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

Last Updated: 19.06.2025 00:04

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

General Introduction to Boundaries from Panahi Counseling:

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

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

Are you happy that soon we will never hear from Kamala Jones again?

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.

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

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

How do you emotionally react to when others seem to feel sorry for you?

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

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

Serious disappointment when the client cancels a session.

How do I complain on a boy coming to marriage with me without my involvement despite no connection with him though he had an illegal affair?

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

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

Off the top of my ancient head:

Why doesn't speeding significantly decrease one’s commute time? I've done a lot of road trips and driving and have experimented by increasing speed by 10–20%, but somehow this never equates to arriving 20% sooner, even on clear roads.

Obsessing about clients outside of work hours.