Too Much Information: Maintaining Boundaries During Skills Practice

A basic expectation of new counseling students is to learn and demonstrate basic counseling skills while also respecting boundaries for interpersonal disclosures. This expectation parallels the future obligation to maintain boundaries with clients, as excessive self-disclosure is ineffective and potentially damaging to counseling relationships. Consulting is best practice for the continued growth of educators and supervisors and also has the benefit of offering support in challenging scenarios. Counselor educators are responsible for requiring students to address personal issues that might impact their professional competence, and faculty may help students identify appropriate clinicians. Encountering the key issue of students sharing too much personal information can be common and challenging. Important considerations accompany this critical issue, including professional boundaries, professional competence, harm to future clients, and gatekeeping. These considerations contribute to the need for counselor educators to address the key issue of disclosing too much personal information early on with students and with care.