Social media guidelines within university-based professional psychology training programs: Ethical challenges and professional considerations with graduate students

Social media is regularly used by a growing number of graduate students and licensed psychologists. This expands opportunities for professional growth and development for many, though it also brings forward a growing number of ethical challenges as personal and professional lives transform, blur, and merge online. This study examined social media policies of 46 American Psychological Association-accredited university-based professional psychology doctoral programs in clinical psychology to better understand the ethical challenges and protections that doctoral programs can implement to protect graduate students, faculty, and the public. Findings indicated that many university-based doctoral programs in clinical psychology do not have clear social media policies. Results and implications of the findings and how they relate to doctoral education will be discussed during this article.