BOUNDARIES &

MULTIPLE
RELATIONSHIPS
CHAPTER 7
BOUNDARIES DEFINED

“Boundaries are limits people set in order to create a healthy

sense of personal space. Boundaries can be physical or emotional
in nature, and they help distinguish the desires, needs, and
preferences of one person from another.”(Good Therapy, June
2017)
WHY BOUNDARIES ARE IMPORTANT FOR COUNSELORS

• The ability to establish boundaries is a foundational competency

for counselors.
• Boundaries provide a clear distinction between personal and
professional roles.
• Boundaries provide safety for clients and counselors.
• Boundaries allows counselors to answer the question of whose
needs are being met: the client’s or the counselor’s.
BOUNDARY CROSSING VS. BOUNDARY
VIOLATION
• A boundary crossing is a deviation from classical therapeutic activity that
is harmless, non-exploitative, and possibly supportive of the therapy itself.
• A boundary crossing is also “any activity that moves the clinician from a
strictly objective position…” (Guthriel and Gabbard, 1993).
• In contrast, a boundary violation is harmful or potentially harmful, to the
client and counseling. It constitutes exploitation of the client.
EXAMPLES OF CROSSING A BOUNDARY
• Taking phone calls between sessions (if not an emergency or previously agreed upon)
• Small gifts(giving and accepting)
• Special fee arrangements or bartering
• Allowing clients to run up a large balance
• Excessive counselor self-disclosure/disclosure of personal information
• Extending time beyond what was initially agreed
• Making special allowances for a client
• Non-emergency meetings outside of the office or after office hours
EXAMPLES OF BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS
• Avoidable dual or multiple relationships
• Sexual relationships
• An important consideration of what causes harm to the client is not the
counselor’s intent or even necessarily the counselor’s behavior, but the
meaning of the behavior to the client.
WHY DO BOUNDARY PROBLEMS HAPPEN?
• Inability to differentiate • Attempting to have personal
professional from personal needs met through
relationship counselor/client relationship
• Unprofessional counseling • Counselor difficulties with limit
environments setting
• Challenging clients • Use of touch
• Caretaking, rescuing
• Counselor self-disclosure
COUNSELOR HAVING PERSONAL NEEDS MET
• Personal life of the counselor is unhealthy and relationships are not
maintained
• Excessive need to please
• Personal life crisis
• Difficulties balancing demands of family and professional life
• Difficulties setting limits
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
• “Conflict of interest” has to do with a person’s involvement with an entity that could
corrupt her decision-making or judgment about the issue at hand.” (Sara Gorman,
Jan. 2017)
• Examples are:
• Entering into a business relationship with a client or a client’s close relative/friend
• Self-referring to one’s own private practice from a hospital setting
• Providing paid testimony for legal services with an existing client
• Counseling an employee of a family member or close friend.
 UNETHICAL MULTIPLE RELATIONSHIPS
• Erode and distort the professional nature of the therapeutic relationship, which is secured
within a reliable set of boundaries upon which both therapist and patient depend
• Creates a conflicts of interest and compromises sound professional judgment
• Causes unequal footing between counselor and client
• Nature of therapy changes - clients are left not knowing what to expect and where the
boundaries are in the counseling relationship.
CONSEQUENCES OF BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS
TO CLIENTS
• Disengagement from services • Isolation and emptiness
• Depression • Identity confusion
• Emotional turmoil • Emotional lability
• Cognitive distortion • Mistrust of authority
• Shame, fear, or rage • Self-harm behaviors
• Guilt and self-blame
CONSEQUENCES OF BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS
FOR COUNSELORS
• Less personal time with family and
friends
• Less job satisfaction
• Co-worker frustrations
• Burnout
• Extreme consequences:
• loss of job
• loss of license
• loss of professional identity,
• loss of peers
• loss of professional relationships
PREVENTION OF BOUNDARY CROSSINGS
AND BOUNDARY VIOLATIONS

• Education
• Self-awareness and monitoring
• Peer debriefing/consultation
BOUNDARIES PAPER
Submit a 2 paged, double-spaced paper of the following scenario:
At the last therapy session, the client says she/he would like to continue
her/his relationship with you because you have so much in common and
because she/he has shared things with the counselor that she/he has not
shared with anyone else. This client has been a favorite of yours and you
genuinely like this person. You explain that this is a difficult decision
and the client says, “What if we just go jogging together a couple of
mornings a week? Assume your client would like to meet with you
socially and this is the final therapy session. How would you handle a
client’s request to develop a social relationship with you once the
professional relationship is terminated?