Who’s Googled whom? Trainees’ Internet and online social networking experiences, behaviors, and attitudes with clients and supervisors.

Abstract

The ubiquity of the Internet and online social networking creates rapidly developing opportunities and challenges for psychologists and trainees in the domains of relationships, privacy, and connection. As trainees increasingly are natives of an Internet culture, questions arise about the ways in which developing psychologists may view Internet issues and the guidance they receive from professional psychologists for whom the Internet is a significant cultural shift. A national survey of graduate students (n = 407) assessed student Internet behaviors (e.g., "Googling" clients, online social networking), training about online issues, attitudes toward online social networking and client or supervisor contact via these networks, and fears and comfort about making decisions regarding these networks. The survey also assessed what students reported they would do and what they would think if clients and supervisors contacted them via social networks. Results indicate that most trainees have changed and monitored their online presence since beginning graduate school. A quarter of respondents had "Googled" clients, and almost half had "Googled" supervisors. A small number indicated that both clients and supervisors had reported "Googling" the trainee. Students expressed concerns about making ethical decisions about online social networks. Half reported discussing Internet issues in their graduate training programs, whereas a quarter indicated they had discussed Internet issues at their training sites. Implications for training are discussed, with recommendations of program disclosure of Internet policies to students, discussion of Internet issues before trainee clinical work, role plays of ethical issues, and supervisor-initiated discussions of Internet issues.The social shifts occurring as a result of the rise of the Internet have naturally attracted much popular and scholarly attention. The implications for personal and professional lives, for what it means to be social, relational beings and how and what people both know and know about each other are substantial. A New York Times article (Rosen, 2010) proclaimed that the Internet means "the end of forgetting." Traumas, triumphs, missteps, and mundane moments no longer exist merely in personal pasts; rather, they may exist for all to see, for all time. In a world in which people can now be-and are expected to be-constantly connected, it may be increasingly difficult to carve out what is uniquely personal. Webb

The science of training III: Supervision, competency, and internship training.

“…A clear finding from the empirical literature is that trainees are aware of their peers having competency deficits (Mearns & Allen, 1991; Oliver, Bernstein, Anderson, Blashfield, & Roberts, 2004; Rosenberg, Getzelman, Arcinue, & Oren, 2005; Shen-Miller et al, 2011). In particular, they are strongly aware when those deficits are interpersonal in nature (e.g., aversiveness, narcissism, sexism, Mearns & Allen, 1991; Oliver et al, 2004; Rosenberg et al, 2005) or unethical (i.e., breach of confidentiality, cheating, dual relationships, Mearns & Allen, 1991; or searching online for client information, Asay & Lal, 2014; DiLillo & Gale, 2011). Further, trainees often describe this awareness of their peers’ competency problems as provoking their own internal turmoil (e.g., anger, dismay, frustration) and conflict (e.g., ethical dilemmas; Mearns & Allen, 1991; Oliver et al, 2004).…”

The science of training I: Admissions, curriculum, and research training.

“…More complex and nuanced scenarios were necessary to accurately parse trainees (with vs. without training in ethics). Fourth, in light of the relatively common practice of trainees searching for client information online (Asay & Lal, 2014; DiLillo & Gale, 2011), courses in ethics are encouraged to add training specific to social media usage. Fifth, inclusion of experiential exposure within a course on supervision is perceived by trainees as an important value-additive component to their learning process (Sharma, 2015) and is another area for possible course improvement.…”

Using the Internet for collateral information in forensic mental health evaluations

“…However, there was a significant discrepancy between respondents’ reported attitudes and actual practices, such that 97% of the 783 participants who reported having provided therapeutic services at some time in the past admitted that they had sought information about their clients at least once by using an Internet search engine, and 94% had done so using social networking sites. In contrast, only 26% of the clinical psychology and counseling psychology graduate students surveyed by Asay and Lal () reported ever using the Internet to gather information about their clients, although 64% had searched for information about colleagues and 45% had searched for information about their supervisors online.…”

“…These are no longer particularly novel concepts, as this literature has developed over the past decade and states are increasingly introducing legislation to facilitate the provision of telehealth services (see, e.g., New Jersey's Bill S291/652/1954, which was recently signed into law by Governor Christie). A more contemporary issue, however, is mental health professionals' use of the Internet to gather information about their clients (see, e.g., Asay & Lal, 2014;Clinton, Silverman, & Brendel, 2010;DiLillo & Gale, 2011;Harris & Robinson Kurpius, 2014;Kaslow, Patterson, & Gottlieb, 2011;Kolmes & Taube, 2014;Lannin & Scott, 2013;Pham, 2014;Powell & Clarke, 2006).…”