Foreword The creation of boundaries is at once d psychic necessity and an illusion. Tbe need to draw lines allows for the existence of make thinking possible. We also establish rules that demarcate psychic space: don't touch me there, don ' t ask me that. However, there are no real lines, even on a pbysical level, just horizons where one entity meets anotber and the outer skin defines the borders between the two. In the psychic world, the lines are more blurry still. Who is to say where one's self ends and tbe otber begins? Andred Celenza ( 2007) The American psychoanalyst Andrea Celenza captures a central issue in thinking about professional boundaries -that they are both real and chimerical. Whilst there must be clear and unequivocal rules which outlaw some forms of behaviour(don' t have sex with your clients, don,t steal their money, etc.), in day-to-day practice most boundaries require reflection, thought and readjustment where necessary. Of critical importance is the need to be able to articulate any action, with colleagues and with supervisors, and to focus on the clients wellbeing as the trump card in choice-making One of my earliest memories is from 1971: my father bringing home a client of his, a young woman who had been prescribed Thalidomide during her pregnancy, and her daughter, whose crude prosthetics fascinated and alarmed us as we rolled around the floor together. Reflecting on this some 40 years later my father, the social worker, did not feel good about his decision to invite her into our home: What must she have thought?"he said Special treatment, and the urge to provide it, is one of the early warning signs that we teach practitioners to be aware of, part of a potential'slippery slopeof behaviours which can lead to significant7 Foreword The creation of boundaries is at once a psychic necessity and an illusion. The need to draw lines allows for the existence of categories – this is this and not that – and, in this way, boundaries make thinking possible. We also establish rules that demarcate psychic space: don’t touch me there, don’t ask me that. However, there are no real lines, even on a physical level, just horizons where one entity meets another and the outer skin defines the borders between the two. In the psychic world, the lines are more blurry still. Who is to say where one’s self ends and the other begins? Andrea Celenza (2007) The American psychoanalyst Andrea Celenza captures a central issue in thinking about professional boundaries – that they are both real and chimerical. Whilst there must be clear and unequivocal rules which outlaw some forms of behaviour (don’t have sex with your clients, don’t steal their money, etc.), in day-to-day practice most boundaries require reflection, thought and readjustment where necessary. Of critical importance is the need to be able to articulate any action, with colleagues and with supervisors, and to focus on the client’s wellbeing as the trump card in choice-making. One of my earliest memories is from 1971: my father bringing home a client of his, a young woman who had been prescribed Thalidomide during her pregnancy, and her daughter, whose crude prosthetics fascinated and alarmed us as we rolled around the floor together. Reflecting on this some 40 years later my father, the social worker, did not feel good about his decision to invite her into our home: ‘What must she have thought?’ he said. Special treatment, and the urge to provide it, is one of the early warning signs that we teach practitioners to be aware of, part of a potential ‘slippery slope’ of behaviours which can lead to significant