CNLD Testing & Therapy Social Media Policy

This document outlines CNLD’s policies related to the use of social media. Please read it to understand how we conduct ourselves on the Internet as mental health professionals and how you can expect CNLD to respond to various interactions that may occur between us on the Internet.

If you have any questions about this document, we encourage you to bring them up when we meet. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when we need to update this policy. If we do so, CNLD will post any policy changes on our website, or you may obtain a policy in writing through our office.

Social media material is provided for informational purposes from a variety of sources. CNLD does not necessarily endorse or support the views of the materials, ideas, persons or products that are posted; we are sharing information that you might feel is relevant to you.

FRIENDING / LIKING / CONTACT REQUESTS:

CNLD does not accept contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn). We believe that adding clients as contacts on these sites can compromise your confidentiality and our respective privacy. It also may blur the boundaries or therapeutic relationship. If you have any questions about this, please bring them up with us when we meet and we can talk further about it.

FACEBOOK:

We use Facebook to post clinic announcements, articles from our staff, articles and research materials from professional sources and promote upcoming events. We also may post video interviews with staff and/or information from previous talks given by our staff.

You are welcome to view CNLD’s Facebook page (@CNLDa2) and read or share articles posted there. You do not have to “like” our page to have access to the following areas: Information, Wall, Photos, Events and Posts. Those who “like” our page can access the same information, any discussions and also will be able to comment on our page.

We do not encourage clients to “like” our page as it may compromise your confidentiality and respective privacy. In addition, the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code prohibits CNLD from soliciting testimonials from clients. We feel that the term “like” comes too close to an implied request for a public endorsement. You may notice testimonials on our website; these were not solicited and all identifying information has been changed to protect client confidentiality.

TWITTER:

Individual staff members at CNLD may post news about psychology on Twitter. We have no expectation that you as a client will follow these Twitter streams. However, if you use an easily recognizable name on Twitter and we notice that you have followed us, we may discuss it and its potential impact on our working relationship.

One of CNLD’s primary concerns is your privacy. If you share this concern, there are more private ways to follow us on Twitter (such as using an RSS feed or a locked Twitter list), which would eliminate you having a public link to our content. You are welcome to use your discretion in choosing whether or not to follow us.

Note: CNLD staff will not follow you back on either blogs or Twitter. We only follow other health professionals on Twitter. Our reasoning is that we believe casual viewing of client’s online content outside of professional interaction can generate confusion regarding whether it is done as part of your treatment. In addition, viewing your online activities without your consent and without explicit arrangement toward a specific purpose potentially could have a negative influence on our working relationship. If there are things from your online life that you wish to share with us, please bring them into your sessions where we can view and explore them together, during the therapy or 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 CNLD. These sites are not secure and we may not read these messages in a timely fashion. Do not use Wall postings, @replies or other means of engaging with CNLD online if we have an already established client/psychologist relationship. Engaging with us this way could compromise your confidentiality. It also may create the possibility that these exchanges become part of your legal/medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.

If you need to contact CNLD for any reason, the best way to do so is by phone (734.994.9466). Direct email is the second best method for quick, administrative issues. See the email section below for more information regarding email interactions.

USE OF SEARCH ENGINES:

It is not a regular part of our practice to search for clients on Google, Facebook or any other search engines. Extremely rare exceptions may be made during times of crisis. If we have a reason to suspect that you are in danger and have not been in touch with us via our usual means (coming to appointments, phone or email), there might be an instance in which it becomes necessary to use a search engine to find you, someone close to you or to check on your recent status updates, as part of ensuring your safety. These are unusual situations; if we ever resort to such means, we will document and discuss this fully with you when we next meet.

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES:

If you use location-based services (LBS) on your mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. We do not place our practice as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowall and Loopt. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a CNLD client due to regular check-ins at our office. Please be aware of this risk if you are “checking in” from CNLD intentionally or have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.

EMAIL:

As noted above, our preferred method of communication with clients is by phone. We only use email for basic communication with clients; due to the complexity of our scheduling process, we do not schedule appointments by email. Please do not email CNLD content related to your clinical sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate with us by email, be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and our Internet Service Providers (ISPs). 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 ISP. You should also know that any emails we receive from you and any responses that we send to you become a part of your clinic and legal record.

CONCLUSION:

Thank you for taking the time to review CNLD’s Social Media Policy. If you have any questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures, or regarding potential interactions on the Internet, do not hesitate to bring them to our attention so we can discuss them directly.

This policy was modeled after information originally created by Keely Kolmes, Psy.D.