When Good Therapists Cross Boundaries

In this reflective episode of In Conversation with Janina Fisher, Janina sits down with pioneering trauma clinician, researcher, and author Dr. Christine Courtois to look back on the evolution of trauma treatment—and the work that still lies ahead.

From the early days when childhood trauma and dissociation were largely dismissed by the mental health field, Janina and Christine revisit the groundbreaking ideas that transformed psychotherapy, including Courtois's enduring reminder that "remembering is not recovering." Together, they explore why healing requires far more than uncovering memories.

Their conversation courageously examines one of the profession's least-discussed topics: sexual boundary violations by therapists. Drawing from painful firsthand experiences as a clinical director, Courtois reflects on how these violations occur, why even skilled clinicians can become vulnerable, and why openness, supervision, and ongoing self-awareness are essential to protecting both therapists and clients.

Along the way, Janina and Christine discuss the importance of phase-oriented treatment, the growing integration of neuroscience and somatic therapies into trauma care, the challenges of treating dissociation, and the urgent need for trauma-informed education within graduate training programs. Their dialogue is both a tribute to how far the field has come and a passionate call to continue improving how clinicians understand and respond to complex trauma.

• Healing is more than remembering

• Boundaries protect healing

• Stabilization is not a delay—it is treatment

• Trauma therapy is relational

• Graduate programs devote far too little attention to trauma and dissociation

• Dissociation deserves greater recognition

• Neuroscience and somatic approaches are reshaping the field

• The field of trauma has made remarkable progress—but the work continues

Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, a board-certified counseling psychologist, retired from 35 years of clinical practice in Washington, DC, is now a licensed psychologist, author and consultant/trainer on trauma psychology and treatment in Lewes, Delaware. She is known for her work on adult survivors of incest and other developmental trauma in childhood and complex trauma and its treatment.

Dr. Courtois has published numerous chapters and journal articles as well as a dozen books. Sexual Boundary Violations in Psychotherapy co-edited with Drs. Lu Steinberg and Judie Alpert and the revised edition of Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders, co-edited with Dr. Julian Ford were published in 2020. The revised edition of Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach co-authored with Dr. Ford, will be published later this year. In addition to other professional books, she has written a consumer book entitled It’s Not You, It’s What Happened to You.

Dr. Christine Courtois Books

Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy (Norton Professional Books)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393705471?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Sexual Boundary Violations in Psychotherapy: Facing Therapist Indiscretions, Transgressions, and Misconduct by Arlene Lu Steinberg (Editor), Judith L. Alpert (Editor), Christine Courtois (Editor)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/143383460X?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

Treatment of Complex Trauma: A Sequenced, Relationship-Based Approach by Christine A. Courtois (Author), Julian D. Ford (Author), John Briere (Foreword)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1462506585?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback