Creating Healthy Boundaries in Health Care Settings

How Issues of Communication, Sexuality and Intimacy Affect the Practitioner's Role

A Workshop with Dr. Ben Benjamin

Providing health care of any kind is difficult and rewarding work. The role of being a professional helper is both challenging and complex. There is the real possibility for profound and important change to occur and also the possibility of inadvertent errors that may damage our clients.

While most of us have had extensive training in our discipline, we often did not receive training in how to manage our professional relationships. The therapeutic relationship by its very nature is an intimate one. How we handle the level and type of intimacy that develops between our clients and ourselves significantly impacts our effectiveness.

Our work as health care providers can be most effective when we have thoroughly examined our professional boundaries and understand when, where, and with whom they have become blurred. When we have the skills to prevent this blurring and when clear boundaries are established, our work is more effective.

This workshop will also address the often ignored topic of our relationships with our co-workers and/or our supervisors. Creating healthy relationships in this area of our work life can have a tremendous impact on our happiness and productivity at work.

Participants Will: