Healthy Stems Therapy social media policy

This policy describes my office's social media usage guidelines. To learn how I behave online as a mental health professional and how you can anticipate my response to any online interactions that may arise between us, please read it.
When we meet, I invite you to ask any questions you may have regarding anything in this document. I might occasionally need to alter this policy as new technology advances and the Internet evolves. Only current clients will receive updated versions of this policy, which will be posted on this website.  

 I'm active on a number of social media platforms. To make it obvious that I am representing my company and myself on these websites, I use my full name, Melissa D'Silva, or the username Healthy Stems Therapy. If you notice a pseudonym, I don't want you to believe you are following someone else and then realize it's me.
I don't accept friend or contact requests on any social networking site from clients, past or present. I think that adding customers as friends or contacts on these websites may jeopardize both our privacy and your confidentiality. Additionally, it could conflate our therapeutic relationship with a friendship, a form of patronage, or just promote voyeurism. Please bring up any questions you may have so we may discuss this further when we meet.  

The one exception is if a friend status was made on social media before therapy started. Sometimes it's impossible to avoid a small degree of dual relationships. Australian counseling associations recognize this dichotomy. A dual relationship agreement would be established and we would talk about what it meant if we were friends on social media before starting counseling. A counselor cannot maintain a personal relationship with a former client for at least two years after counseling, according to the ACA Codes of Ethics, which I also follow. 

In some rare cases, individuals in my wider circle who had previously followed me on social media requested to come in for counseling. If we agree that meeting together does not create a significant conflict of interest, I will recommend that we unfollow each other on social media (or that I unfollow you during therapy) to avoid some of the issues raised above. I'll do this to protect the integrity of our professional relationship. I will never knowingly follow you on social media, but if you use a pseudonym, I may accidently follow you. If this occurs, you are allowed to notify me when we meet. My reasons for not following current or previous clients on social media are outlined above.  

Furthermore, viewing your internet activity without your clear agreement or for a specified professional purpose may have a negative impact on your treatment. I might learn information about you that you have decided not to reveal in therapy. It is your prerogative to decide what to include in our work. However, if I notice these things outside of our sessions, I will need to figure out how to notify you that I am aware of them. If there are any aspects of your online life that you would like to share with me, I encourage you to bring them into our sessions so that we may watch and discuss them together during the therapy hour. The best way to accomplish this is to print out the materials and bring them to your session, or to display them to me on your devices. Please do not forward me emails or screen images involving other persons, as whatever you send me will become part of your legal record.  

Please do not contact me via SMS (mobile phone text messaging) or social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. These websites are not secure, therefore I may not receive these communications in a timely manner. If we currently have a client/therapist relationship, please do not engage with me in public online through Wall postings, @replies, or other ways. Engaging with me in this manner could jeopardize your confidentiality. It's also possible that these discussions will become part of your legal medical record, requiring documentation and retention.  

Please do not contact me via messaging on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Slack, Instagram, or LinkedIn unless I offer appointment scheduling through these platforms. These websites are not secure, therefore I may not receive these communications in a timely manner. If we currently have a client/therapist relationship, please do not engage with me in public online through Wall postings, @replies, or other ways. Engaging with me in this manner could jeopardize your confidentiality. It is also possible that these communications will become part of your legal medical record and will require documentation.  

If you need to contact us to discuss appointments, book/reschedule/cancel, the easiest option is to call/text/email healthystemstherapy@outlook.com OR use the booking links on our website. I prefer that we solely use email for administrative purposes, such as changing appointment schedules. See the email section below for further information on email interactions.  

If I have an existing blog that enables monitored comments, please do not leave comments on the blog, as this creates another public arena in which we may converse. If you read something on my blog and have a reaction to it, I would much rather that we talk about it personally than having a public exchange in my comments.  

It is not a regular part of my practice to look for clients on social media or through search engines. During a crisis, very few exceptions may be made. If I have cause to believe you are in danger and you have not contacted me via our usual ways (coming to appointments, phone, or email), I may need to use a search engine to check on your most recent status updates in order to ensure your safety. These are uncommon circumstances, and if I ever resort to such measures, I will record them in your chart and discuss them with you when we next meet.  

Again, I don't do this because I believe it would violate your privacy and our trust. I believe that viewing your online activities and postings can impact my image of you and the relationship we are forming in our meetings, as detailed in the Friending/Following section. It can also lead to uncertainty about whether I am looking at your internet behavior as part of your therapy (for evaluation or diagnostic purposes) or to satisfy my own curiosity.  

If you have any online activities that you would like me to be aware of, please discuss them with me during our sessions.  

Occasionally, I may maintain an active blog on my website. I possess a Facebook business page, a personal Facebook page, a LinkedIn account, a TikTok account, and an Instagram account. I possess two active Google My Business accounts. I do not anticipate that clients will desire to engage with my articles or social media content. Should you utilize a readily identifiable name online and I observe that you have followed me, we may engage in a brief discussion regarding it and its possible implications for our professional relationship.  

You may encounter my information in several contexts. You might see online advertisements that I publish, and you may find that we share mutual friends or contacts on social media platforms. You may encounter my quotations or publications in the media, as well as my written works or studies. You may find my podcasts or videos. You may discover internet reviews of my counseling practice.  

Whether you come upon this material by accident or on purpose, what matters most to me is that you feel safe and comfortable discussing it if it affects you or your thoughts about our collaboration. I want to emphasize that it is completely natural for people to be curious about their therapist, and some people may feel ashamed or embarrassed about bringing these issues up. But I wish to foster a connection in which you are encouraged to discuss whatever you learn about me outside of our sessions that affects your comfort in working together.  

My counseling practice may be listed on websites such as PsychologyToday, Google My Business, Local, or other business directories. Some of these websites have forums where users can rate their providers and leave reviews. Many of these sites search search engines for business listings and add them automatically, regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you notice my listing on any of these websites, please understand that it is not a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you, my client.  

Naturally, you are free to express yourself on any website you choose. I can provide you the opportunity to review if you would like, but I am unable to provide specifics about your therapy in response to any review because of confidentiality. If you decide to leave a review on such a website, I strongly advise you to think about your personal privacy. Additionally, you should know that there's a significant chance I won't ever see your work if you use these sites to subtly express your emotions about it.  

It is my desire that you would immediately bring your emotions and responses to our work into the therapeutic process. Even if you determine that we are not a good fit, this can still be an essential part of therapy. This is not intended to prevent you from telling anybody or anywhere that you are in treatment with me. I am unable to disclose to others that you are one of my clients due to confidentiality. However, you are more than allowed to share in any forum of your choice how you feel about the treatment I gave you or that you wish I were your therapist.  .

If you decide to post something on a company review website, be aware that you can be disclosing private information in a public setting. For your own privacy and security, please think about setting up a pseudonym that isn't connected to your primary email address or social media accounts.  

You might want to be aware of the privacy concerns associated with utilizing location-based services on your mobile device. I don't include my practice on websites like Facebook as a check-in location.  

Note, if GPS tracking is activated on your device, it is conceivable that others can deduce your status as a therapy client based on your consistent weekly visits to my office. Be mindful of this risk if you are deliberately “checking in” from my workplace or if a passive location-based service application is activated on your phone. Moreover, if you and your family members or partners utilize Find My Phone to monitor your location, and they are unaware of your therapy with me, there exists a potential danger that they may uncover your engagement in psychotherapy through your location data.  

I like using email for correspondence regarding agreements and appointments for online counseling; I may also provide you with handouts. Periodically, we may individually share a link to a topic we addressed throughout the discussion. Be advised that any exchanged emails form a part of your legal record. Should you elect to provide me anything pertaining to your therapy sessions via email, please be aware that email is not entirely secure or confidential. All emails are preserved in the records of both your and my Internet service providers. Although it is improbable that anyone will examine these logs, they are theoretically accessible to the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. I often respond to emails within one to two days. If the volume of email necessitates more than five minutes, I charge for the time spent reading and responding to the email.   

I am accessible for inquiries, reservations, and appointment-related questions via SMS on my phone. Kindly restrict your usage of SMS for this purpose to business hours, Monday through Friday. Messages received outside of business hours and over weekends or public holidays will not be addressed until I return to work. Kindly be advised that, in accordance with the counselling agreement, Healthy Stems Therapy is not a crisis service and does not offer counselling outside of regular hours. All SMS communications constitute a part of your record.  

Social Media Policy.v1. January 2026

Sourced and adapted from Dr Keely Holmes Social Media Policy Template