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

June 11, 2010

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.

6 Comments

  2. Raul Pacheco
    Raul Pacheco on June 29, 2010 at 12:42 am

    This is one of the conversations we will be having at Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2010 – http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org – we've been talking about social media and mental health for a while 🙂 The event takes place on July 10th at UBC's Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory

  3. Raul Pacheco
    Raul Pacheco on June 29, 2010 at 7:42 am

    This is one of the conversations we will be having at Mental Health Camp Vancouver 2010 – http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org – we've been talking about social media and mental health for a while 🙂 The event takes place on July 10th at UBC's Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory

  4. psychologist perth
    psychologist perth on February 28, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Wow now that;s truly unprofessional for the psychologist to do that, it should be private even though no names are mentioned but some are hurt with this kind of actions.

  5. Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC,
    Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC, on November 13, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    Alexandra, just stumbled across your post referencing my guest post with Attorney Denis Lane.  Even though I’m 2 years late, wanted to drop in and say “thank you!”  How kind of you to share this information with your readers!  And, how fortunate for me to have discovered your blog, too!  I’ll be back!