SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

This page outlines Oak and Reed Counseling’s office policies related to the use of electronic communication on social media. 

If you have any questions about anything on this page, please ask. 

CONNECTING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

We have social media accounts but do not accept requests to connect with current or former clients. We only use these as a way to post educational content, and they are not monitored, nor confidential. If you choose to comment on pages or posts, you do so at your own risk and may breach confidentiality.

BUSINESS REVIEW SITES

You may find our counseling practice on sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users can rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find our listing on any of these sites, please know that our listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement for you as our client. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Ethics Codes deems it unethical for practitioners to seek testimonials. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. 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 we take our commitment of confidentiality to you. You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with us about your feelings about our work, there is a good possibility that we may never see it. If we are working together, we hope that you will bring your feelings and reactions to our work directly into the therapy 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 us wherever and with whomever you like. Confidentiality means that we cannot tell people that you are our client and our Ethics Code prohibits us from requesting testimonials. But you are more than welcome to tell anyone you wish that we’re your therapist or how you feel about the treatment we provided to you, in any forum of your choosing.

EMAIL/TEXT MESSAGING

My preference for communicating is through phone contact. Clients will often use text or email as a convenient way to communicate, which can introduce unique challenges into the therapist–client relationship. These means of communication should only be used to arrange and modify appointments.

Do not use e-mail for emergencies. If it’s an emergency, call 911, your local emergency hotline, or go to the nearest emergency room. Additionally, e-mail is not a substitute for therapy. If you think that you might need to be seen, please book an appointment. E-mail should not be used to communicate sensitive medical or mental health information, as it is not confidential. All emails are retained in the logs of the 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 administrators of the ISP. Any emails we receive from you and any responses that we send to you become a part of your legal record. Be aware that if you send e-mail from your work, your employer has the legal right to read your e-mail. Texting is not confidential, as phones can be lost or stolen. It is imperative that you do not communicate information of a sensitive nature over a text, and understand the risks if you do.

QUESTIONS/CONCERNS

Thank you for taking the time to review our Electronic and Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, please bring them to our attention so that we can discuss them.