Counselors Providing Care to Clients Who Self‐Diagnose via the Internet and Social Media: A Grounded Theory

ABSTRACT Through grounded theory, the authors sought to answer how mental health counselors ( N = 20) provide counseling to clients who self‐diagnose via the Internet and social media. The data collected from participant interviews informed a theoretical model, which includes six themes: (a) origins of self‐diagnosis; (b) factors impacting treatment‐seeking; (c) counselor identity; (d) therapeutic collaboration; (e) therapeutic interventions; and (f) outcomes of therapeutic exploration of self‐diagnosis. Our findings inform professional counseling practice, with implications for future research and clinical applications related to client self‐diagnosis via the Internet and social media.