SETTING BOUNDARIES

Setting boundaries with your clients is an important part of your job as an IHSS caregiver. Setting boundaries with your clients can help you to maintain a helpful and therapeutic relationship without crossing personal and/or professional lines (CTADVRC, 2017). Setting boundaries can also help reduce compassion fatigue and burnout, and in turn allowing you to better meet the needs of each of your clients. Compassion fatigue “seems to rob the professionals of their sense of well-being, comfort, purpose, identity and empowerment: all the qualities that one associates with being ‘at home’” (Ruysschaert, 2019).  Burnout is when someone becomes physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted causing them to lose the ability to cope with the stress linked to their environment or workplace (Maslach, 1982; as cited in Ruysschaert, 2019). Knowing what your boundaries are and how to set them can be challenging. The handouts provided on this page will inform you on ways you can set boundaries between you and your clients. We’ve included information on what boundaries are, barriers you might face when trying to set boundaries, ways you can set boundaries, and how you can access resources through IHSS.