Psychotherapy, professional relationships, and ethical considerations in the myspace generation.

Abstract

The pervasive use of Internet technologies has created new ethical dilemmas for psychology trainees andprofessionals. In particular, Web sites that allow users to post personal information have sparkedcontroversy regarding the amount of freedom psychologists should have in placing personal informationonline and how discovering such information may impact professional relationships, including thetherapeutic relationship. Results from a graduate student survey ( N 302) address the prevalence of theuse of online social networking sites, security measure efforts that limit public access, incidents of clientaccess to psychotherapists’ personal Web sites and Internet use by psychotherapists to obtain clientinformation, and their subsequent effect on the therapeutic relationship. Using applicable ethical prin-ciples and standards, we provide recommendations for the field in an effort to decrease potential harmand maximize areas of opportunity for psychologists and constructive professional relationships.Keywords: ethics, Internet, psychotherapy, professional relationships