Finding community through social media
Private Practice, June 2025

Contemporary private practice requires practitioners to move with the times, and embrace new ways of working and promoting our practices. Technology is a big part of this, and the rise in the use of social media by therapists in general, and private practitioners in particular, has been exponential. Social media platforms open new ways to connect private practitioners across the country – and the world. Given the impact of isolation on private practitioners, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the combination of what is a seemingly natural inclination within modern society towards technology, and the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to an increase of online therapist communities.

Private practice and social media

Social media provides a place to convene with other therapists in a way that’s relatively easy and time efficient. Private practitioners can log in during the working day, and for some it’s a place where much time is spent. Isolation is a multi-layered phenomenon when considering the reasons why private practitioners may use social media. In addition to the literal physical isolation, as well as the isolation that comes with lone working and running a sole person business, we also need to include here the collective of private practitioners as a visable entity within the therapy profession. Social media provides a place for working therapists in the counselling professions to be seen and heard; a free-to-access space that’s available 24/7. It brings inclusivity to our profession in a way not seen before. Private practitioners also use social media to grow their practices through a variety of ways and means. We hope you will get some sense of how this can be done through the discussions in this article with private practitioners.Ìý

Social media use by therapistsÌý

White and Hanley,¹ in a paper on the ethical dilemmas encountered by therapists using social media, point out the discrepancies between the ethical guidelines from English-speaking countries, and suggest that providing guidance on this area is a difficult area to navigate. They reviewed prior research and came up with three useful recommendations:Ìý

1. That social media is included in continuing professional development training
2. That there’s continued reflexivity from the therapist
3. That guidelines are: ‘dynamic and regularly updated’.¹

It’s important to note, however, that most studies they reviewed were pre-pandemic, and there is clearly room for more up-to-date literature.Ìý

A podcast chat between the two co-leads of the online #TherapistsConnect community – although not specific to private practitioners – provides a glimpse into an online therapy community. Caz Binstead and Dr Peter Blundell speaking at the beginning of 2023 about three years of running a therapist’s social media community, observed that there was still a desire to talk about therapy, and share opinions and ideas about practice, as well as to form connections, despite ongoing changes in how therapists interacted with each of the unique social media platforms. They reflected on how one of the blessings was being able to connect with therapists worldwide, and discover more about the similarities and differences in working in different countries. And they acknowledged that there was a lot to continually learn about therapy social media communities, and the ways therapists use them.² Private practitioners may feel relieved to hear that this territory, with all its positives, still feels relatively new and uncertain, even to those most immersed in it.Ìý

Ethical dilemmasÌý

Below are two ethical dilemmas based around social media use by a private practitioner. View the associated exercises and see if you can reflect further on these dilemmas, either on your own, in supervision, or as part of a peer group.Ìý

Case study AÌý

Jaap has been working on a weekly basis with Peter for two years and considers them to have a good therapeutic relationship. One day, out of the blue, Peter sends a friend request to Jaap on Facebook. Jaap feels anxious about this and is unsure of how to proceed. His initial reaction is that it’s not appropriate, but he doesn’t want to hurt Peter or harm the relationship.Ìý

What are the ethical considerations here? What might Jaap do (or not do)?Ìý

Case study BÌý

Cath has been a therapist for 15 years. Having spent much time in online therapist communities, she feels relatively at ease with how she operates. She generally works with clients on a long-term basis and believes that authenticity is a key part of what makes relational therapy effective. She’s dedicated to ethical practice, frequently uses her supervision space to talk about ethical dilemmas and has a digital policy in place.Ìý

Cath is a music fan, and although she doesn’t speak about this explicitly with clients, she feels in her heart that through both her general attire within the room, and the possible occasional sight of her headphonesÌýsitting in her open bag, some clients may guess this. As such, she routinely shares music videos on her social media account. One day, she’s in a rush and hears a song on the radio. Happily singing along, she shares another song by the same artist on her X (formerly known as Twitter) account without really thinking.

In her next session with Mary, she senses some tension in the room and that Mary seems ‘off’ with her. Trying her best to work with Mary in a relational way, hoping she will feel free to speak her mind, Mary eventually says how upset she was at the fact that she had stumbled on the post. She was shocked that Cath was sharing music by someone who in her mind is controversial. The artist had stood trial for sexual abuse, and although found not guilty, continued to have rumours swirling around them. Much of Cath and Mary’s work was centred on Mary’s experience of childhood sexual abuse, and she felt hurt that Cath had seemingly not considered this.Ìý

What do you think of this case study? Does it evoke any strong feelings in you? How do you make sense of self-disclosure in the arena of social media?Ìý

Case example of a private practitioner using social mediaÌý

John-Paul Davies mainly uses three social media platforms – X, Instagram and YouTube. He states that being on social media is largely a positive experience, as it allows him to find his voice, and gives him visibility. It’s also provided him with a lot of clients from the USA, who have largely come via his YouTube channel. This is a social media platform that doesn’t get talked about in therapist circles so much, and yet John-Paul swears by it. He cites the benefits as having adequate space to make more meaningful and authentic videos, which creates not only better content that people can connect with, but also a feeling of safety.Ìý

John-Paul feels that prospective clients can get a better sense of who he is, and thinks that this makes people feel more comfortable in approaching him for therapy. He points out that this space and freedom also mean there’s less likelihood of misinterpretation, as opposed to a platform like X, where limitations, such as how many characters can be used in a post, can cause issues. He admits that there are some inevitable uncertainties that come with social media posting. For instance, you don’t know, and will never find out, what potential clients might be put off by your social media content, which can sometimes feel unnerving.Ìý

As a seasoned professional, John-Paul feels that having a robust sense of self helps him navigate social media in general and he deems this an important part of the process.Ìý

We’ve provided this case example to show how a private practitioner may use reflexivity in action, and how there are different ways, and different platforms, for all of us. Just like how, as private practitioners, we set up our business and market in a way that works uniquely for us (which reflects who we are), this extends to how we broaden our practice around social media.Ìý

Building private practice – collective supportÌý

Social media can be a great place to gain support in building your practice. Student projects such as Counselling Tutor on Facebook and #TraineeTalk (the student wing of #TherapistsConnect) on X and Facebook are two options for trainees, particularly in the latter stages of training, who are looking to meet others with an interest in going into private practice, as well as learning from the facilitators how you might navigate this. It creates opportunities for networking, development and shared experiences at this crucial time, where preparing for working within this sector is so important. In addition, marketing-based resources, such as the UK-based Grow Your Private Practice podcast by Jane Travis, and the ‘Private Practice Pro’ Instagram page by Kelley Stevens (based in the USA) provide valuable free tools and tips for private practitioners, outside their chargeable products and services.Ìý

Hearing the voices of private practitionersÌý

Social media could be a force for good in promoting inclusivity. Isolation can be dangerous in many ways, and where the private practitioner is concerned, their position within our profession may throw up feelings of unbalanced power dynamics. Myira Khan describes power as: ‘The ability to access and influence others, to act with autonomy and exercise control, to access resources, spaces and services.’³Ìý

Some of the issues around the systems that exist within the therapy professions are relevant when it comes to social media use among private practitioners. If we imagine the life of a private practitioner, set in isolation and immersed purely in clinical practice, their general capacity to influence, and even be seen, may be limited. They may feel far away from regulatory and membership bodies, who, although supposed to represent such practitioners, might instead feel like opposing forces.Ìý

Feeling that your opinions about actual therapy practice (which you are mostly engaged in) are not being understood, heard or acknowledged can be a difficult place to be. It’s one of the principles we understand most as therapists working with clients. Kearney⁴ talks about the cultural frameworks that emerge from the social stratification that exists within our own systems. She explains how easy it is to take them as a given, especially if belonging to a relatively powerful group, who might be invested in not recognising the inequalities that exist.Ìý

If we’re to accept that there’s an issue with unpaid work in this profession, which at times forces people into private practice, we need to also accept the diverse needs of those many working practitioners. This includes the sector and its evolution, in addition to the unique, diverse cultural identities of these individual working professionals. While some might question the role of private practitioners themselves in offering private services (and therefore arguably adding to an inequality problem in terms of who can access therapy), as authors we feel very strongly about championing therapists’ own social needs. If therapists are having to work in the private sector because there’s no other way to earn money, then their choice and freewill, within our own microculture, are restricted. And so, we circle back to power dynamics. Social media can be a vehicle for building solidarity between private practitioners, which is very powerful in terms of balancing out extremities of power. The same could be said of any networks, groups, communities, collectives – the aim being to empower private practitioners, as well as the future of this sector.Ìý