On Vulnerability (Opening Up Commenting, Social Media Policy, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy)
As I state on my about me page, “We ask our patients to reveal to us, often on their very first meeting, the inner most feelings and fears of their souls; and yet, even in our own spaces, we act as if it’s almost indecent to be human…to reveal of ourselves to others, to share of our own humanity. I choose to share, to live without secrets. I choose this path not due to a lack of boundaries, but instead as a well thought out, radical act of freedom, liberation, and resistance.”
Part of the DSW program is not only working to become an authority and a thought leader, but becoming a visual story teller, a communicator, a teacher, and an educator of Social Work Knowledge and Practice through the use of Implementation Science. While we work to do our own research, our biggest work is in educating practitioners, stakeholders, shareholders, community leaders, and activists, to help translate research done at the universities into practice in the field.
That work can’t happen in a vacuum. Part of how we’re doing that in 2020 is through the use of digital spaces, and we have to do that ethically. Right now the guiding documents that help us do that are the NASW Technical Guidelines and the NASW Code of Ethics.
A conundrum often occurs: Social Workers have been mistakenly led to believe, for years, that we don’t need to be at the forefront of technology, or that technology doesn’t impact us (we do, it does). So, we have been made to believe that instead of learning how to work and live in in digital spaces (hat tip to Dr. Patton for his work in this area) that we have to lock down, and hide because our patients may “find us.”
So rather than addressing the issue head on, we’ve been hiding from it in the guise of professionalism (which is word that is more a dog whistle for comfort, status quo, ableism, and white supremacy than it ever has been or will be for how we practice — that’s a blog post for a later time).
DSW students, researchers, and practitioners cannot operate in a vacuum: our work requires the feedback of outsiders, and not just academics or those in the field…but individual DSWs also have to setup boundaries for those who have been their clients, or are their clients to avoid a dual role/dual relationship.
This is not impossible. First, I created a Social Media Policy (and I am very sorry I can’t find the reference for it, because I used a lot of boiler plate that came with a sampler embedded in an article or a blog post around…two-three years ago…if anyone has the source, please share it with me so I can provide credit where credit is do).
Second, I added a module that reminds all commentators on my site of the rules associated with interacting with my site (including the Social Media Policy, but also the Terms of Service, and the Privacy Policy) before they can comment. It also reminds all commentators who are current clients that they are not allowed to comment, and that boundary violations may impact their treatment (e.g. transfer to another counselor, discharge from the clinic) and that all boundary violations are immediately brought to the attention of my supervisors:
Finally, I don’t allow anonymous comments on my website (which means that those who want to comment have to go through a registration process); and all comments have to be approved, in order for me to vet them, to ensure that they are relevant, appropriate, and not posted by a former or current client. If they are, I can securely print them out (at work), and bring the boundary violation to immediate supervision with either my supervisor or a manager on duty.
In this way, while we can’t assume that a boundary violation will never happen (in that a patient may one day theoretically try and contact me), I can know that I have taken every step to ensure that their comments will not appear on this website/blog (ensuring their confidentiality), while at the same time, the comments of my colleagues, shareholders, stakeholders, thinkers, etc. can become incorporated into my work and research, ensuring that I can work outside of a thought vacuum, and take into account the diversity of thought necessary to have DSW practice.
So for the first time in…many years…comments are once again open, and I open myself up, I make myself vulnerable, to the ideas, comments, and thoughts of others in a space that while mine, can also be a collaborative space, as I navigate the digital world.