Logo

What are some signs that a therapist may have poor boundaries with their clients?

Last Updated: 19.06.2025 14:36

What are some signs that a therapist may have poor boundaries with their clients?

Failing to mention the client in supervision/consultation, out of fear the supervisor/consultant will advise return to ordinary healthy boundaries.

Disclosing feelings, fantasies, and experiences to the client in ways not related to the work the client is engaged in.

Off the top of my ancient head:

Why did it take seven days for troops with helicopters, equipment, supplies, food, and water to be dispatched to southeast storm zones?

Struggling with fantasies of deeper connections with clients, whether sexual or parental or other intense or intimate relationships beyond psychotherapy.

Routinely going over the time limit with certain patients, compromising the time for the next client.

Serious disappointment when the client cancels a session.

Has anyone had a romance scammer start messaging them on Quora? How do you know if the person is scamming you? What do you do?

General Introduction to Boundaries from Panahi Counseling:

Eager anticipation (or anxious anticipation) of the next session in ways that distract.

Obsessing about clients outside of work hours.

Al Pacino Meets Pope Leo XIV, Becoming First Movie Star to Get an Audience With American Pontiff - The Hollywood Reporter

Session-expressed curiosities about client details not relevant to the therapy.

Sense of competition with persons who are important in the client’s life.

Frequent phoning or texting of clients to “check up on them and make sure they’re OK.”

Creatine for the brain: How this workout supplement supercharges memory and focus - Times of India

These items can happen fleetingly, briefly, in any therapy, but if they’re frequent, it’s definitely time for the therapist to get some good, solid supervision/consultation.