A couple of people emailed me to ask me to say more about why I wouldn't Google a patient. I don't think that doing so would be an ethical violation, but I do think it could have an undesirable impact on the therapy. I think this because it would interfere with the emergence of information and material from the patient. And quite possibly, even probably my view of the patient and his life could be altered by what I might discover through this kind of covert information seeking. Then again there is the problem of disclosure, because certainly at some point the therapist would have to disclose that this had happened, or the therapist becomes guilty of holding a secret. All in all, whatever small benefit that might be found in Googling a patient, for me is cancelled by the significant potential problems.