Social media is used to deliver services in this practice. Our office policies on social media are outlined below. Social media includes online communications to seek and share information, provide professional services, and send and receive information. Examples include emails, texting, blogging, Facebook, and Instagram. Please note that social media may not protect your privacy and is considered public communication. Search Engines Search engines are not used to seek information about you. A rare exception would be during a crisis when your therapist would have reason to suspect that you may be in danger to yourself, or others and your therapist has exhausted other resources. Should this ever occur, your therapist will document it in your clinical record and discuss it with you at your next session. If you should use search engines to seek information about your therapist, we recommend that you discuss any concerns that you may have with your therapist at your next session.
Texting Worth It uses the HIPAA compliant platform, Spruce for texting. Worth It staff will respond to text messages during office hours. If experiencing a crisis, do not text your therapist since texting is only checked and responded to during office hours. During a crisis, use the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
Emails Emails to your therapist’s worthittherapy.com may not be secure or confidential. Email content related to therapy sessions needs to be emailed through our HIPAA compliant documentation service, TheraNest. Emails are not to be used for emergencies and crises since your therapist checks and responds to emails only during office hours. During a crisis, use the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
Friends Friends or contact requests from current or former clients on social networking sites may compromise confidentiality and our therapeutic relationship and are not accepted. There will be no friending via social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram. If there is content you wish to share with your therapist from your social media site, bring it to your therapy session for discussion.
Blogs Worth It does not follow current patients or former patients on blogs. Doing so may negatively influence our therapeutic relationship. We may sometimes publish a blog on our professional Website and offer information about our practice. We have no expectation for you or any patient to read our blogs. If there is content you wish to share with your therapist from your online site, you may bring it to your next session for discussion.
Location-Based Services There are privacy concerns related to location-based services on mobile phones. If you have GPS tracking or a location-based device on your mobile phone, it may compromise your privacy and provide a clue that you are a therapy patient due to your regular check-ins.
Separate Accounts The Worth It social media accounts are used solely for professional matters regarding our practice. We will not reveal any information about you on our professional account nor will we have an online relationship with you on our professional site. You are not expected to respond or comment on anything that we post. We will not respond to any comment you may have online. If you have a concern about anything we post, please make your therapist aware of it during your next session so that it can be discussed. Our therapists have personal accounts which are separate from our professional account and are used for non-professional activities. No information about you will be posted on our personal or professional accounts.
Business Review Sites You may find Worth It on sites such as Yelp, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find Worth It on any of these sites, please know that this listing is not a request for a testimonial rating, or endorsement from you as a client. The American Counseling Association’s Ethics Code prohibits clinicians from requesting testimonials from marketing purposes. The National Association of Social Workers Ethics Code does not specifically prohibit asking for testimonials from former clients. Based on the ethical codes and professional discretion, Worth It will not request or publish testimonials. If you have any questions about our social media policy, please let us know. Should there be any changes to this policy, we will inform you.