Ethical issues surrounding counselors' use of social media / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To understand counselors' use of social media from the perspective of clients, and find the relevant ethical issues. Methods: The questionnaire of how clients regarding counselors'use of social media was made as evaluation tool. Totally 434 valid questionnaires were received, including 86 males and 348 females, aged (36 ±7) years. Results: Almost 51.6％ of the clients got information of counseling and counselors through social media, and 35.9％ received online counseling through social media. Several ethical issues existed. Counselors didn't make informed consent with clients, which included the confidentiality, security and real identity about online counseling issues. Clients and counselors added WeChat or QQ friends and interacted with each other outside the counseling process. This situation led to multiple relations. Counselors' personal exposure in their social media negatively impressed clients. Counselors had over propaganda or clients'privacy expose during advertising or training through social media. Conclusion: Counselors' using social media for counseling involve many ethical issues. The confidentiality and multiple relations are more complex and subtle due to Internet features. The ethical issue of counselors' self-exposure in personal social media particularly requires being noticed.