Quote:
Originally Posted by atisketatasket
I totally have as many boundaries with my students as therapists do with clients. Possibly more. I freely admit they're mostly there for me and my sanity, though it's barf-tastic how many colleagues of mine pretend they're there for the student: "It will enable you to learn best if you call me Professor Jones while I call you by your first name." 
Perhaps we're defining boundaries differently, but I don't think therapists are unusual in the number of boundaries they set. Prison guards. Parole officers. Doctors. All of these professions set what I would call boundaries.
I do wish therapists would quit the malarkey about in whose interest the boundaries are, though. |
I have to giggle that the first idea you come up with when comparing boundaries set in various professions to therapists is prison guard
.
I have to say though, I've never been made so very well aware of boundaries in any context as in the therapy one. Doctors, teachers, etc, of course there are social norms etc. But I think the boundaries are (for most people) a non issue, because those people don't tend to go out of their way to create and foster what often feels like a very real personal relationship with a patient / student.
Therapists need boundaries because they entice clients to feel close to them by harping on about the importance of the therapy relationship and then slam the door in their faces if they try to act on that feeling of closeness.
Therapy creates cognitive dissonance in spades and puts it all on the client. "We're close, but not close at all. I care about you, but only for this hour. I like you as a person, don't talk to me outside sessions."
Honestly, I think therapists who expect that to be okay are more whacky than any client they might see.
I also think that if therapists spent less time fostering feelings of closeness, the boundaries would be a total non-issue. But a lot of them are very seductive about how they conduct the therapy.