10 Setting Boundaries Activities for Clients in Counseling

Boundaries are an essential component of healthy relationships with friends, family, co-workers, and other individuals in our lives. They can help establish trust, safety, and respect within different settings. Boundaries can be used regarding physical space, finances, sex, and emotions. Communication is an important part of establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries. Ideally, this is done calmly and respectfully.

Individuals who struggle to establish or maintain healthy boundaries may experience heightened anxiety or depression. They may feel responsible for other people’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. You may see this with clients who struggle with people-pleasing behaviors or codependency.

Setting boundary activities can be helpful for clients living with a range of mental health disorders. This includes anxiety, depression, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. More specifically, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Learning to bring healthy boundaries into their life can help decrease stress and increase life satisfaction. 

How Setting Boundaries Activities Can Help Your Clients 

Boundary-setting activities can be incorporated into group and individual therapy sessions for clients experiencing a range of mental health and social challenges. You can provide a safe environment for your client to explore their difficulties and practice using communication and assertiveness skills for implementing boundaries.

TherapyByPro is a leading resource for mental health professionals. Here, you can access a variety of customizable documents that can be incorporated into your clinical work. Examples of worksheets that you could use with clients who are learning to set boundaries include:

•  Setting Boundaries Worksheet Bundle
• Identifying Core Value Worksheets
•  Setting Boundaries Worksheet
•  Setting Boundaries With Family Worksheet
• Marriage Boundaries Worksheet   

Setting Boundaries Activities for Your Clients

As you review our list of boundary-setting activities, consider how you can customize them for your clients and their unique needs. Activities can be modified for clients of different ages and those with varying mental health concerns.

1. Boundary visualization exercises are a mindfulness-based approach that can be helpful for clients who are struggling with anxiety, people-pleasing tendencies, and burnout. For this exercise, you will ask your client to sit still with their eyes closed if they feel safe doing so. During this visualization, you can guide the exercise by having them observe themselves saying no or establishing a needed boundary. This can help your client see themselves doing it and give them an idea of how they can do it in real life.
2. Role-playing exercises are an example of a cognitive behavioral intervention that can be helpful for clients struggling with social anxiety and assertiveness. For this exercise, you will ask your client to think of a recent conflict that they feel they could have handled differently. As you act out the situation, your client can practice assertive communication skills to help establish healthy boundaries. Role-playing allows you to demonstrate these skills to your client so they can better understand how to apply them in real-life situations.
3. Journaling is a commonly used exercise for a range of mental health conditions, including boundary setting and understanding relationship dynamics. For this exercise, ask your client to create a chart with three columns. The first column will describe the situation, and the following two will indicate whether they can say no or establish a boundary. This can be done as homework and reviewed in their subsequent session. As you review this journal entry, explore how they felt during the situation and afterwards based on their actions.
4. Value mapping is a technique from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) that can help clients who struggle with boundaries. For this exercise, you will ask your client to write down ten personal values and rank them from most to least important. They will then go through each value and write a boundary that supports these values. You can help them identify daily behaviors that support this value and incorporate them into their everyday lives. Encourage them to note these behavioral changes between sessions so you can review them together. 
5. Clients who have a history of trauma may find that developing a safe word helps them feel secure with trusted family and friends. With this, you will ask your client to think of a word or gesture they can use when they are overwhelmed, stressed, or triggered.  You can help your client brainstorm ideas that they feel comfortable using in various settings. Ask your client who they would like to share their safe word with, and review its use in their subsequent sessions. 
6. Art therapy can be an effective tool for clients who struggle to verbalize their thoughts and emotions, including children and teens. You can help your client create a circle of trust using concentric circles. You will ask your client to write the names of people in their life in the circles based on the closeness of their relationships.  The innermost circle will represent the closest relationships, whereas outer circles have lower levels of. Trust. As you review their circles, you can ask them how they feel these individuals respond to the boundaries that they placed. For example, do the people in their inner mouth circle respect boundaries more than those in the outer layers? What helps them feel safe with this person? 
7. Body check-ins are a Somatic Therapy exercise that can be helpful with clients who struggle with burnout and emotional regulation. For a body scan, ask your client to sit down and notice the sensations within their body. You can guide them through different areas of their body, asking them to be mindful of places that feel tight or tense, warm or cold. They can ask themselves, “What do I need right now?” This can help increase self-awareness regarding their body’s reaction to different experiences. Encourage your client to perform a body check three times per day and to pay attention to any changes in their emotions, thoughts, or behaviors.
8. Practicing assertiveness in session can help clients develop the confidence they need to set boundaries with other people in their lives. This can be helpful for clients who have low self-esteem, poor boundaries, or engage in people-pleasing behaviors. For this exercise, ask them to write a clear, direct statement that reflects the boundary they want to set. As an example, “I cannot do that today” or “No, I am unable to do that for you.” Encourage your client to practice saying the statement and eventually do it in front of the mirror. Encourage them to be mindful of eye contact and other body language signs that play a role in boundary setting. 
9. Clients who have a history of trauma, anxiety, and sensory concerns may experience sensitivity with their personal space. Guided meditation can be helpful for clients because it allows them to visualize a safe place when they feel stressed or overwhelmed. For this, you will ask your client to sit and close their eyes, if they feel safe to do so. They will then visualize a place they feel safe, including what they see, hear, smell, feel, and taste. They can then engage in deep breathing, saying aloud, “My space, my peace.” At the end of this exercise, your clients experience and review situations in which they can use this practice in everyday life. You can check in on future sessions about their use of visualization exercises and the impact that it had on their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
10. Letter writing is a narrative therapy approach that can help clients communicate their thoughts and feelings with other individuals. This can be helpful for clients with unresolved anger or those who experience communication difficulties. You will ask your client to write a letter to somebody with whom they would like to set boundaries. This letter does not need to be sent, and can be used as a tool to help them organize their thoughts. Spend time reviewing their letter and exploring how they can translate its thoughts into a conversation to improve their boundaries. 

Final Thoughts On Choosing The Right Setting Boundaries Activities for Your Clients

Boundaries are essential for respect, personal growth, and emotional safety. Clients who have poor boundaries are more likely to experience mental health distress, burnout, and develop resentments. By helping clients learn to establish and reinforce healthy boundaries, you can help them maintain their autonomy while fostering genuine connections with others. This can increase their self-awareness and emotional resilience.

You can learn more about the importance of boundaries through continuing education and other training opportunities within your clinical niche.

Resources:

• Rich Oswald, L. P. C. (2023, December 27). Setting boundaries for well-being. Mayo Clinic Health System. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/setting-boundaries-for-well-being