Social Media Policy
Caim Counseling, LLC has a professional social media page @caimcousneling on Instagram.
The intention for using social media is for marketing, education, advocacy, thought leadership, product recommendations, and providing content in a technologically changing field. We want to do this while making clients aware of the risks and benefits of engagement on social media where therapists and counselors are present. A therapeutic relationship is a professional relationship and in today's technological climate, a social media presence or following your therapist on social media is not to be confused with a relationship outside of therapy. Ethical, professional, and therapeutic boundaries must be followed and honored.
A social media page created by a therapist is not psychotherapy, a replacement for a therapeutic relationship, or substitute for mental health and medical care. A social media presence as a therapy professional is not seeking an endorsement, request, or rating from past or current clients. No social media posts should be considered professional advice. The information contained in posts is general information for educational purposes only.
Past and current clients risk breaching their privacy and confidentiality by following, liking, re-posting, commenting, and engaging on social media platforms with counselors.
In order to honor professional boundaries, ethical nuances, and not engage in and prevent any potential form of dual-relationship, counselors will not follow or friend past or current clients on social media platforms.
You are welcome to follow my professional accounts, but we will not follow you back. Please understand that you risk breaking your own confidentiality by engaging with my social media accounts. If you decide to unfollow me, I won’t be upset. If you have questions about this, please bring them up when we meet and we can talk more about it.
If there are things from your social media sites that you think would be helpful for your therapist to know, please share those things with your therapist during sessions directly.
"Direct Messaging" is another risk to your privacy. Remember commenting and messaging between sessions is not a confidential or encouraged means of communication. Please schedule an official therapy session to discuss, explore, and ask any treatment related questions or concerns. Social media is not an appropriate medium for sharing therapeutic concerns, questions, comments, or reaching out in crisis to your counselor. Comments and DM’s are monitored by staff and are not confidential.
Neither Caim Counseling, LLC nor its employees will solicit any clients to follow or engage with my accounts on social media. Any product recommendations, advertisements, or affiliate marketing is outside of the scope of my therapy practice Caim Counseling, LLC, and are done as an individual person, Alexis Kilduff. Alexis Kilduff will disclose when she receives compensation as an affiliate or advertiser. Caim Counseling, LLC, its owner, professionals, and other staff will not sell or recommend products to clients in therapy sessions or seek them out online/via email/etc to sell products to them.
To ensure using technology, chat rooms, and/or social media in a professional manner and maintain appropriate professional boundaries, Caim Counseling, LLC professionals and staff do not engage in any "personal virtual relationships" that blur the professional boundary (dual relationships) by using personal accounts as the connection point for the virtual relationship with current or former clients. We respect the privacy of our current and former clients' presence on social media unless given consent to view such information only during a scheduled session.
Please consult your physician or mental health provider regarding advice or support for your health and wellbeing.
If you are suicidal, please call your local 24-hour hotline or 911 or emergency services. You can also check out our resources page for more.