Counsellor on Facebook.

[Cherrypie]

How do you feel about counsellors being available on Facebook? Would you like to add your counsellor? Have you searched for your counsellor? And if you found their profile would you dare even try to add your counsellor? Would you feel offended if your friend request were ignored?

I have seen a recent discussion where counsellors were debating the marketing value of having an online Fb prescense (separate to a more secret personal profile) and whilst counselling is a business I felt a bit uneasy.. Is it not confusing to have counsellors and clients 'friending' each other when in life it's just not possible? I'd be very interested in others views.

[Jenny]

Hi

I can see how being on Facebook could help marketing etc but if I were a counsellor I would create a whole different account not linked to my personal account. Facebook is constantly changing their privacy rights etc so who knows what facebook "friends" could see one day.

Having said that I'm not sure what, as a counsellor, you'd post on your facebook page anyway? You couldn't post about special offers, surely? Updates on yourself? No. Hmm I can't see what they'd post unless it's just quotes about counselling in general?

And would counsellors allow their clients to be their facebook friends!? If so, you may find yourself in a situation where all your clients can have access to each other!? Eek. And if you reject a client's friendship request, how does that leave the client feeling? I guess this would need to be talked through in the counselling.

As a client, yes I've searched counsellors.. one counsellor had her privacy settings to basically zero so I saw a lot more than I probably should have. I contacted her and told her though as I found myself constantly checking back on her page as having the insight to her private life was interesting.. but also unhealthy. But I actually could've had access to her whole family had I wanted to.

So all in all I understand that counsellors are humans (i think :D) with lives etc but facebook would need a lot of thought.. whether you set yourself up with a totally different account separate to your personal one or not at all. Privacy settings are always a nightmare on facebook huh.. I guess it's the same for teachers and people in all sorts of professions though. Difference is boundaries are so important.. no point being boundaried in sessions but then letting clients see where you holidayed last year!

Jenny x

[Cherrypie]

Crikey.. I hadn't thought of that.. You couldn't 'friend' clients surely because then they would all see each other and surely that's a breach of confidentiality.. Hmmm can't see how that would work at all even if it was a more professional profile. Maybe a 'page' would work, kind of selling the practice I guess or giving info.. But still.. Is a social networking site an appropriate space to advertise counselling? It doesn't feel like it to me but I'm not completely sure why I feel that way..

Thanks for your thoughts Jenny.


X cherrypie

[Cherrypie]

I'm intrigued that this has had 230 views and one reply.. :) so many visitors... Wish there were more talkers :)

xx

[Jenny]

Yeah.. I actually think 'robots' or whatever you call them, are looking at this site.. as in, I'm getting a lot of members trying to register who are spammers (of course, I don't approve their registrations).. but I wonder why some threads appear to have been read so many times.. I'm not sure. xx