Posted by DAisym on May 27, 2007, at 0:44:55
In reply to Re: 4 years today, posted by spalding on May 26, 2007, at 23:26:14
I guess I think the most professional and ethical thing for any therapist to do is to know how to provide the most effective therapy for each individual client. For example, I personally think taking phone calls while in session, except in rare emergencies, constitutes bad boundaries. It is like allowing another client to intrude on my space. But other people seem to accept it. So what works for me, and what matters to me, might not work for you.
As far as the matter of gifts, there are therapeutic reasons to accept small "appropriate" gifts. Clients who struggle to feel accepted, clients who have been more or less continuously rejected by important people in their lives and clients who are afraid of the intimate relationship therapy offers may benefit from having a gift accepted and valued by a therapist. Often there are opportunities to talk about the meaning of the gift and of the giving. But more often there is an equal opportunity to let the client feel a sense of pride in the giving and a sense of having this expression of their feelings understood and accepted.
I would hope that any therapist who has decided on an absolute "no gifts" boundary (which I completely respect as their choice)would somehow let a new client know in advance. I can think of nothing more mortifying and rejecting than having a gift you've probably suffered over picking out, refused at the time of giving.
poster:DAisym
thread:759374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070525/msgs/759742.html