Professional Boundaries and Containment

• Published in: Understanding Boundaries and Containment in Clinical Practice pp. 83 - 91
• Main Authors: Brown, Rebecca, Stobart, Karen
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2008
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Individual’s Early Experiences; Observation Hole; Frequent Therapy; Client’s Material; Understanding Boundaries; Sudden Incapacity; Confer; British Psychoanalytic Council; Maintain Patient Confidentiality; Psychic Infection; Patient’s Notes; Contractual Expectations; Therapeutic Couple; Diocesan Representative; Truby King Baby; Patient’s Vulnerability; Consulting Room; Parochial Church Council; Words Counselling; BPC; Ethics Complaints; Therapy Things; Reliable Support; Flyer Advertising; Therapist’s Belief System
• ISBN: 9781855753938; 1855753936
• DOI: 10.4324/9780429484490-7

Given the nature of the experience in the consulting room, it is not surprising that the ‘therapeutic couple’, the therapist and client, need reliable support and containment. The consulting room and the space around it form a part of their immediate physical boundary. The more the therapists value the distinctiveness of what each practitioner brings to therapeutic work, the less often do terms such as ‘psychotherapy’ have to be used in an indiscriminate manner to confer value or status. The areas covered by Codes of Ethics include: the prohibition against sexual or financial exploitation of patients and supervisees, the obligation to maintain patient confidentiality, fraudulent claims about qualifications, and so on. Codes of Ethics are generally available to the public upon request. The confusion in the valuation of therapeutic work is often augmented by a confusion of terminology. Ethics committees have the power to investigate complaints and, in minor cases, to provide an opportunity for conciliation.