If you are not careful, Facebook can blur important boundaries between you and your clients. You can, however, use Facebook responsibly. You can use Facebook to grow your practice, and to communicate your message to current and potential clients. Therapists can use Facebook can be a great source of referrals.
Especially if you have a personal Facebook page where you share photos, or connect with friends and family, you can take some simple steps to make sure that your personal Facebook activity does not leak into your professional life.
Step 1: Lock down your personal Facebook account
Image licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
If you have a Facebook account (even if you haven’t logged on in ages), clients can visit your profile, see who your friends are, view your friends, check out your family, find out where you have taken vacation, and even looking at that embarrassing picture from your student days.
Left unchecked, Facebook can erase the boundaries that you need to separate your personal and professional life. However, you have control. You can block public access to your Facebook information.
- Set your Facebook privacy settings to the maximum possible settings. Only Facebook “friends” should be able to see your profile, your photos, your postings, or your “news feed”.
- Accept no friend requests from clients, family of clients, or from anybody that you don’t know well.
Step 2: Create a professional Facebook account
Have a personal account where you share photos and news with family and friends? Great. Now that you have locked down your personal Facebook account, create a new Facebook account for your professional persona.
For example, if you have a personal Facebook page as Susan Smith, create an additional Facebook account as Dr. Susan Smith. Going forward, only use Susan Smith for personal items, and only use Dr. Susan Smith for your professional activities.
Step 3: Create a “business” page for your practice
Using your professional persona (Dr. Susan Smith in our example), create a Facebook business page for your practice. Include a map to your office, hours, background information about you and much more.
Step 4: Use the “business” page on Facebook to grow your practice
Start posting links to interesting content on your site from your Facebook business page. Get potential clients and source of referrals to visit your business page, to click Like, and to comment on posts.
Leveraging Facebook effectively requires skill and experience. Consider reaching out to experts who can help you.
At TherapyEverywhere.com we have experience and expertise in leveraging Facebook and other social media to help your practice prosper. Read the information below and give us a call today. Or, just fill out the contact form and click Send. We’re here to help.
Resources for Learning More and Doing Better Using Facebook
You might want to check out the Facebook marketing page, or check out our article on Social Marketing for Therapists: You Are What You Post or read our article on how website content and social media can help your practice grow.
Help is available. At TherapyEverywhere.com we are experts in using Facebook and other social media to help your practice prosper. Give us a call today or just fill out the contact form and click Send. We’re here to help.