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

11.06.2025 02:11

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

General Introduction to Boundaries from Panahi Counseling:

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

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

Is it common for Americans to feel "trapped" due to the size and distance of their country from other countries/continents? Is this feeling an exaggeration or a reality?

Obsessing about clients outside of work hours.

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

Serious disappointment when the client cancels a session.

New Jersey Man Arrested for Stealing Instruments From Heart - Rolling Stone

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

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.

Is using tech to track or monitor your partner’s activities a sign of love, insecurity, or control?

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

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

Off the top of my ancient head:

In space, no one can hear you scream — But it still gets incredibly noisy - Salon.com

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.