Facebook Policy

Core Facebook Policy Statement

Wisdom suggests that mental health professionals refrain from "friending" people on Facebook, including acquaintances and colleagues, as others may misunderstand the nature of this connection and wrongly assume they are clients, potentially leading to ethical complications and privacy concerns. 

As a mental health professional, I do not accept Facebook friend requests from clients (current, former or potential), or most industry colleagues, church folk, and others who might be perceived as clients, inferring that such individuals are receiving mental health services from me. Such perceptions can damage; for example, some of my clients are doctors and mental health professionals.

Direct communication should occur via practice phone, email, or secure messaging systems.

Following me on Facebook is permitted; I have enabled this functionality. If you follow me on Facebook, then it is your responsibility to 'manage perceptions' if others realise you are following me - if you have any concerns, please don't follow me. Please keep in mind that liking or commenting on a post, photo, or other content may draw the attention of others to your presence.

Simply speaking, my 'friends' on Facebook are limited to family and very close friends whom I know well, and who are content with potential perceptions held by others. Rejection is not intended to hurt people's feelings.

Among other things, this policy helps protect client confidentiality, maintain appropriate professional boundaries, and avoid dual relationships that could impair clinical judgment or therapeutic effectiveness. Others include avoiding undermining trust and my professional reputation.

Boundary blurring and dual relationships are expressly discouraged by leading professional ethics guidelines, such as those from the American Psychological Association and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Personal Facebook connections can expose both parties to private information, leading to complications, misunderstandings, and possibly harm to the therapeutic alliance.

No identifying information about clients will ever be posted or referenced on Facebook or other social media platforms.

In my case, Facebook should be used mainly for educational, informational, and community outreach purposes—not for providing therapy, commenting on client circumstances, or making personal client, or 'perceived client' connections.

Facebook Messenger Policy

Facebook Messenger has recently rolled out default end-to-end encryption for personal messages, providing significantly improved privacy and security for message content sent between users. However, Messenger is still part of the larger Meta ecosystem, which collects metadata, links communication to user profiles, and has a mixed reputation regarding privacy. For mental health professionals, Messenger is not the best choice due to privacy, ethical, and data security risks.

Messenger Privacy and Security

• As of late 2024, Messenger offers end-to-end encryption by default for personal messages, meaning only the sender and receiver should be able to see message content.
• Despite this, Messenger collects metadata (information about when/with whom communication occurs) and usage data that could be accessed by Facebook or third parties via legal requests or data breaches.
• Facebook/Meta’s privacy policies have been critiqued for broad data collection, sharing for advertising, and less-than-transparent data retention and deletion practices.

Messenger Unsuitability for Mental Health Work

• Mental health professionals must ensure client confidentiality, data protection, and compliance with ethical and legal standards.
• Messenger's connection to Facebook profiles and Meta’s broader data practices means communication is not fully anonymous, and metadata could potentially be exposed.
• Professional organisations often recommend using dedicated, HIPAA-compliant (or jurisdictionally secure) messaging platforms, not social media apps, for sensitive client communication.
• Messenger's privacy enhancements do not address these broader concerns, such as visibility of contacts, profile integration, and legal access to metadata.

Messenger Risks and Recommendations

• Messenger is now more secure for actual message content, but professional risks around metadata, data integration, and ethical boundaries remain.
• For mental health professionals, it is generally prudent to avoid Messenger and use specialised, secure platforms for any client communication or sharing of sensitive information.

I do not have the Messenger app installed on any of my devices. I can access Facebook messages via the web browser version of Facebook.

I have had misgivings about Facebook for many years; however, it has some utility, so I've put up with it. Here is an example of Facebook ick:

Facebook might be scanning your phone's entire camera roll - here's how to turn it off | The Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/meta-scanning-your-phone-camera-roll-how-to-turn-off-b1245426.html