Tales of a Boundary Ninja

Ending and Unending Part 1 of 3

Two or three times a year, I’ll unwittingly schedule an initial consultation with a potential client who reveals that they are “thinking of leaving” their current therapist – and are meeting with me and several other clinicians as they shop for the quickest exit strategy.

Here is the deal: if you’re single, it’s not a great idea to date someone who is going to leave their partner any minute now, but just hasn’t told them yet. And it’s not a great idea for me to take your case when you are in an active relationship with a clinician who has committed to working with you, but hasn’t been told that it’s not working.

So: how do you know when you should break up with your therapist?

Unless there are some shockingly obvious ethical violations involved – in which case you are permitted to…