Assignment task:
You receive a request from Mike who is "friends" with at least twenty of your existing friends on Facebook (or another social media platform). You have not met him, so you ask some of your shared friends who you do know well about him. You receive all positive reports about Mike. You notice he shares many of your interests and the information he posts is appropriate and generally positive, so you accept his friend request. Over about a two-year period, he makes positive comments about your posts and you do the same for his posts. Eventually, you two also become connected on other social media sites but there has never been any communication about connecting outside of the social media platforms. You never meet him personally until he becomes a client in a counseling group that you facilitate. He has a common last name and introduced himself as Michael in the group. He has grown a beard, which he did not have in the photos he posted online, so you do not recognize him to be your Facebook friend. After your third session, he tags you on his post about how much he is learning in his group counseling session with his "wonderful counselor"-you. After he tags you, three other members of your counseling group reply to Mike's post about how much they enjoy you as a counselor and they send you friend requests. For Part 1 of your post, address each of the following:
Decision: Clearly state whether you will maintain Mike as a Facebook/other social media "friend," and how you would respond to the friend requests of the other group members.
Guidelines: Formulate a list of guidelines for setting boundaries that you can apply to working with future clients. Specify how you will communicate these guidelines to your clients. If appropriate, identify any exceptions you would make to these guidelines and explain your rationale citing your textbook and additional scholarly sources.
Pros and Cons: Identify the pros and cons of using social media in your work as a helping professional.
Ethical Concerns: Summarize the ethical aspects of combining professional and personal relationships. Then, explain the ethical challenges in managing multiple relationships in small communities.
Culture and Boundaries: Explain how you would determine when boundary crossings may be culturally and therapeutically appropriate for working with some clients but not others.