Treatment boundaries in psychiatric practice and sexual misconduct in the therapist–patient relationship

Gabbard 1993). Harm threatens the patient when boundary violations progress in frequency and severity over time.

Boundary guidelines maintain the integrity of therapy and safeguard both the therapist and the patient. Proponents of therapies that breach generally accepted boundary guidelines risk harming the patient and incurring legal liability (Simon 1990a). Psychiatry continues to be highly receptive to innovative therapies that oer the hope of more eective treatments for the mentally ill (Simon 1993). e maintenance of basic treatment boundaries should not be inimical to therapeutic creativity.