clients have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage clients to bring them up in the appointment. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, update and new version of this policy might be required. When this occurs, clients will be informed of any policy changes and a copy of the updated policy can be provided when requested.
Professional and Personal Accounts
I have professional social media accounts for the sole purpose of professional matters regarding my work as a mental health professional. At times I may post articles, advice, or news in the area of clinical psychology. These professional pages are separate from my personal accounts, which I hold as an individual and are accessible only to my personal relations. I do not communicate with, or contact clients through any of my social media accounts.
Friending and Following
I do not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc). I believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of a therapeutic relationship. I have no expectation that anyone as a client will want to follow my blog or social media streams. My primary concern is client's privacy. It is more than welcome to view the public page of my workplace. There are more private ways to follow me on, which would eliminate your having a public link to my content. You are welcome to use your own discretion in choosing whether to follow me. I will also not follow back any current or former clients on any social media forum. Viewing client's online activities without consent and without any explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on a working relationship. If there are things from an online life that a client wishes to share with me, please bring them into the sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the session hour.
Interacting
Please do not use SMS (mobile phone text messaging) or messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with me in public online if there is an already established client/therapist relationship. Engaging with me this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.
Email/ WhatsApp
I prefer using email and WhatsApp only to arrange or modify appointments. Please do not send content related to your sessions via email or WhatsApp, as they are not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with me by email and WhatsApp, be aware that they might be retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any emails and WhatsApp I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record.
Location-Based Services
Please be aware that if you use location-based services on your mobile phone, this may compromise your privacy while attending sessions at my office. To maintain your privacy and confidentiality please disable check-in location on your devices when visiting my office.
Reviews and Testimonials
You may find my psychology practice on sites or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client. I regret I am unable to publish testimonials on my website as this is violating the Ethics Code. 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. I urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as I take my commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate with me, there is a good possibility that I may never see it. If we are working together, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the sessions. This can be an important part of progress, even if you decide we are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are working with me wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that I cannot tell people that you are my client and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that about our professional relationship or how you feel about the service I provided to you, in any forum of your choosing. If you do choose to write something on a business review site, I hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. I urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.
Conclusion
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.
This Policy are subject to the English version if there is any divergence between English and Chinese version.