Boundary statement
As an ethical therapist, I am aware of the importance of setting and maintaining good and healthy boundaries. As a member of gender, sexuality and relationship diverse communities, it is even more important given the greater possibility for overlapping spaces and identities. The role of the ethical therapist and supervisor includes an active process of checking, maintenance and reparation where needed.
This professional boundary statement is part of the process, offering clear guidance to potential clients, and myself. I am a therapist as well as a campaigner, writer, performer, and life model. Beyond these, I am a human being who recognises the importance of being able to express all parts of ourselves.
1. Confidentiality
Every person who engages in therapy is entitled to have their confidentiality maintained including their identities. They should never be outed as belonging to the gender, sexuality and relationship diverse communities. In the first session, we will go through a contract that explains the exceptions to this duty of confidentiality. These are safeguarding exceptions, based on a clear belief either you, or another, is in danger of harm, and legally mandated exceptions concerning money laundering and terrorism. You can expect that I, as your therapist, will not share your identities outside our sessions.
If you do see me at an in-person event, I will not acknowledge you unless you choose to do so first. If you wish to say hi, feel free. I will not refer to the fact that you are my client or refer to our therapy sessions.
2. Performance and modelling
I co-organise Queer Shapes Life Model Collective and sometimes model at life drawing sessions. If you have attended a life-drawing class in which I have modelled, it would be beneficial to discuss this before starting sessions. It is not necessarily a barrier to us working together, but it would be helpful to discuss what this may bring up for you before starting therapy. If you would like to attend a life drawing class in Swansea, I am happy to share details of my booking dates and locations with you so we can make informed choices about how that would be for both of us and our working relationship.
If you happen to see me in a life drawing class after we start working together, it would be good to talk about what that brought up for you in our next therapy session.
I sometimes host and speak at events including Pride events, public talks, and conferences. If you see me at one of these events, I am happy to discuss what impact that had for you. Having attended a performance or event I have taken part in is not a barrier to starting therapy with me.
I have a podcast that’s listed on Spotify. You are welcome to listen, and if anything arises for you as a result of listening I am happy to discuss in our sessions.
3. Writing
As a writer, I mainly focus on themes of the work that I do and theoretical scenarios, as well as writing works of fiction. I do not write directly about client material. If you read something that I have written and you feel that you can identify your own experiences within it, I am happy to discuss this with you in session.
4. Social media
My social media presence is limited to my professional accounts on Facebook and Instagram, and I am a member of some Discord servers for queer people and related to my hobbies and interests.
You are welcome to follow me on Instagram or Facebook if you choose, but I will not follow you back. I want the things that I learn about you to be the things that you choose to bring into our sessions rather than learning things incidentally through social media. If either of us thinks that we may end up sharing online space on Discord, I would prefer that we mutually block one another so that we both have freedom to interact with other members of our communities without fear of over-disclosure. We can discuss this in our sessions.
5. GSRD communities
As queer person who spends time in queer, kink, and non-monogamy spaces and events, we may find that we know people in common or find ourselves in the same places. I value my personal experiences and the richness that they bring to my work with people in our communities, but as our communities tend to be small it can create greater opportunities for overlap. The same principles of seeing and acknowledging each other apply as set out above under section 1 on confidentiality.
I believe in the importance of honest conversations about dual relationships (such as being both your therapist and knowing someone in our wider social circle) and where the relationships in our social circles may overlap. It is important that we both feel that there is enough distance between us for the work we do together to take place safely and ethically.
Once we start working together, it will not be appropriate for us to date or be close friends in the future. It may be relevant for us to discuss your friends or partners in advance of us agreeing to work together to make sure that we are comfortable that there are no close connections that would make it difficult for safe and impartial therapeutic work.
I may be happy to work with you if someone I already work with has recommended me, but it would be helpful to explore the nature of the relationships before proceeding. I will not usually work with two people who are in a close romantic or domestic relationship, people who are immediate family members (such as parent and child) or with people who have close relationships with my partners or friends. This is to allow me to work ethically and safely with my clients without any conflict of interest.
Whilst I endeavour to maintain a clear distance between my personal experiences that inform my work and my clients, should there be a concern about an “overlap” I am always open to discussing appropriate ways of managing those connections.