Therapist support groups on Facebook are great, but are you violating client confidentiality?
Counselors often use counselor Facebook groups to find another counselor for their clients. In order to do so, they have to provide some information about the client. It usually goes something like this: “Need a counselor in the xxxxx area for a 27 year old female with postpartum depression and some difficult family dynamics, especially with her sister.” Counselors may believe that because they didn’t provide a name, or enough specifics to identify the client, that the client’s identity is protected. However, this may not be the case. Although the client was not named, there could be enough information here to identify the client.
So, let’s change it. How about, “Need a counselor in the xxxxx area for an adult female with depression and family issues.” Although this seems generic, and therefore safe, it may not be when you take internet technology into account.
First of all, just because the Facebook group is private doesn’t mean your posts are. Unless you are working in a encrypted closed system such as an EHR (Electronic Health Record) system, your information could potentially be read by anyone smart enough to hack into the group. In addition, some private Facebook groups for counselors also have other types of members on there, such as acupuncturists.
Second, internet technology advancement allows for the linking of information to complete a profile about an individual. (Mainly for targeted advertising purposes.) So, whereas it may not be your post in and of itself that can identify a specific person, your post could be an important piece of information that helps to identify the person. I’ll leave the explanation of exactly how that occurs to the computer experts.
What to do instead
If you are looking to refer a client, make the request about the counselor and not the client. For example, “Looking for a counselor in the xxxx area who specializes in depression.” Care should still be taken not to include too many details, however.
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barb LoFrisco
