Your therapist’s Facebook page could be harming your mental health

I’ve been part of many recent conversations about whether Facebook is harmful to our mental health — and perhaps a new source of business for psychotherapists. Now I’ve discovered the other side of the coin: a debate about whether therapists’ use of social media is good or bad for their patients. Here’s how Denis Lane, an attorney specializing in mental health, sums up the problem:

When therapists discuss experiences, feelings, and history in an extremely personal way while blogging or posting their information on the internet where clients can gain access to the information, it can lead to problems in treatment and in the professional relationship. ‘Familiarity breeds contempt,’ and for clients to gain access to too much personal information concerning a therapist can undermine the professional relationship and reduce a counselor’s effectiveness in providing treatment.

Read the rest of Denis Lane’s comments Mental Health Attorney Responds To Psychotherapists’ Use of Social Media | Private Practice from the Inside Out.