Online Reviews

Look, we looooove to hear when we're doing a great job! We've also gotten real good at holding space to hear about situations where we haven't. But did you know that Psychologists have a pretty restrictive set of rules around soliciting and sharing reviews? 

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This is part of the broader standards for Psychologists when it comes to presenting ourselves and engaging with clients online. So, while it might seem kind of silly on the surface not to accept reviews, these guidelines are there to ensure the public has accurate information about the clinicians they are entering into a vulnerable dynamic with.

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Afterall, anyone can post anything they want on the internet!

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What does the College of Alberta Psychologists Say?

 

The College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) is the body that is mandated to protect the public by regulating the professional practice of Psychology in the province. It sets entry-to-practice standards, issues registration and practice permits for psychologists, and handles complaints and discipline, ensuring ethical practice under the Health Professions Act.

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The CAP Standards of Practice are the minimum standards of professional behaviour and conduct expected of all regulated members. The Standards of Practice (“Standards”) address professional relationships and set the boundaries within these relationships. They are intended to guide the ethical practice of Psychologists in Alberta and, in turn, to help keep the public safe from inappropriate conduct.

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When it comes to reviews, the Standards make it clear that:

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10.5 A psychologist shall not solicit, accept and/or use testimonials of current or past clients or related third parties, even when such testimonials are offered or provided anonymously. A psychologist shall take reasonable steps to remove and/or delete solicited and unsolicited testimonials from all forms of communication, including advertising.

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Ultimately, this standard is intended to balance the importance of the internet and social media as tools for communication and engagement with potential issues around privacy and confidentiality, as well as other possible risks, that their use present.

 

Further guidance around the use of technology, including social media, can be found in the CAP Practice Guidelines on Use of Technology​​​​​

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What is YEG Family Counselling's Response to Reviews?

 

First of all, we use pages like this to inform the public of our responsibilities and to direct them to the appropriate avenues to tell us what they think. We've set up a number of other ways for clients to provide us with feedback that allow us to receive and respond to feedback given our requirements to maintain confidentiality.

 

These include: through our clinic management software, Jane; by contacting our Operations Manager (sam@yegfamilycounselling.com); and with forms such as our Client Exit Survey. This ensures that clients aren't inadvertently sharing their personal health information with others, clinicians are getting important feedback directly, and we're limiting the potential of receiving bad faith or harassing comments.

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Next (because much to the chagrin of psychologists everywhere, there is no way to disable Google Reviews!) we've developed a standardized set of responses to online reviews. We use these in order to try to respond to feedback personably but not personally. That means that, if you're reading our responses, you shouldn't be able to tell if someone is a client or not. We always seek to protect the personal health information of our clients, even when they choose to identify themselves publicly as a client.

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Finally, if a person leaves us a negative review and we can identify them as a client, we do our best to contact them privately and securely to address their concerns--as appropriate. In extending ourselves in this way we hope to better understand the client's concerns, ensure everyone involved is treated with dignity and respect, work together to solve the problem, and refine relevant internal processes and procedures or pass along feedback to the clinician(s) involved as necessary.