Many independent practitioners work in solo or small group practices, or live in small towns or remote geographic areas, and lack easy access to libraries and similar resources provided in hospital and university settings. A web site (Articles, Research, & Resources in Psychology) devoted to providing a range of free resources to psychologists without convenient access to professional libraries includes a section on boundary issues. This section may be helpful to practitioners in thinking through which potential boundary crossings are likely helpful and which likely hurtful, which are high risk and which are relatively safe with a particular client in a particular context.

This section on boundaries provides excerpts on multiple relationships and other boundary issues from the diverse codes of 26 major professional groups; excerpts from some books and articles discussing boundary issues; some widely-used creative decision-making guides created by prominent psychologists to help in thinking through specific boundary issues in their work with clients; links to some articles addressing boundary issues; and other related resources.

This section on boundaries and the rest of the site were designed to be fully accessible for people with disabilities. NOTE: A companion web site offers free Accessibility & Disability Resources for Psychology Training & Practice.

What follow are a little more detail about the content of the section on boundaries and the addresses of both web sites.

The section on boundary issues falls into 5 major categories:

1. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS: excerpts addressing boundary issues from the ethics codes & other formal professional standards (with links to the complete original documents) published by professional associations of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, marriage and family counselors, and so on. The professional associations that address these issues in their formal codes include the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT); American Association of Christian Counselors; American Association of Pastoral Counselors; American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists; American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work; American Counseling Association; American Mental Health Counselors Association; American Music Therapy Association; American Psychoanalytic Association; American Psychological Association; American School Counselor Association; Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards; Australian Association of Social Workers; Australian Psychological Society; British Association for Counseling & Psychotherapy; British Association of Social Workers; British Columbia Association of Clinical Counselors; California Association for Counseling and Development; California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists; Canadian Counseling Association; Canadian Psychological Association; Canadian Traumatic Stress Network [Reseau Canadien du Stress Traumatique]; European Association for Body- Psychotherapy; European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations; Feminist Therapy Institute; Irish Association for Counseling & Therapy; National Association of Social Workers; National Council for Hypnotherapy; and Psychological Society of Ireland;
2. QUOTES & INFORMATION FROM ARTICLES, BOOKS, & STUDIES; excerpts from a sampling of books, articles, and papers addressing boundary issues (e.g., Koocher & Keith-Spiegel’s Ethics in Psychology: Professional Standards & Cases; Knapp & Slattery’s “Professional Boundaries in Nontraditional Settings”; Sonne’s “Nonsexual Multiple Relationships”; Peterson’s “Common Problem Areas & Their Causes Resulting in Disciplinary Actions”; Appelbaum & Gutheil’s Clinical Handbook of Psychiatry & the Law, 4th Edition).
3. WIDELY-USED DECISION-MAKING GUIDES: 3 thoughtful guides created by Michael Gottlieb, by Janet Sonne, & by Jeffrey Younggren;
4. LINKS TO ARTICLES on dual relationships, multiple relationships, and other boundary topics from American Psychologist, Professional Psychology, and other sources (“Dual Relationships: Trends, Stats, and Resources”; “Nonsexual Multiple Relationships & Boundaries in Psychotherapy”; “A Study Calling for Changes in the APA Ethics Code regarding Dual Relationships, Multiple Relationships, & Boundary Decisions”; “Dual Relationships Between Therapist and Client: A National Study of Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and Social Workers”); and
5. LINKS TO RELATED RESOURCES: links to psychology laws & licensing boards in Canada & the U.S.; a section on ethics & malpractice; links to a section on “The Therapist as a Person”; links to the ethics codes and clinical or forensic practice guidelines of over 100 professional associations.
   This section on boundaries in therapy and counseling is part of a web site providing free resources for psychologists (“Articles, Research, & Resources in Psychology), which is at http://kspope.com. The section itself starts at http://kspope.com/dual/index.php.

Though created years ago, this section on boundaries is updated several times a year.

The companion web site which also provides free resources, Accessibility & Disability Resources for Psychology Training & Practice, is at http://kpope.com.