Following on from an incredibly interesting and thought-provoking article in the Guardian Weekend today by Louise Chunn (founder of welldoing.org), entitled ‘Search me: should you google your therapist?’, I wanted to share links to two posts I wrote some time ago, on my experience and thoughts on this difficult subject:

https://lifeinabind.com/2015/04/26/have-you-googled-your-therapist/

https://lifeinabind.com/2015/10/04/staying-connected-to-my-therapist-and-trying-to-be-kind-to-myself/

I was honoured and pleased to be able to talk to Louise about this subject, and to be quoted in her article, and excited by the fact that this important topic is being raised openly for discussion. I’m sure it is a challenging area for therapists to grapple with, and it fascinates me to find out more about how different therapists deal with these questions. From the client’s perspective, the subject is one that is often laden with feelings of shame, confusion, and distress. I hope that the article helps clients to know that if they engage in some ‘internet sleuthing’ they are not alone, and it’s okay to talk about it. In fact it can be ‘therapeutic gold’ and incredibly beneficial to talk about it in session, and I would encourage any client to be up-front about their actions, desires, curiosities and feelings in this area. The very act of discussing a ‘googling episode’ can alleviate any negative feelings associated with it, as well as (in my experience) make it less likely to happen in future. I have found that the ‘googling’ decreases as trust and depth of therapeutic relationship increases – and talking about difficult subjects and feelings, such as these, is itself a key part of building relationship.  I hope you enjoy the article and the posts!