How to Use in Therapy
 
Boundary Repair addresses the ability to recognize and establish healthy boundaries, supporting individuals in being their authentic selves. It also acknowledges that in some contexts, expressing oneself may increase vulnerability, requiring thoughtful assessment of safety.
 
Abusive partners often punish healthy boundary-setting within the relationship. Over time, this can affect survivors’ ability to set boundaries in other relational contexts as well.
 
Healthy Boundaries defines boundaries and outlines the benefits of setting limits. It recognizes family and relational roadblocks survivors may have experienced and how these have weakened their ability to establish boundaries. A responsibility affirmation is included to support survivors’ belief that they have a right to set boundaries when it is safe. Therapists may find this helpful when addressing confusion about the appropriateness of boundaries.
 
Civil Rights provides examples of rights all individuals should have and invites survivors to identify any they are unsure they are entitled to. It also encourages discussion of rights they currently exercise and those they are prevented from exercising or have learned not to.
 
Physical Boundaries recognizes that individuals differ in their preferences for space, time, and touch. It highlights how coercive control can lead survivors to doubt their right to set physical boundaries, while also supporting the rebuilding of confidence in doing so.
 
Knowing Your Reality addresses how coercive control interferes with self-awareness and teaches survivors to doubt their perceptions and feelings. This can extend to difficulty knowing what they think or feel. Therapists may find this useful in reducing shame when survivors struggle with setting both physical and internal boundaries.
 
Internal Boundaries focuses on how strong internal boundaries support respect for one’s own perceptions, thoughts, emotions, wants, and needs, as well as those of others. Therapists may find this helpful for individuals who developed codependent coping patterns in order to navigate family or abusive relationships. It encourages the use of imagery to support boundary-setting efforts and setting goals for difficult situations.
 
Boundary Repair materials support survivors in recognizing their right to set boundaries, strengthening their agency, and making intentional choices in forming relationships.