Boundary violations in training therapies-What can we learn from complaints about breaches of confidentiality?

BackgroundWhile boundary violations in psychotherapy have increasingly come into focus in recent years, the characteristics of these violations in training therapies and analyses have so far hardly been the subject of scientific investigations.GoalThe present work describes specific context features of a training situation that are associated with the occurrence, course, and consequences of breaches of confidentiality.MethodIn this study 18 documentations of consultations with the Ethikverein e. V. (Essen/Germany) were analyzed. In these, breaches of confidentiality in training analysis were reported. The documents were qualitatively analyzed by applying grounded theory methodology (based on K. Charmaz) by means of the MAXQDA (TM) software (VERBI, Berlin).ResultsThe training analysis examined had harmful effects on the candidates. The variables "aptitude doubt ", "multiple roles of the teaching analyst " and "institutional denial of boundary violations " were significant training-specific characteristics of the investigated breaches of confidentiality.The destructive nature of the derailed dyadic relationship was further increased by the unfavorable course and repetition of a disturbed relationship between the psychoanalysis candidate and the training institute.ConclusionBreaches in confidentiality can have damaging effects on candidates in the training context. Furthermore, they can be indicative of impaired boundaries in the dyad as well as in the training institution. Various measures are derived that can help to better protect candidates from boundary violations.