Please read this entire document to avoid having your posts rejected!
Welcome to FreeTree, a closed group for licensed mental health professionals and those who are on the path to licensure. To avoid breaches of client confidentiality, our friends in related fields are not accepted into this group.
This is a fully moderated group, meaning that every post is reviewed by a moderator to ensure it complies with these guidelines. While the group began in the San Francisco Bay Area, professionals from other locations are welcome as well.
This is intended to be a place for people to feel safe in:
Requesting referrals and information.
Posting upcoming events and trainings/workshops.
Announcing practice opening/closing/changing events.
Periodically sharing practice/service specialties and information.
Posting available office and group space.
Providing information of specific interest to the mental health community.
FreeTree is not a clinical consultation group.
A note about general (non-mental health specific) posts: The world is a complex, often contentious place. We (particularly in the Bay Area) may feel that everyone agrees with our point of view, or that they should. We often post items of interest to people in the mental health field, but not specifically addressing mental health care. This is not the list for that. That being said, if something in a posting offends you, we encourage you to address the author directly. If this is not possible, please contact the moderators. We firmly believe in correcting mistakes and avoiding hurting anyone, and will attempt to make the situation right if possible.
A. Group Member Agreements:
Group members are respectful in their responses to others.
Group members agree to abide by the posting guidelines, § B below.
Members who do not honor the spirit of these agreements may be emailed, warned, or removed from the group.
Members who disagree with these agreements are encouraged to address the moderators directly.
B. Posting to the FreeTree:
FreeTree posts take more prep time than other posts. We each have to edit to make sure we're complying with the guidelines – that takes longer than just firing off an email like we can to CAMFT or CALPCC (or other non-moderated) lists. But the single minute it takes each of us to make sure our posts comply with the guidelines means that the moderation can occur in less than that minute times 100 posts.
To post to the group, send your item to “freetree@googlegroups.com” Keep in mind that the entire email you send - including the subject - are submitted for posting, so don’t make your subject “Please post,” etc.
All posts are moderated for content before they are sent to the list. Please take a moment to think about your post rather than quickly shooting something off to the group. (Note: You can review the review process in the appendix below.)
The client should neither be the subject nor the object of any portion of your posting. When requesting a referral, please do not include any information about the potential client. Even posting “the partner of my client” is too much information. Similarly, do not post “direct from the client” messages, as these run the risk of violating HIPAA (even if the client says “please post this language”). Look at your post and ask yourself if there is any information there that refers to the client - at all - and remove it. Instead, post about the qualities/experience/skills that a clinician would need to work with the client. Ask yourself: “How would I word this if there was no specific client I was asking on behalf of; if I was just trying to find a therapist with the appropriate skills/characteristics?” Also ask: “Did I use the word ‘client’ anywhere? Why?”
Postings should be for/about/related to you, the poster, not on behalf of a third party. If an associate of yours has information to share, please encourage them to join FreeTree. This is done to ensure that the person has proven licensure status, and so that issues with the post can be addressed directly to them.
Considering items 4 and 5 above, FreeTree does not allow posts with direct quotes from potential clients. Posts including “in the client’s words…” run too much of a risk of HIPAA violations, and a client asking for something to be posted is not fully informed (they do not know who will be reading the post). Please summarize what the person is looking for, as opposed to quoting them.
If you are asking about something that you could find on Google, please try that first.
When posting articles or events, please include the cost, if any, within the text of the post (not just on an included graphic or flyer), and make sure they are specific to the practice of mental health care rather than something that might be of general interest. Please do not simply forward a link to an article or event. Include an explanation about why you feel this article is specific to mental health care and is helpful to other mental health professionals. Please do not re-post the same event more frequently than every-other month.
The same is true for anything that has a cost - rentals, selling furniture, etc. - if there’s a cost, please post it in the message rather than just “contact me for the cost.”
If you are ever unsure about whether a post is appropriate for the group, please email the moderators. They can give you guidance.
Please make the subject line specific - Include type of post and the specific location (city, state). While a majority of our members are in the San Francisco Bay Area, this list is not limited to that area alone.
Proof-read your posting, and be aware of the appearance before posting. Posts with ALL-CAPS or large fonts will be rejected.
Postings solely related to another group member, their behavior, a critique of their post or their language will be rejected. Complaints regarding offensive language or other personal offense(s) should be addressed to the moderators for further action.
Please reply directly to the author of a posting unless there is a compelling reason to address the entire list (see section C below).
Cross-posts (sent to multiple groups in a single email) will be rejected. Please post separately to each group. Many folks use bcc’s to address multiple groups.
To ask a question about the group or your membership, please do not post to FreeTree directly. Please email the group moderators directly.
C. Replying to posts on FreeTree:
Think carefully about your reply before sending to the list. With well over 1,400 members, FreeTree is aiming to minimize the number of emails we all get from the list so that it’s not one more burden. For that reason, we urge you to only reply-all if it is directly useful to the majority of people in our profession, not just “people may be interested…” If you are answering a question someone has asked, or if you are replying with specific resources, ask yourself "Is this something that most or all of the people on the list would find helpful?" If the answer is "No" then send only to the individual. If the answer is "Yes" then please address your reply to everyone and add a short explanation at the beginning of the post as to why you feel your reply is of interest to the list. Example: "Dear colleagues, I'm choosing to reply to the list because folks have posted this before,” or “sending this to all because it’s relevant to everyone,” etc. Just saying “sending to all because it’s interesting” or “sending to all because people may be interested” is not enough. If your reply is addressed to the person who asked the question, or if your reply is clearly part of a dialogue with one or just a few people, it will likely be rejected.
Reply with caution if you choose to receive "Digest" or "Abridged" emails from FreeTree. The default setting for replies on FreeTree is to reply to the person who posted. However, if you receive a daily “Digest” or “Abridged” version by email this does not happen and your default reply will go to the entire list (and will be rejected). Instead, please manually copy the email address you are replying to and forward your reply to the person who posted it. It is very important that you keep this in mind.
If you want others on the list to know your specialty, then prepare a post with that information and post it every 6 months or so.
D. Inviting others to FreeTree:
FreeTree is open to all grad students (in mental health care fields), and pre-licensed and licensed mental health professionals. Please feel free to invite colleagues who are appropriate for membership in the group.
The group is focused on practitioners in the Bay Area of San Francisco. Professionals located outside the Bay Area are welcome if it is helpful to them in looking for referrals or if they benefit from the discussion of issues related to the profession. The moderators are happy to help others in other areas of the country to set up similar groups.
Send interested folks to https://groups.google.com/d/forum/freetree/join
E. Communication with moderators:
After receiving an email notification of a violation of the FreeTree Community Guidelines, we encourage you to contact the moderators if you have concerns. Please forward the specific post that was rejected, so the moderator knows which post you’re talking about.
Abusive language may cause immediate removal from the Group. A person who cannot communicate in a respectful manner is not welcome in the group. Ask yourself: would you want to receive this message? If not, don't send it to us.
All concerns and suggestions will be considered and replied to. ("I didn't read the guidelines and didn't know about that" is not a reasonable argument, since we send the Community Guidelines out to each new member, and to the whole list on a regular basis, and there is a link to them at the end of every FreeTree email and on the Google Groups homepage for FreeTree.
We invite discussion of these Community Guidelines, and consider this a living document that will be edited as the community evolves. [Guidelines revised 20 February 2025]
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APPENDIX: The Moderation Process
We do not read through each email for specific details, or to "put things into context." Instead, we use an algorithm:
Was the message addressed to more than one list? Yes = Rejected, No = 2
Is the message a "reply-all"? Yes = 3, No = 4
Does the writer state, clearly, at the top of the message, why it's being sent to the list? Yes = 4, No = Rejected
Is the message about something that needs to mention the cost? This includes basically anything that you would need to know the cost of in advance. The presence of "click on the link for more information" is not sufficient. If Yes, it should list the cost, go to 5. If no, go to 6
Is the cost listed in the body of the email? Yes = 6, No = Rejected
Is there any ALL-CAPS or extra-large font text? Yes = Rejected, No = 7
Is the post about policy, general interest news, current events – "of interest to people in the mental health field, but not specifically addressing mental health care"? Yes = Rejected, No = 8
Is a client described? This is a big question, and generally the reading is "does this post refer to an individual person?" That doesn't mean "does the post include PHI," it means "is the client the subject or object of the post?" Yes = Rejected, No = 9
Is the post about, or on behalf of, someone else? Yes = 10, No = 11
Is the post of specific interest to the mental health community, or a resource that benefits the community as opposed to the author? Yes = 11, No = Rejected
Is the post made as a reply to a digest email? (I.e., is there a ton of content under the signature block, etc.) Yes = Rejected, No = 12
Is the post "solely related to another group member, their behavior, a critique of their post or their language?" Yes = Rejected, No = 13
Is this a repeat of a post that was sent less than 2 months ago? Yes = Rejected, No = ACCEPTED
[Revised 29 January 2025]