Posted by Tamar on June 7, 2006, at 16:34:47
In reply to Crossed the pdoc boundary...dilemma, posted by stickywicket on June 7, 2006, at 8:25:19
Pdocs and therapists need to understand that it’s routine these days for patients/clients to Google them and find out stuff about them and their families.
I can’t believe you are the first person to have Googled him, though you may be the first person to have told him. I have Googled my therapist, and I know his home address, home telephone number, email address, partner’s name, where he went to school, his parents’ names and address, brothers’ and sisters’ names and addresses… even the names and photos and email addresses of uncles and cousins. I don’t know how close he is to his extended family; I might know more about them than he does. But I haven’t told him I know.
I have two rules: I won’t do anything illegal to get information about him, and I won’t part with any money. But that’s just me. I have heard of someone who figured out their therapist’s email password and read his email. I have heard of people who paid for financial and other background information about their doctors. In today’s world, very little information is truly private. In my view, Googling people is not an invasion of privacy. Going through his garbage would be. Phoning him at home would be. But typing his name into your computer is not.
And it’s not just people with mental illness who Google virtual strangers. Many people will Google colleagues, bosses, potential dates, friends’ partners… the list goes on and on.
> Now I don't know how to repair the damage I've done. Any ideas?
I don’t know much about your relationship with your pdoc. Maybe it would be best to let it lie. Or maybe you feel you want to explain a bit about it. I think that’s a decision only you can make.
I’d look at it like this: instead or worrying about repairing any damage, maybe it would be a good idea to work on what you need and want from this information. For me it’s a safety valve from the transference. I feel more comfortable knowing he isn’t the person my transference seems to describe him as. What’s your deal with it?
poster:Tamar
thread:653971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060604/msgs/654146.html