My therapist googled my daughter

[VaseHalfFull]

Just started some psychotherapy as trying to process why my adult daughter who is struggling has again stopped speaking to me. In session 2 the therapist revealed that she had googled my daughter. I think this is not Ok. But not sure if this is now normal practice. Just asking for reality check in a wobbly time.

Wow she was honest I google all my mh workers and drs plus check their Facebooks. I never admit to it though.I actually found out one of my consultants was under investigation for stalking a colleague. One of my old cpns I found out was closely related to a work colleague. I'm nosey and like to check people I'm trusting to perform surgery on me or I'm allowing in my home aren't weirdos. I know this is different as I'm not the professional in the situation but I would imagine it's extremely common

Yeah i know clients google me!

What did she say when you asked why she did it? Did you tell her you were not comfortable with what she did?

That’s not how therapy works.

Yeah if I'm one of your clients. Iv googled you, checked your Facebook, twitter, tiktok, insta also found your address on 192.com then searched that on right move and zoopla so that I can see what the inside of your house looks like and how much you paid for it. I then look at Google maps to see your street and what car you've got. Not for any particular reason I'm just curious and if you change your name on social media like most mh workers and drs do I will still find you I will also likely search your family and friends socials to.

😀

Lol! I do try and hide myself.

🤣🤣 They all do it never works I always find them

I’m no shrink but I started dating a guy who was selling me a rosey picture of himself that didn’t add up and when I googled his ex I found out she had a restraining order on him (thanks google), was I stalking him? No, I was trying to get the other side of the story so I could make myself a more ‘informed choice’ with this man regarding a potential relationship. the OP’s shrink is being fed the very one sided story of a total stranger, I’m pretty sure she’s trying to get a bigger picture of what’s going on as to better help the OP (unless of course the OP’s daughter is doing porn content and said therapist paid into her OF or something on the lines which would be innapropiate behaviour), but we’re on 2024 and googling people is pretty common, companies do it, potential dates, co workers, neighbours, landlords and anyone being fed a story that doesn’t add up. There’s a difference between stalking, being a creep and trying to simply get a ‘bigger picture’.

It would be unethical to ask an acquaintance about OPs daughter or try to arrange a meeting with her, but I’m not sure googling is the same. This is information in the public domain. The therapist can still support her client after seeing a few blog posts or photos put up by her daughter. She will be trying to get a sense of the person, not to take sides. And she wouldn’t have mentioned it if she thought OP would mind.

I don’t see the problem with googling someone. What is the context, op, why did the therapist look for more information?

Therapists don't try and get the '"bigger picture". That not how it works.

What the hell does your job involve, that you have to know all that about your client?

Several PP seem to have a problem with this or think it breaches confidentiality in some way. But the information she is looking at is in the public domain - no confidentiality broken. It may not be common practise for a therapist but I don't believe it breaks any rules or is not ethical. For example, if I was a therapist and someone came to me talking about their high flying job and it seemed very over the top I may well look him up on linkedin for example. I don't see anything wrong in that. The therapist is using info in the public domain to build a picture.

It may not be the normal but companies when looking to employ often use social media so in a way how do you perceive this as any different @VaseHalfFull

I don't work in health care I'm the patient searching drs and mh workers

Maybe not but in the social media age then it's quite common

Checking up on someone that you have a personal relationship with in which you are likely to be vulnerable is very different to googling someone that has engaged you in a professional capacity where they might expect to be vulnerable and then telling them about it!

Eta sorry - quoted the poster who replied to the poster I was trying to reply to!

Therapists don't/shouldn't google their clients or their clients families. You wouldn't learn anything that would help, you want to work with what the client brings, not stuff they've put on social media. It's never occurred to me to do it.

Not for therapists though!

Imagine a patient coming to you stating he’s some sort of high flying jet setter and CEO travelling all over the world very stressed out, imagine you look him up on (let’s say LinkedIn) and discover he’s actually employed in an Amazon warehouse, I’m pretty sure your “diagnosis” of this patient would really take a U turn… I once dated a guy who swore he was a communications director and after two weeks I discover he was a builder who had been just discharged from a psych facility, humans are interesting creatures.

Well its a good job you arent a thwrapist then! Yes sometimes patients lie or exaggerate or leave things out. They wouldn't be in therapy if they didn't think they had a problem. Trying to catch them out or diagnose them isn't what we do.

No definitely not appropriate for the therapist to do this. A therapist should be neutral - not looking for " the other side of the story" - it's why we cannot offer counselling to family, friends or any other person where there would be a conflict of interest. I would check her qualifications and experience and report this to the appropriate professional body she is registered with - if indeed she is!

Some therapists do have protected titles.
Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, even Art therapists and music therapists are all covered by HCPC and it's against the law to claim to be any of the above if you aren't registered.

You need therapy!

I think in this case we are talking about psychotherapists, or counsellors.