I MATTER TRAINING + SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
This document outlines office policies related to use of Social Media. Please read it to understand how I Matter Training and its staff will conduct ourselves on the Internet as Mental Health professionals and how you can expect I Matter Training and its staff to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet. If you have any questions about anything within this document, I encourage you to bring them up when in the office. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when I Matter Training will need to update this policy. If I Matter Training does so, you will be notified of any policy changes and an updated policy will be made available on our website
FRIENDING
I Matter Training its staff does not accept friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). I Matter Training believes that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and your respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship.
I Matter Training keeps a Facebook Page for professional use to allow people to share our blog posts and practice updates with other Facebook users. All the information shared on this page is available on I Matter Trainings website.
I Matter Trainings primary concern is your privacy. Note that if followed on any Social Media platform, I Matter Training and its staff will not follow you back. Our reasoning for that is we believe casual viewing of clients’ online content outside of the consultation sessions can create confusion regarding whether it’s being done as a part of your support plan or to satisfy personal curiosity. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without our explicit arrangement towards a specific purpose could potentially have a negative influence on the working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with us please bring them into your session where the information can be viewed and explored together, during the consultation 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 I Matter Training. These sites are not secure, and messages may not be read in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies, or other means of engaging with I Matter Training staff in public or online if a client/therapist relationship has already been established. Engaging with I Matter Training and its staff in 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. If you need to contact I Matter Training and/or staff between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone or email. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.
USE OF SEARCH ENGINES
It is NOT a regular part of I Matter Training practice to search for clients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If we hasvereason to suspect that you are in danger and you have not been in touch with us via usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email) there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if we ever resort to such means, they will fully document it and discuss it with you at your next appointment.
BUSINESS REVIEW SITES
You may find I Matter Training practice on sites such as Google, Psychology Today, Yelp, , Yahoo Local, Bing, 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 Social Media Policy, whether the business has added itself to the site or not. If you should find I Matter Training listing on any of these sites, please know that the listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as a client.
But due to confidentiality, we cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. We urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with I Matter Training about your feelings of our work, there is a good possibility that we may never see it. If we are working together, it is our hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the consultation process. This can be an important part of work, even if you decide I Matter Training and or any of our team are not a good fit. None of this is meant to keep you from sharing that you are in therapy at I Matter Training wherever and with whomever you like.
Confidentiality means that I Matter Training cannot tell people that you are a client. However, you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that I Matter or any of its counselors is your mental health provider or how you feel about the treatment provided to you, in any forum of your choosing. If you do choose to write something on a business review site, We hope you will keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. We urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection. If you feel I Natter Training or any of its staff has done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it with us you can always contact the Health Care Professions Council which oversees licensing, and they will review the services provided.
LOCATION BASED SERVICES
If you used location-based services on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I Matter Training does not place the practice as a check-in location on various sites. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular check-ins at our office on a weekly basis. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in,” from our office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.
EMAIL COMMUNICATION
I Matter Training and its staff prefer using email only to arrange, confirm or modify appointments. Please do not email content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with I Matter Training or staff, be aware that 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. You should also know that any emails I receive from you and any responses that I send to you become a part of your legal record.
CONCLUSION
Thank you for taking the time to review the I Matter Technology and Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding potential interactions on the Internet, do bring them to our attention so that we can discuss them.
