Boundaries Issues

When interacting with a client surpasses the professional level, it can fuel a lot of issues when trying to help the client reach their personal goals. Depending on the client’s mental state and comprehension, they can take you just being nice way out of context. This reminds me of when my best friend was dealing with a situation very similar to this. The client was going through a lot, so my friend being the nice person that she is, gave her a personal cell number to reach her if she needed to talk. It was fine and dandy until she was calling her at all times of the day and getting angry when she wasn’t available. She even went as far as using her cell number to search and find her on social media. When it came time to get to business and conduct a client/helper relationship, the client did not respect her in a professional manner and they were unable to get anywhere when working towards the client’s goals. This situation is an accurate example of boundary issues.

A skill that we must possess as human service workers is the ability to earn our clients’ respect, trust and confidence. In order to get anywhere with our client and be successful in our career, we must master doing this early on in the professional relationship. This can be extremely difficult because majority of the time, part of your clients’ issues will involve having difficulty with trust. It could be someone in an abusive relationship, a child abuse case, marital troubles, etc. It’s really tough to build client rapport in our line of work and for that reason, many helpers unintentionally become friends with the client just to meet their needs. I believe my friend’s thought process was exactly that, but instead it backfired on her and her job wasn’t successfully completed. When working as a human services professional, it’s vital that both client and helper are aware of their boundaries and do not cross them.

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