Sometimes when offering social support to individuals, your support can be misinterpreted. You cannot control how someone interprets your support, however you can put in place variables that may make your communication of support clearer and with less risk of misinterpretation. To accomplish this, it is best to create professional boundaries. Following ethical guidelines may be your key to setting and following strong boundaries so you can be both supportive and helpful, without leaving a lot of room for misinterpretation on support.

For some ideas on how to create professional boundaries, read: “Ethics of Dual Relationships & Therapeutic Boundaries inSport Psychology” https://www.zurinstitute.com/resources/dual-relationships/dual-relationships-sport-psychology/and “Setting Boundaries Preventing Abuse And Harassment: At A Pre-Season Meeting” https://www.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/parent-coach-relationship/preseason/setting-boundaries-preventing-abuse-and-harassment. Feel free to find your own information as well!

Discussion for this week: State a profession or professions you are considering entering(NURSING). Discuss why it would be important in your chosen profession(s) to create professional boundaries. Identify how you could create professional boundaries so athletes and others view you as a professional and you deter from misinterpretation of social support. Provide at least five ways you may accomplish this.