Empathy and Boundaries

In my field placement, there have been two incidents where I have struggled to balance the usually complementary concepts of empathy and boundaries.  The two situations happened after a negative interaction with a staff member during group.  After the group ended, I was able to speak with the client privately so they could vent their emotions and gain some perspective.  During each interaction I was confronted with issues relating to empathy and boundaries.

In the first interaction, already described on this blog, the client expressed hurt and anger, which I felt to be righteous.  Although the client often whiles and pushes limits, he was without fault in the interaction and very little could be said in the clinicians defense.  However, I could not completely side with the client against the clinician because that would violate my boundaries.  If I had done so, the client would no longer see the staff as an integrated unit, but a divided one maliable through power games.  Much like parents, a clinical team must appear united and process conflict privately.  Because of these contraints, I felt limited in my capacity to empathize with the client.  Perhaps, I was just being overly cautious.  

In the other instance, a different client was falling sleeping through groups--a violation of the rules.  The same clinician reacted patiently the first few times, but again lost her temper.  The client nearly walked out of the program crying.  After the group had ended, the client asked to speak with me about her wanting to leave the program.  While I was able to reach the core issue (her self-sabotage and fear of accomplishment), I found myself stepping out of the interaction and thinking of the levels of empathy described in the textbook.  Whereas the other clinician had used the lower levels of empathy by offering advice and simplistic answers, I tried to use the higher levels of empathy by relating the clients moment-by-moment feelings and helping her to access feeling words.  This interaction was by far the most positive one I have had in my field placement thus far.