[libribook.com] Traumatic Scar Tissue Management 1st Edition

Boundaries
Over the course of our lives we can learn from our parents, guardians, teachers
and friends what is deemed appropriate boundaries in various interpersonal
relationships and social environments. If there are issues, problems, or trauma
during the time that our boundaries are being formed, our ability to establish and
maintain healthy boundaries is compromised (Kluft et al. 2000).
The health of the therapeutic relationship is reliant on both the therapist and
client understanding the nature and importance of professional boundaries.
The therapeutic relationship differs from a personal relationship in essentially
two ways:
• The interests of the client always come first
• There is an imbalance of power between the therapist/client and this difference
in power means that it is not usually possible to maintain a therapeutic and
personal relationship with a patient at the same time (CPTO 2013).
It is the professional’s responsibility to establish and maintain appropriate
therapist–client boundaries at all times, and demonstrate through their behavior
and communication what is appropriate in a therapeutic relationship.
Establishing professional boundaries through clear communication during the
initial informed consent procedure or clearly outlining important points in
document form that can be presented to the client as part of initial intake will
help circumvent potential pitfalls, conflict or ethical dilemmas.
If a professional, for any reason, cannot respect a client’s boundary needs, the
professional should refer the client to another practitioner (Fritz 2013).
Even when the professional is conscientious about establishing boundaries with
the client during the initial intake procedure, those boundaries can become
blurred as the professional interaction progresses. Should a client attempt to
cross boundaries, it is the professional’s responsibility to effectively manage this
immediately as waiting only allows the problem to escalate, leading to the
development of conflict (Fritz 2013).
Common boundary considerations include issues of transference and