Therapists think long and hard about where and how to draw boundaries around the therapeutic relationship. Some are happy to share personal information, others won’t give a trace of detail away. Analysts, working with the ‘transference’ over years, work hard to maintain a ‘blank screen’ – revealing nothing so as not to pollute what the client projects (of course this is nonsense, as humanity will seep through whatever efforts are sustained to keep it at bay). Some therapists are happy to work with ad hoc appointments, others with a regular weekly slot. Lacanian therapists ignore the time-honoured therapeutic hour of 50 mins and work for as long as the therapist thinks the session should last – 10 minutes or 3 hours.
More recently, thinking about boundaries has had to include online as well as offline life. My online life is fairly hibernatory, but I do exist around the edges and I have met clients in the ether. This (work in progress) document needs to be put somewhere safe on my website so potential clients can read it, but in the meantime, I’ve drafted a social media policy here