Boundaries

"I Just Want Your Advice!"

Four Top Responses to a Common Client Plea

Do your therapy clients ask you for advice? We asked 5 top therapists what they do when clients say, “Just tell me what to do!” Read more

Personal Boundaries vs. Environmental Concerns

An Interview with Nedra Glover Tawwab: When Differing Values Create Interpersonal Conflicts

Do interpersonal conflicts about environmental choices require a unique approach to boundary setting? Read more

So You Want to Be Your Client's Friend

Two Therapists Discuss a Clinical Taboo

Join the conversation between two therapists as they discuss the longing for friendship in the therapy room. Read more

I Want to Be My Client's Friend

A Taboo Longing in the Therapy Room

How far is friendship from the special type of closeness we call the therapeutic relationship? Read more

Practice Tools: September/October 2023

The best from across the field of psychotherapy . . . on us!

This month’s selection is from Nedra Glover Tawwab’s "Boundaries Flip Chart: A Psychological Tool to Help Clients Set Healthy Limits, Develop Fulfilling... Read more

Senior writer/editor Alicia Muñoz talks with author, therapist, and Instagram influencer Nedra Glover Tawwab about boundaries and maintaining drama-free... Read more

We Need to Talk about Dating

Can Therapists Ethically Have an Online Dating Profile?
Paul Christopher Mollitt

Putting yourself out there on the dating scene can be intimidating enough, but therapists have the additional challenge of managing professional and personal... Read more

Sitting Down with Nedra Glover Tawwab

Flexible Boundaries and Drama-Free Relationships

A new kind of social media and psychotherapy influencer challenges the common cultural misconception that toxic people should be cut out of our lives, no... Read more

Strengthening Personal Boundaries

The Bioenergetic Approach

Asserting boundaries sometimes means confronting painful loss, but in these cases, helping them reinforce their boundaries has led to greater satisfaction. Read more

Lessons from the Masters

Four Seasoned Therapists Share Their Expertise

As experts in any field will tell you, the secret to honing your craft is practice, practice, practice. But a little advice doesn’t hurt either. Here, four... Read more

Helping Clients in Toxic Relationships

How to Unravel Trauma Bonds

Ryan Howes interviews Laura Copley, licensed professional counselor and owner of Aurora Counseling about toxic relationships. Read more

Five Things Seasoned Therapists Wish They'd Known

. . . And the One Question You Should Always Ask Your Clients

A great deal of what therapist's learn comes from experience, trial and error, and hours upon hours sitting across from clients. Five seasoned therapists share... Read more

The Mentor Who Changed My Therapy Practice

…And How Two Little Words Changed Everything

Most clinicians need a mentor: someone who takes them under their wing and inspires them to be a better therapist. The five clinicians whose stories you’re... Read more

Managing Confidentiality

Three Things I Learned from My Small-Town Practice

When you practice in a rural town, sometimes it can feel like everyone is connected to each other. Instead of worrying about boundary and confidentiality... Read more

Couples Therapy During Coronavirus

Challenges and Opportunities

A clinician who's spent almost two years doing online couples therapy shares the tips and strategies she's found especially helpful. Read more

The Surprising Intimacy of Phone Sessions

Video Chat Isn’t Necessarily Better

In an unexpected twist, one therapist is finding phone sessions more effective than video sessions. Here's why. Read more

Clinicians weigh in on how to keep therapy work on track during the telehealth sessions. Read more

My New Normal, Part 2

Therapeutic Discoveries in the Time of Coronavirus
Psychotherapy Networker

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically shifted how almost every therapist works nowadays, in ways both expected and unexpected. Although we’re all in this... Read more

Yikes, I’m Attracted to My Client

Five Clinicians Weigh In
Psychotherapy Networker

A therapist finds her client attractive and says their conversations sometimes border on flirtatious. She says she'd never act on these feelings, but worries... Read more

Reflections on Remote Work with Clients

New Lessons on the Space Between Us

As a therapist, I've always liked to work a certain way, in person, face to face in my cozy office. But when the coronavirus hit and I repurposed a guest... Read more

My Angry Client is Getting to Me

Five Clinicians Weigh In
Psychotherapy Networker

Mark has anger issues, and his therapist finds herself getting extremely reactive when he loses his temper in therapy. Recently, he called her “a joke” and... Read more

The Do's and Don'ts of Self-Disclosure

Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls

When I've asked people who've gone to therapy what was most helpful, again and again, they've described times when their therapists shared something about... Read more

VIDEO: The Biggest Threat to Remarried Boomers

Helping Partners Deal with Stepfamilies

Successfully combining families as part of remarriage is always challenging. But it's especially hard when older re-couplers have adult children, who may or... Read more

Confessions of a Former People Pleaser

The Radical Act of Rethinking Your Boundaries

I used to view boundaries as a fancy way of dressing up rejection, incompetence, and selfishness. But after a decade of working as a couples counselor, I've... Read more

My Client Ghosted Me

Five Clinicians Give Their Take
Psychotherapy Networker

Sara had been attending weekly therapy for three months. Her therapist thought they'd developed a strong bond, but Sara has missed her last two sessions. Her... Read more

My Clients Are Asking Personal Questions

Five Clinicians Give Their Take
Psychotherapy Networker

A therapist works from his home office, which means clients sometimes observe elements of his personal life. He's had clients ask about his electric car... Read more

VIDEO: Esther Perel on How to Talk with Men About Intimacy

Framing Intimacy as a Regular Part of Life

It's not always easy to get men to talk about intimacy and sex. But according to renowned sex therapist and author Esther Perel, there's a way to weave... Read more

I Accepted a Gift from My Client

Five Clinicians Give Their Take on What to Do Now
Psychotherapy Networker

Asha recently gave her therapist a homemade necklace, which he accepted, thinking it innocuous enough. Now, she brings it up almost every session... Read more

My Clients and I Use the Same Dating Apps

Five Clinicians Give Their Take

A therapist recently joined a few online dating apps after finding herself newly single. She's seen several clients come up in these apps, and suspects they've... Read more

My Client Invited Me to a Family Barbecue

Five Clinicians Give Their Take
Psychotherapy Networker

A therapist recently moved to a new town and discovered that his client's daughter attends the same school as his son. The client recently... Read more