Presented by:
Jim Messina, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor: Troy University Tampa Bay Site
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Identify if you are having problems
maintaining professional boundaries with
your client’s and/or their families
Identify if you are a compulsive fixer or
rescuer which could impact your
maintaining healthy boundaries with your
clients and their families
Identify tips on how to maintain healthy
boundaries in your professional work
Results: If you have answered
 Yes to 3 or more items or
 Yes and/or Sometimes to 5 or more items
 There is a strong possibility that you are
maintaining weak boundaries with your
clients and or their families based on your
behaviors with them
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They are framework within which
professional helper-client relationship occurs
They make the relationship professional &
safe for client
They set parameters within which helping
services are delivered
They refer to line between self of client & self
of professional helper
Healthy Professional Boundaries include:
 length of a session
 time of session
 personal disclosure
 limits regarding the use of touch
 the general tone of the professional
relationship
 fee setting (if it is not a pro-bono service)
Boundaries must be set & maintained in
helping relationship to insure:
 Helper does “No Harm” to client in helping
process
 Rights of the client are respected & honored
 Helper is always respectful of & conscious of
need to guard privacy of client
 Helper does not take advantage of &
recognizes extent of “vulnerability” of client
in situation
Dual Relationships
 One cannot be both helper & “friend” or
“significant other” to client due to reality it is too
easy to lose perspective in helping client & client
loses perspective as to helper’s real role in
client’s life
 Helper has a “power or authority” role with client
even if helping service in not fee-based service
 Important not to confuse client in creating
relationship where roles become blurred & where
expectations & demands on helper become
magnified due to demands & needs of client who
has been befriended & overly attached to helper
Becoming a Friend with Client:
 Providing “help” to another in need has visual &
emotional aspect of “friendship” it is important while
client is still in helping relationship to maintain
boundary of no friendship
 However once services are ended there is no
prohibition to becoming a friend with an ex-client
 Danger in becoming a friend while serving a client is
that emotional vulnerability of client will become
sensitized & if you should not be able to spend
amount of time or provide amount of services which
client expects to receive from a friend there is
situation which is ripe for conflict, hurt feelings &
conceivably exacerbating needs of client who already
was vulnerable & in need prior to this helping
relationship being established
Self-Disclosure
 When helper reveals very personal information about
self with client which sharing has no real purpose in
goals of meeting the needs of client
 Such self-disclosure take spotlight off of client’s
issues & focuses rather on helper
 Unless a specific therapeutic positive outcome is to
be gained by self-disclosure helpers ought to avoid it
 When helper is ready to disclose one must ask
question: Does self-disclosure serve client’s
therapeutic goal? Unless it can be justified, stay away
from self-disclosing to maintain healthy boundary
maintenance with clients
Maintaining Business-like Helping Situation
Protocols while providing help to clients
This means maintaining a professional relationship
which includes:
 seeing clients only during work hours
 seeing clients only in “appropriate professional
locations” where helping relationship is to be
performed
 only taking emergency phone calls from clients
on rare occasion & not make nightly or weekly
phone calls between clients & helper a normal
routine
Not giving or receiving gifts of significant value
between helpers & their clients
 If such gift giving were to transpire, client
who gave gift could expect “special”
treatment from helper & conversely helper
could feel “more obligated” to go outside
norms of typical helping protocol to “pay
back” client for client’s generosity in gift
given
 To avoid such confusion in future rule would
be to just abide by No Gift Giving Guideline
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Is this in my client’s best interest?
Whose needs are being served?
Will this have an impact on the service I am
delivering?
Should I make a note of my concerns or
consult with a colleague?
How would this be viewed by the client’s
family or significant other?
How would I feel telling a colleague about
this?
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Am I treating this client differently (e.g.,
appointment length, time of appointments,
extent of personal disclosures)?
Does this client mean something special to me?
Am I taking advantage of the client?
Does this action benefit me rather than the
client?
Am I comfortable in documenting this decision
or behavior in the client file?
Does this go against the Standards of
Professional Conduct or the Code of Ethics of
my professional field?
Being aware:
 Be self-aware of feelings & behaviors involved
in working with each client & family
 Be observant of behavior of other helpers in
the field & call them on it if they appear to be
overstepping their boundaries with clients
 Always act in best interest of clients &
families
 Most importantly DO NO HARM to your
clients
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Are you an addicted fixer or rescuer? Maybe
this is keeping you from maintaining healthy
boundaries with your clients
Take self-assessment instrument entitled:
Compulsive Fixer-Rescuer Self-Assessment
Results: if on this survey you have answered:
 Yes to 3 or more items or
 Yes and/or Sometimes to 5 or more items
 There is a strong possibility that you are
maintaining weak boundaries with your
clients and/or their families because of your
being an “addicted fixer” or “rescuer”
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Let’s see what you have learned
Answer these questions as we go
Select the correct answer for each question
Share with your fellow participants as we
proceed through these 10 questions
When referring to the relationship between the
client and helper, boundaries are:
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B.
C.
D.
Actions that are not appropriate in client care
Whatever the client feels is appropriate
Whatever the helper feels is appropriate
The limits that define the helper-client
relationship
D. The limits that define the helper-client
relationship
Boundaries are essential to protect clients from
the helper’s
A.
B.
C.
D.
Power
Anger
Poor services
Lack of knowledge
A. Power
Which is one of the clearest signs that a
boundary violation has occurred in the helperclient relationship?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The
The
The
The
client is not happy with his or her care
helper hugs the client
helper asks for a change of assignment
needs of the helper are being met
D. The needs of the helper are being met
Which of the following is the best example of a
professional business-like boundary violation?
The helper:
A. Shares personal information with the client
B. Asks the client if she would like to buy some
“Mary Kay Cosmetics”
C. Is attracted to the client
D. Attends a party given by the client’s family
C. Is attracted to the Client
Gerald the helper assigned to George, regularly
talks about his personal problems with George.
George is happy to listen to his helper Gerald’s
personal problems and never complains about
it. Since this relationship seems to benefit both
parties it does not appear to be a violation of
boundaries.
A. True
B. False
B. False
The first person to realize there is a boundary
violation is:
A. The client
B. The helper who is committing the boundary
violation
C. A co-worker or the supervisor of the helper
D. None of the above
D. None of the above since the correct answer
would be any of the above
If there are things in the helper-client
relationship which the helper would not want
to record in the record of the client then a
boundary violation is likely.
A. True
B. False
A. True
Gill is a 46 year old client who has become very
attracted to his helper Suzette who is 35.
Suzette is equally attracted to Gill. Their
personal relationship began when Gill shared
his feelings of attraction to Suzette and she
shared her similar feelings. Since Gill wants
this relationship it is OK for Suzette to allow it
to develop.
A. True
B. False
B. False
Albert is a helper who has been working with Charles
for the past year and it is now time for Albert to leave
this client setting due to Charles no longer needing the
assistance which Albert has to offer. However on his
last visit he finds out that Charles is lacking enough
food supplies in his house to keep he and his family
fed for the next week. Albert’s best response is to:
A. Call Salvation Army to request they drop off food from
their food pantry for Charles and his family
B. Bring groceries to Charles homes after he gets off from
work that day
C. Notify the agency for whom Albert works about Charles’
circumstances
D. Calls Charles’ ex-wife to inform her of Charles pressing
need for groceries in his house to feed himself and his
family
C. Notify the agency for whom Albert works
about Charles’ circumstances
Jackie is a “Mary Kay” distributor in her community
and while working with her client Maggie Jo,
Maggie Jo sees the logo on Jackie’s purse and says:
“Oh I love those products and I sure could use
some more…” Jackie’s best action is to:
A. Request a change of assignment away from
Maggie Jo
B. Give Maggie Jo the name of another Mary Kay
distributor in the community
C. Tell Maggie Jo that she cannot sell product to
her but can sell it to her relatives or friends
D. Sells Maggie Jo the products she needs
B. Give Maggie Jo the name of another Mary
Kay distributor in the community
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Have you a better idea as to what Maintaining
Professional Boundaries with your clients and
their families is all about?
Can you now identify if you are a compulsive
fixer or rescuer which could impact your
maintaining healthy boundaries with your
clients and their families?
Can you now Identify steps you can take to
maintain healthy boundaries in your
professional work?
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Overcoming the Need to Fix:
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/overcomeneedtofix.html
Tempering Idealism:
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/temperingidealism.html
Eliminating Caretaker Behaviors:
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/eliminatecaretakerbehavi
ors.html
Letting Go of the Uncontrollables and Unchangeables
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/letgouncontrollablesunc
hangeables.html
Accepting Powerlessness
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/acceptingpowerlessness.
html
Developing Detachment
http://www.coping.us/toolsforhandlingcontrol/developingdetachment.h
tml
Establishing Healthy Boundaries
http://www.coping.us/growingdown/healthyboundaries.html