Social workers often come to this profession due to an interest in ‘helping others’. New social workers often find themselves struggling to balance their desire to help with the need to set healthy boundaries with clients. There are four main categories of boundary issues:
Client Care
Level of involvement with client(s); nature of interactions
Access to and disclosure of information
Just because you have access to information, does not mean you should.
Gifts
What is the motivation behind gift giving? What is the timing of the gift? What is the cost of the gift (in relation to the client’s means)?
Dual Relationships
Business relationships; neighbors; treating family members/friends
Instructions
Consider the Freud and Krug article Download Freud and Krug article as well as the NASW Code of Ethics (Links to an external site.) and discuss a time that you have faced one of these boundary issues with a client in your clinical field placement. Describe how and when you identified the boundary issue and how you responded. Now that you are taking time to reflect on this experience, what might you do differently in the future when faced with a similar boundary issue? Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length.
Reference
https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English%20National%20Association%20of%20Social%20Workers%20-%20Code%20of%20Ethics
