There is one question that all helping professionals should be able to answer....
What is your scope of practice?
Your scope of practice are your professionabl boundaries that highlight the skills, services & responses that are within your competency as an individual professional.
One of the most important components of trauma-informed care is setting professional boundaries.
Professional boundaries are an expression of your capacity.
Your capacity being your ability to receive, contain and produce something.
This can refer to your personal capacity or a collective (eg: company, culture, team, etc.).
Professional boundaries communicate to others where you begin and end when it comes to your roles and responsibilities as a professional.
Professional boundaries are collaborative in nature because they are being set by you the professional based on your personal skills, education, training, competencies, roles, responsibilities, credentials, etc. but then communicated and agreed upon within the relationships you have.
You need to be able to understand your capacity in order to set boundaries.
This is about knowing where you begin and end, your limits and your ability to receive responses that may include disappointment or discouragement.
Setting boundaries within a professional relationship is key to building trust and promoting safety.
I refer to this as our scope of practice- the professiondal boundaries you have that help us ensure you are centering your capacity in order to show up and build trust and promote safety within professional relationships.
A scope of practice is not a term I created nor is it a new one. We see this commonly in the medical field referring to physicians or nurses and the boundary for which they practice within.
But scopes of practice aren't limited to specific professions.
As professionals, we all have not only the ability but the responsibility to have clear, transparent and communicated boundaries.
Outlining your scope of practice demonstrates ethical and social responsibility to ensure you are being transparent and honest about your capacity within your role and services.
It offers clear expectations so other people know what to expect from working with you and is supportive tool to ensure you are practicing within your limits.
If you value trauma-informed care, then knowing and functioning within your scope of practice is one of the most important things you can do to resist harm and promote trust in your spaces.
It means you regularly take ample time to understand and check in with where you begin and end when it comes to your capacity and the services you provide.
When you know and uphold this important and necessary boundary, you honor the best interests of yourself and the people you serve.
When you lead or act outside your scope of practice (intentionally or unintentionally), pathways for direct or indirect harm may occur toward yourself and others.
Knowing and practicing within your scope of practice is the most supportive thing you can do for yourself AND others.
When you practice within your scope you demonstrate the strength and integrity of your leadership.
It is NOT a flaw or failure on your part when you're unable to offer a service or respond because it is outside your scope of practice. It means that person requires another pathway or person to meet their needs.
If you were to assume ability despite it being out of your scope, then it opens both you and the other person up to potential pathways for harm to occur.
Communicating your scope is essential for transparency and setting mutual expectations.
It is not enough to be aware of your professional boundaries.
You need to be able to clearly set, communicate and then lead within them.
Leading within your scope of practice is one of the most critical things you can do as any professional but especially one that is trauma competent.
Want to learn more about setting professional boundaries? Join me for a virtual workshop on Tuesday, October 17th at 12pm EST (recording available) investment $75 USD.
This workshop will explore how to set professional boundaries by identifying, communicating and leading within your scope of practice.
In this workshop you will learn:
- How to determine your scope of practice (aka professional boundaries)
- How to effectively communicate boundaries to promote trust and safety in client relationships
- How to respond to client disclosures and needs without compromising your integrity
Free Bonus: Everyone who attends this workshop will receive the Know Your Scope Toolkit (value $97) for free. This toolkit offers an easy to use scope of practice statement template and guides you in confidently leading within your professional boundaries.
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