Dear Everyone,

Although this post will end up in the middle of posts that have gone before and posts that will come after, I am writing to say that the best sources for information about some of the particulars of my work in private practice (e.g., office address and the specific services I provide) are (1) me (asking me) and (2) my website. Between the two, I am sometimes more of an up-to-date source than my website, although the website is usually not too far behind.

Unfortunately, if you search for me on the internet, you will find the internet tells you information about my office location and my work that is not correct. For example, the internet will tell you in text form and with maps that my office is located in at least one place that it actually isn’t. This is very frustrating. I have tried to get the internet to not do this. I have contacted companies who have my office location listed incorrectly and asked them to correct the mis-information. In several instances, I have made this request more than once. But still, the problem persists.

Today, I called a company to ask them to correct the mis-information that they are giving out. This phone call was a follow-up to me filling out a form requesting the information would be changed. I was told the only way they would put the correct information (including correct address) on their site is for me to pay them $50 to $90 per month. I didn’t ever choose to have my information on their site to begin with and when they decided to “list my private practice information,” they never asked me what the correct information was. To say I felt exasperated today when I was told that they will not stop listing incorrect information unless I pay them a monthly fee is an understatement. I have asked them to remove my private practice information from their site, which apparently they will do “for free”. We will see if this happens.

As a person who is not an internet techie person by trade and who spends most of her time at work developing and providing resources and services to people, trying to help people, trying to be of service, I do not see how I will ever win this battle of trying to have the internet properly portray my private practice information (such as my mailing address and office location) and to have it stop portraying incorrect and long out-dated information. I sincerely appreciate your understanding in this. I am also sorry for any confusion that may be caused by any conflicting and/or incorrect information you will find when searching for my work information. I try to fix it but it’s not easy to do (and may, it seems, be impossible).

I send out my sympathy to all those who have felt as exasperated and powerless as I did today. I send out to you kindness and understanding and feelings of ease.