I really struggle with boundaries. I struggle with making them and keeping them. I struggle with all things boundaries. The other thing I struggle with is small talk, and a part that comes with that, over-sharing. One of my client’s guardians likes to talk to me on a “friend” level. We are not friends. I am paid to care for her brother. I often talk to her on the phone to answer questions about her brother, and discuss things in the program, but our conversations can go on much further than that. She often keeps me on the phone for 1-2 hours, and she talks nonstop. And she barely talks about her brother. What she does talk about is a lot of stuff that makes me uncomfortable. She makes it almost IMPOSSIBLE to have any kind of professional boundaries. She tells me crazy personal information, she makes racist remarks, she’s xenophobic, she’s a Trump supporter, she’s even fatphobic...and she’s overweight! It goes on and on. She swears, but is like, REALLY OBSCENE. Makes crazily obscene jokes. And I don’t know how to handle any of this properly. I have gotten in trouble so many times with my company for “oversharing” with her, being unprofessional, giving her too much information, etc, but every time I’ve asked for help or coaching, they don’t give me any and tell me I can switch to another program if it’s too much...Today, her brother is away for the weekend...and she called the program to talk to me four times and when I didn’t answer the phone, she texted my cellphone twice. I refuse to talk to her today because her brother isn’t here, and I usually use today (my Monday) to transition back to work. If we were going to discuss her bro’s care, it would be one thing, but she’s SPECIFICALLY calling to shoot the shit. This gives me sooo much anxiety since I keep getting in trouble, plus she makes me so uncomfortable. Tonight, at 8:57, as I’m putting my second client to bed, the phone rings AGAIN. I maaaaay have ripped the phone cords out of the wall and left them out until it was time to leave...for her to text my cell...#boundaries #healthyboundaries #professionalboundaries #autistic #iamautistic #actuallyautistic #ihatesmalltalk #auditoryprocessingdisorder https://www.instagram.com/p/CHB6SUsB8Kt/?igshid=1x27udacuycuq
