Boundaries (Collection: Mental Health )

A boundary is division that separates things from one another. At one extreme, a boundary can be "impermeable" (e.g., a very solid thing like a wall that rigidly keeps all things of one type on one side of the division, and all things of the other type on the other side). On the other extreme, a boundary can also be "permeable" (e.g., insubstantial, allowing the different types of things that have been divided to intermingle freely). In-between these extremes you can find examples of boundaries that are semi-permeable; (e.g., that let some degree of intermingling occur while preventing other intermingling). In human relationships, the concept of boundaries is helpful to us in helping us to understand ourselves and our relationships with others. We have boundaries in our relationships with other persons. We let some people get close to us and know our vulnerabilities, while others we keep at a distance and don't allow them near enough to hurt us. Sometimes our relationship boundaries get screwed up and we don't set up proper sorts of boundaries. We might let someone who wants to hurt us in too close where they can hurt us, or we might keep someone who wants to love us at a too far distance to allow them to love us properly. Much psychotherapy is devoted to helping people to recognize the proper sorts of boundaries they need to put in place to have healthy relationships.

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