Why social media?: A research on therapists' social media behaviors

The increasing visibility of social media, which has become an integral part of modern life, has also begun to take its place in the field of mental health. In addition to providing Professional and personal benefits for mental health professionals, social media creates new ares of debate such as the ambiguity of ethical boundaries, its effects on the therapeutic relationship, and the protection of client confidentiality. In this context, the study examines the experiences of mental health professionals regarding social media in terms of ethical issues, Professional implications, and reflections on the therapeutic relationship. The study sample consists of 14 mental health professionals (psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychological counselors) who were reached through criterion sampling and who participated voluntarily. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. In order to conduct an in-depth analysis of the data, content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was employed. As a result of the analysis, five themes and seventeen subthemes were identified. The themes of the study are ethical concerns, therapeutic challenges, benefits fort he therapist, societal impacts, and efforts to increase engagement. The fndings demonstrate that social media has dual effects on mental health profeessionals. While it offers advantages such as Professional visibility, increased recognition, informing and raising awareness in society, and attracting clients, it also entails disadvantages such as violations of therapeutic boundaries, unethical posts, breaches of client confidentiality and exposre to aggressive attitudes. In conclusion since social media use presents both advantages and disadvantages, it is regarded as a platform where professionals must adhere to ethical frameworks, maintain therapeutic boundaries and ensure client confidentiality. From this perspective, raising the ethical awareness of mental health professionals and publishing guidelines on social media use are considered improtant. Key Words : social media, instagram, mental health professionals, ethics, therapeutic relationship.