Attitudes to professional boundaries among therapists with and without substance abuse history

• Authors: Igor Pietkiewicz , Karolina Skowrońska-Włoch

Abstracts

EN

There is no empirical research exploring how substance abuse therapists perceive and manage their professional role or privacy boundaries. This study explores their attitudes associated with self-disclosure and dual relationships. Ten therapists, five who had recovered (neophytes) and five who had never been substance dependent, shared their work experiences during semi-structured, in-depth interviews, which have been subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. While non-neophytes were generally reluctant to share personal information or establish alternative forms of relationship with current or former clients, neophytes were more open to using self-disclosure and admitted changing professional relationships into friendships. These findings are discussed in relation to ethical codes, training and supervision in substance abuse treatment.

Keywords

EN

substance abuse; professional boundaries; therapist privacy; self-disclosure; interpretative phenomenological; analysis

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Polish Psychological Bulletin
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 411-422

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

Igor Pietkiewicz

author

Karolina Skowrońska-Włoch

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

2128253