Quote:
Originally Posted by atisketatasket
I am very sure that the OP meant no harm, but Google Maps is one thing, an actual drive-by that is deliberate is another. As someone else said, therapists deserve privacy too. On the internet (Google Maps) there is little expectation of privacy, in one's home there is.
I understand the impulse to do a drive-by but it needs to be recognized that this could affect someone else deeply. I had a student who used to drive by my house regularly, deliberately, out of her way. I eventually noticed that the same car kept driving slowly by, usually in the evening when I'd be out doing yardwork. I was getting somewhat alarmed as the car was not one of the neighbors', until I finally clocked who was driving. While that relieved my anxiety, I spoke to the student about it quite sternly. It took awhile for our relationship - she was an advisee - to recover.
It's not a question of good or bad, right or wrong, honest or dishonest. It's a question of boundaries.
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I have had students and clients drive past my house or walk past it or park by it on their way to restaurants near by- and then tell me about it or call out to me as they go past. Some more often than others. I don't mind them doing it - I figure it is just going to happen. I don't feel violated or like my boundaries have been intruded upon. I don't invite them in or anything, but it doesn't bother me. I don't, for me, see it as a boundary thing. Usually I have just been baffled as to why they felt the need to tell me.
I have even had some students ring my doorbell and want to talk to me. I remind them of my office hours, close the door and go on with my life. I don't usually recognize them out of context and never can remember their names.
I don't particularly enjoy when clients or their families threaten me with harm- but that goes along with the territory for lawyers who practice the types of law that I do.