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An exploration of setting healthy personal boundaries as a veterinary professional – part 1: at work and beyond
Abstract
A personal boundary is a behavioural or emotional metaphorical wall that we erect to ensure our physical and psychological safety. These are important for keeping us in healthy and sustainable relationships. We draw personal boundaries to protect what is uniquely ours: our body, resources, intellect, emotions and behaviour. Therefore, where we draw them is specific to us based on our ethics, values, priorities, experiences, feelings and needs. Veterinary professionals may struggle to set boundaries because they may be driven by compassion or empathy, or have perfectionistic or people-pleasing tendencies. This is the first of a series of two articles addressing what personal boundaries are and why we need them. Why veterinary professionals struggle to set healthy boundaries is also discussed.
In recent years the word ‘boundary’ has become a popular buzzword in our society. However, this concept is more than just the latest popular phrase, as healthy personal boundaries are important for keeping us in healthy relationships with our clients, colleagues, our places of employment, our friends and family. This is the first instalment of two articles, which explore setting and maintaining healthy personal boundaries as a veterinary professional at work and beyond. The information draws from evidence-based practice in the disciplines of educational and clinical psychology (Kohn, 1993; Rosenberg, 2015), psychotherapy (Cloud, and Townsend, 1992), cognitive behavioural therapy (Tawab, 2021), life coaching (Levin, 2020; Wise, 2020), social work (Brown, 2015; 2018) and human healthcare (Puder, 2018; 2019; Maté, 2019) and has been applied to the veterinary profession. The author has included what they have found useful in their understanding of boundaries and has occasionally used anecdotes and personal examples to illustrate an academic point.
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