Boundaries Every Therapist Needs

You didn’t become a therapist to burn out on your own healing journey. Your body will always let you know when you’ve given too much. So if you're a therapist silently managing a chronic illness, redefining your boundaries isn’t selfish - it’s strategic and it’s survival.

There was a time when I believed I was being a “good therapist” by responding to client emails on weekends, overextending my availability, and offering just a little more space, even when my body was pleading for rest.

It would always start the same way: a wave of fatigue, a flare-up of symptoms, a slow slide into the fog. I’d push through, until I couldn’t. My illness would catch up and take me down. Every. Single. Time.

Eventually, I realized: my body was screaming what I wasn’t willing to say out loud: you cannot keep giving if you don’t protect your energy first.

So I started doing the thing we are so often told not to do. I made a radical shift in how I set and enforced boundaries, not just to protect my time, but to preserve my wellness, my work, and my calling.

Here’s how you can do the same.

1. Define Expectations from Day One

During intake, you’re gathering a lot but don’t get so caught up in hearing your client’s perspective that you forget to set the tone.
Explain how sessions are structured, outline communication boundaries (no therapy via email or text), and clarify your role as their professional—not their friend, mentor, or emotional emergency contact.

Pro Tip: Instead of rattling this off like a list, weave it into your conversation naturally. This keeps the connection warm while establishing clear, respectful limits.

2. Protect Your Time Outside of Sessions

Make it clear (in your consent forms and conversations) that therapeutic work happens in session only. You can acknowledge messages, but hold firm on engaging only during scheduled appointments.

3. Create Structure Inside the Session

One of the most subtle energy leaks happens during the session itself. Without structure, you risk running over time, derailing your focus, or absorbing more than your body can metabolize.

Have a loose plan or outline before you begin. This gives you mental clarity, creates a container for the work, and allows you to model healthy boundaries in real-time.

Use this script: “That’s an important point, and I want to give it the time it deserves. Let’s start with that at our next session.”

4. Close Your Practice Like You Close a Session

Your day needs a boundary, too. Working from home? Shut down your computer. Take a transition walk. Light a candle. Shower. Play music.
Find a ritual that allows your body and brain to exit therapist mode and re-enter your life.

This isn’t a luxury - it’s a line between your health and emotional depletion.

5. Have Scripts Ready for Repeat Offenders

It’s hard to think clearly when you’re flaring, exhausted, or overrun. That’s why I keep a few go-to phrases ready for the boundary-pushing moments:

• “I’m only available during our scheduled sessions, so let’s hold that for our next time together.”

• “Because I value your care, I’m unable to reschedule last minute outside of my cancellation window.”

• “Let’s set aside time next session to fully address that topic.”

Having these ready reduces decision fatigue—and reinforces your limits with calm, consistent confidence.

If you’re a therapist living with chronic illness you don’t have to sacrifice your health to be effective. In fact, your wellness is the foundation of your impact.

If you’re ready to reclaim your energy and honor your limits, while living a life that works with your body (not against it), I’m here to support you.

Book a consultation with me today and let’s map out a path forward—one where you can show up for others without disappearing yourself.