SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

This document outlines Clearview Pathway's policies related to use of Social Media. If you have any questions about anything within this document, please do not hesitate to contact the practice. 

As technology develops, there may be times when this policy is updated. Updated versions of this policy will be added to this site and communicated to current clients only.

Clearview Pathway maintains an online presence on Facebook and Instagram. Clients are welcome to 'follow' Clearview Pathway on social media. I, however, do not accept any personal friend or contact requests from current or former clients on any social networking site. I believe adding clients as friends or contacts can blur the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship and  compromise your confidentiality and privacy. 

I will not ever knowingly 'follow' you on social media, although it’s possible that if you use a pseudonym, I may accidentally 'follow' you. If this happens, please let me know when we meet. My reasons for not 'following' current or former clients on social media are described above.

You may find Clearview Pathway on sites such as Yelp, Halaxy, Google My Business, Local, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find my listing on any of these sites, please know that my listing is not a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as my client. You have the right to express yourself on any site you wish, however, due to confidentiality, I cannot respond to reviews. 

I would encourage you to consider your own privacy if you choose to write a review on such sites. 

If you do choose to write something , keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. Please consider creating a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend network for your own privacy and protection.

If you use location-based services on your mobile phone, please be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. I do not place my practice as a 'check-in' location on various sites, such as Facebook. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible for others to assume that you are a therapy client due to check-ins at the practice. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally 'checking in' from the practice, or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone. 

If you/your family members use Find My Phone to track your whereabouts and they do not know you are in counselling with me, you may potentially risk them discovering that you are attending counselling.

Emails are used to arrange or modify appointments. I may however, send you handouts or share a link to something we discussed in-session. Please note that all exchanged emails become part of your legal record. 

If you choose to email me content related to your sessions, that email is not completely secure or confidential. All emails are retained in the logs of your and my 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 administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. 

I typically reply to emails within a day of receipt. This may be longer if the email is received after hours and the following day is a non-working day. In such instances, a reply will be sent to you on the first available working day.   

If you need to send confidential documents or reports, please notify me first so I can talk you through securing these.

As per the terms of the counselling contract, contact via SMS is to be restricted to enquiries and bookings. SMS’s received outside business hours will not be responded to until the following business day. 

Clearview Pathway is NOT a crisis service and does not provide out-of-hours counselling. 

Please note that all SMS communications form part of your client record.

Clearview Pathway Social Media Policy v1 November 2023