Crossing the Boundaries of Privacy in Accidental Encounters: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Therapists' Experiences

Abstract

All people manage their boundaries of privacy. Therapists should thoroughly consider circumstances, and personal or situational risk factors, which lead to crossing or violating these boundaries. They need to reflect upon the social and personal limitations associated with their occupation and the price they have to pay for the high status role.

Attitudes to professional boundaries among therapists with and without substance abuse history

“…Psychoanalysts and psychodynamic therapists are least inclined to disclose information about themselves. Pietkiewicz and Włodarczyk (2014) explain why transparency is viewed as interfering with the technique used by these practitioners. Psychodynamic therapists are also concerned about remaining fairly neutral and nontransparent, not to impose their own ideas and values (moral, aesthetic, political, etc.…”

“…Psychodynamic therapists are also concerned about remaining fairly neutral and nontransparent, not to impose their own ideas and values (moral, aesthetic, political, etc. ) on clients for whom they represent authority (Forrest, 2010;Pietkiewicz & Włodarczyk, 2014;Stricker & Fisher, 1990).…”

“…Sharing networks of people and co-participating in certain groups (support groups for alcohol or drug addicts, religious communities, or work teams) can additionally challenge therapists' privacy boundaries, resulting in unintentional or accidental self-disclosure (Pietkiewicz & Włodarczyk, 2014). According to Doyle (1997), therapists may feel inhibited to talk openly about their own difficulties, e.g.…”

“…Although they justified self-disclosure as potentially beneficial for the working alliance, they did not question why clients asked certain questions, and what were their conscious or less conscious reasons for learning more about their therapists. According to Pietkiewicz and Włodarczyk (2014), reflection about potential consequences of disclosing, intentionally or not, one's moral values or preferences (political, aesthetic, religious, etc.) is necessary from the ethical point of view, because therapists become important identification figures and role models for their clients, and can have considerable impacts on clients' views and life choices.…”

“…treatment, that they share a network of colleagues or friends (Pietkiewicz & Włodarczyk, 2014). People living in small communities (e.g., rural areas) are also more likely to discover a shared network of people (Lazarus & Zur, 2002;Zur, 2006).…”