All these posts about boundaries has got me thinking...

Do you think the strength of your T's boundaries is related to the level of his/her credentials? That maybe a Psy.D. may have stricter boundaries than a LPC?

Any thoughts?

[healed84]

I don't think so.. My T is a Psy. D and he has very loose boundaries. I think really it has to do with T's personal preferences and their training.

[Leah123]

No, the wide variety of boundaries I've experienced didn't seem related to credentials, most of the therapists I saw had identical ones, and their individual approaches to therapy along with training/orientation influenced them most.

[Soccer mom]

I don't think so. My T. is a LCSW and seems to have some of the strictest boundaries I've seen on here. No texting unless for appointments (I can text her but she won't respond to feelings except to offer another session because she feels she may misinterpret my text) and she's never shared an email address. She does hug but is not very verbally reassuring.

At the same time, many doctors in town refer patients to her and she's known for being able to help really tough patients. If a client needs a lot of "stroking" then she refers them to more "gushy" therapists.

I also think it depends on their temperament. By nature, she's not a very touchy/feely person. She has told me many times that it's difficult for a therapist to change temperaments so it's better for the client to find a T. that is what they need.

I don't think good/bad boundaries have anything to do with strictness or credentials. Strict is not necessarily better or worse. In fact, personally I have found people who have the ability to have flexible and appropriate boundaries probably have the healthiest sense of boundaries. A good therapist will be able to adjust boundaries appropriately for clients and circumstances. A therapist who has one-size-fits-all boundaries is probably not a therapist I'd have any interest in seeing.

I have had three very competent therapists with very similar flexible and appropriate boundaries. Each had a different level of training and credentials. It isn't about the credentials; it is about the individual skill of therapist no matter what the credentials are.

[Leah123]

The OP did not make any value judgement about strict boundaries being good or bad, just asked if the strength of boundaries was tied to educational attainment.

Originally Posted by Leah123

The OP did not make any value judgement about strict boundaries being good or bad, just asked if the strength of boundaries was tied to educational attainment.

I realize that. I was simply discussing my take on boundaries.

I never said I thought strict boundaries were good or bad. Just asked if anyone noticed a correlation between credentials and strength of boundaries.

Originally Posted by twistedangel00

I never said I thought strict boundaries were good or bad. Just asked if anyone noticed a correlation between credentials and strength of boundaries.

I'm assuming we cross posted. You asked for any thoughts, so I gave my thoughts.

Often on this forum, the looseness or strictness of boundaries is judged to be a positive or negative, so I interjected that as pertaining/related to the discussion of strict boundaries. I would think if someone were, for instance, wanting to choose a therapist based on the strictness of their boundaries, credentials wouldn't particularly be telling. It would have to be something you just discussed directly with the individual therapist. What may be more important than the strictness level is the thinking behind how a therapist handles boundaries on an individual level with each client. Is a therapist able to individualize their boundaries based on client's needs as opposed to having the same boundary "rules" for all clients? Thus, it isn't really about credentials but about skill level perhaps.

[nicoleflynn]

T has Ph.D......and he crossed boundaries in a big way.

[divine1966]

My previous t had Phd and the one now is lmsw with ma. They are about the same

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My t is an LPC and i don't know much about her boundaries as we've never really had that talk. I assume she would tell me if i started bumpin up against them. One time i thought i was abusing email but it turned out she hadn't gotten it. I often fear i am being a pest but she says she has never experienced me that way. Not that i don't frustrate her now m then i do.

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[LindaLu]

Interesting thread. My T had strict boundaries, and was an LCSW. She completed a clinical fellowship at a top school and I "assumed" that outlook came from training with MDs. Guess not.

[stopdog]

I have seen 3 lcsw's and one phd. The phd was batshit crazy but not because of boundaries - I only saw that one for a couple of months but I wrote her just like I have the others.
The first lcsw was very loose (I saw her for approx. 2 years about 30 years ago) - she sometimes let clients move in with her, touched a lot, became friends with clients and so on. The two I see now - one keeps saying she has great boundaries (it was in response to me making sure she would stay back and observe my own boundaries) but she has had clients over to her house to watch tv. I write and email when I want.
The second one has said to call any time and I have her home number.

[laxer12]

My T is an LPC Intern and I have her email but she only wants me to use it for scheduling or a quick question during the week. I also have her work phone number which I think gets me to her cell phone but I've only tried calling once and she didn't answer. I don't know if she would welcome phone calls but I would only call if it was a last-minute scheduling change or an emergency.

She has pretty strict boundaries but we have never really talked about them so I don't know if it is just how our relationship is or if she has those boundaries intentionally.

I agree with an earlier post that T's should slightly tailor their boundaries to their clients. I get attached easily to people who really show me that they care about me so the boundaries are helpful for me, even if I sometimes wish they weren't there.

[Partless]

Originally Posted by twistedangel00

All these posts about boundaries has got me thinking...

Do you think the strength of your T's boundaries is related to the level of his/her credentials? That maybe a Psy.D. may have stricter boundaries than a LPC?

Any thoughts?

Depends on what you mean by boundaries. There are some basic ones that all therapists need to respect. Then there are more individual ones. I've had experience with a number of therapists, with masters, PhD, MD, and believe the latter probably depends on their training, on their own personality, therapy modality, etc.

[junkDNA]

my T is psyD... he has looser boundaries

[atisketatasket]

Mine has a master's and has pretty firm boundaries about communication, though they vary slightly according to patient (she adjusted one for me because of my particular circumstances).

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[pbutton]

My LSCSW T and I have talked about boundaries (He's asked me to stop deciding what his are for him, and instead listen to him when he says it is a good idea for me to email him.) He gave several examples of how different clients get different boundaries.

In one of his examples he tightened his boundary with a client who was repeatedly paging T over the weekend and tried to keep him on the phone with non-urgent issues. When T was explaining how he set the boundary with this other client, my jaw dropped because he sounded so stern and firm. I hadn't ever heard him speak like that before. I was so startled that I laughed.

[LonesomeTonight]

I don't think so. My T is a LCSW and has pretty strong boundaries. My marriage counselor is a PhD (psychology) and has slightly looser ones, though he's tightened them a bit lately (complicated situation involving my transference for him).

What's interesting is that I was talking to my T about this topic, and it sounds like LCSWs actually have stricter boundaries than psychologists. She said for social workers, you're not really allowed to be friends with a client until 7 years have passed, but ideally, you should never befriend them. From what I've read, it's more like 2 years for psychologists. (Didn't discuss the rules for romantic relationships.)

[musinglizzy]

My T overall, just based on some of the things I've learned on PC, has pretty loose boundaries for the most part. I'd almost say she had none at all until she brought up a couple a few months back. But she hugs, she will accept things I give her, she has given back to me, and she has NO rules about out of session contact. In fact, if I don't Email her enough, I hear about it! I can call but don't, but we do text/email between sessions. She does, however, maintain strong time boundaries. She doesn't start early, nor does she really end late. Only a few times, when I was upset, if her schedule allowed it.

[Lauliza]

Boubdaries have no correlation with degree in my experience. The one exception to this may be MDs, mainly because most pdocs don't do talk therapy. Otherwise boundaries (and in my opinion, skill level) have little or nothing to do with which professional degree T has.

I had a consultation with a T on Saturday. He went through how he feels about calling, emailing and texting. I was shocked, because my current T never discussed any of that with me.