In a previous post I talked about why social media matters to therapists. The number of people using social media on a daily basis, and Facebook in particular, are astounding! Facebook is a great way to raise visibility for your therapy practice and keep your personal profile and clinic page separate. Before you set up your page it's important to know the difference between a profile and a page.

Facebook Profile vs. Page

You must have a personal profile to set up a professional page.
Facebook profiles have friends (limit of 5000). Facebook pages have an unlimited amount of "likes".
Facebook pages are visible to everyone. Facebook profiles can be set so that only people that you accept as "friends" will have access to your personal information. Be sure to set the highest security levels on your profile.
When you post on your therapy practice page wall it will post as your professional practice name or the name of your clinic, not your personal profile name. Visitors to your practice page will not be able to click through to your profile. Here's a screen shot of my clinic Facebook page. When I post anything on the page wall it shows as "Wasatch Family Therapy" with our logo not as "Julie Hanks."

How to Set up a Facebook Page for your Therapy Practice

Here's a quick YouTube tutorial video I put together that walks you through the basics of setting up a Facebook Page.

In future posts I'll dive into more details of how to customize your practice page, use the applications, tag, post video, connect with other referral sources, and more. Do you have concerns about setting up a Facebook page for your therapy practice? I'd love to discuss them so please feel free to post comments below.

Some therapists have embraced Facebook and others are hesitant to venture into social networking arena. Here are my thoughts on the benefits and risks of setting up a Facebook page. Benefits of a Facebook Page for your Practice

Free marketing.
Raises visibility of your practice.
Allows Facebook users to easily find your practice.
Provide education and resources to those who "like" your page.
Post links to your website on your page wall to increase your web traffic.
Network with other local businesses to increase referrals.
You will have the option of posting on Facebook as your therapy clinic page name (instead of your personal profile name) allowing you to network, post on other Facebook pages, and increase visitors to your Facebook page.
People who "like" your page can not contact you directly or message you through Facebook.
As the page administrator you have many options to control what content others are allowed to post on your page.
There are amazing apps available for pages that will help you build your business.
You can set up your website blog feed to automatically post to your page.

Concerns Regarding a Practice Facebook Page

Privacy cannot be guaranteed. Any use of technology carries some risk of breach of confidentiality. Here's what Facebook.com privacy policy disclaimer says:

Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your information, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other users with whom you share your information. We cannot guarantee that only authorized persons will view your information. We cannot ensure that information you share on Facebook will not become publicly available.

Potential for dual relationships. Clients may choose to identify themselves as your client in their posts or comments. While there is no way for visitors to know which of you "likes" are clients and which are family, friends, business associates, and others people may make assumptions based on who "likes" your page.
Impact to client-therapist relationship. Issues may arise through interacting on your page that may impact the therapeutic relationship. For example, if a client comments on an article that you post and you don't comment back, he or she may be hurt. Consider adding a social media policy to your privacy policy on your website and or initial client paperwork that outlines your professional boundaries.
It takes time to update and maintain a Facebook page.

As therapists, we have to weigh the benefits and the risks. Do you have a Facebook page for your practice? If you've decide to set up a Facebook page for your practice, my next post will help you get started.

photo credit: mr. nightshade

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