Social Media Policy

Private Practice Social Media Policy

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This document outlines my office 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.

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If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when we meet. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when I need to update this policy. If I do so, I will notify you in writing of any policy changes and make sure you have a copy of the updated policy.

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Friending/Following/Adding as a Contact

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I maintain an online presence on several social media sites. I use my business name Back to Mind / Back to Mind Counselling on these sites so that it is clear it is me representing my business and myself. I also have personal accounts on social media, but they are strictly confined to family members and close friends.

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I don’t accept friend or contact requests either from current or former clients on my personal social networking sites. I believe adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.

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I will not ever knowingly follow you on social media, although it’s possible that if you use a pseudonym, I may accidentally follow you. If this happens, you are welcome to let me know when we meet. My reasons for not following current or former clients on social media are described above.

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In addition, viewing your online activities without your explicit consent and without a specific clinical purpose could have potential negative effects on your treatment. I might learn things about you that you have chosen not to discuss in counselling. It is your right to choose what to share in our work. But if I see these things outside of our sessions, then I will have to figure out how to tell you I have become aware of these things. If there are things from your online life that you do want to share with me, I encourage you to bring them into our sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy hour. The best way to do this is to print things out and bring them to your session or show them to me on your devices. Please don’t forward me emails or screen shots that involve other people as anything you send me does become part of your legal record.

Interacting

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Please do not use SMS (mobile phone text messaging) or messaging on Social Networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to contact me. These sites are not secure, and I may not read these messages in a timely fashion. 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.

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If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone or email at viv@backtomindcounselling.com.au. I prefer that we only use email for administrative issues such as changing appointment times. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.

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Social Media Posts about my work

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I occasionally publish stories that reference my counselling work. They are usually general in themes. When I do so, I use composite cases and clients are always de-identified. I won’t be writing about your counselling. However, if the issues I am writing about seem like they may hit “close to home” for any of the people in my practice, my approach is to tell you I am writing something that may be linked to topics or issues we have addressed.

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In our work, I hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the counselling process. 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, and my Ethics Code prohibits me from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I’m your counsellor or how you feel about the treatment I provided to you, in any forum of your choosing.

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If you do choose to write something on a business review site, keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. Please consider creating a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.

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If you feel I have done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with me, you can always contact the Australian Counselling Association (ACA), which oversees my registration, and they will review the services I have provided. Note that if they open an investigation into my actions, and you have given your name, they may request your records to pursue the investigation.

Email

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I prefer using email only to arrange or modify appointments. For Tele Health, I may also email you handouts and tools (or I may upload them to your client portal in Quenza. Occasionally, we each may share a link to something we discussed in-session. You should be aware that all exchanged emails become a part of your legal record and I keep a copy in your chart. If you choose to email me content related to your therapy sessions, note that email is not completely secure or confidential. All emails are 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. I typically reply to emails within one to two days. As noted in my regular policies, if the volume of email requires additional time beyond five minutes, I bill for the time I spend reading and replying to the email. If you want to send me things securely, the best way is to use my secure contact form on my website, which leaves no record in your email account or upload a document to your portal on Quenza.

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Quenza Client Portal

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For Intake Form and progress notes, I use a secure practitioner platform called Quenza.  I has a client login portal. With your permission I add your chosen email address and invite you to Quenza. The portal provides an added layer of security, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected. By offering secure access and encrypted communication channels, the portal safeguards client data from unauthorized access.

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Texting

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I do not text with clients. My business phone is a landline and any texts sent to this phone will not be received by me. It is best to call or email, even if it’s just to say you are running late.

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Telehealth

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All of my counselling and coaching work is conducting online by Zoom. You will need to read and review my separate Telehealth / Zoom consent form and we will discuss the issues in my form before we meet that way.

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Conclusion

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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.

Adapted from © Keely Kolmesn– Dr. Kolmes’s Updated Private Practice Social Media Policy