Dr. Eric Bender

And you're not going to touch your patients in that way.

But again, I love that they showed an adolescent needed help.

It's not that it's unethical.

It's individual.

But I would say I've had some teaching that once you touch the patient, the relationship has changed.

Now, I will touch a patient because I'm taking their blood pressure or something like that.

a handshake, something like that.

But a hug to me and the way I was taught is like, that's a little much.

So I've had patients ask me.

Yes, there are certain boundaries in psychiatry and they call that the frame.

And you have to think, why are you breaking the frame?

You always have to understand.

Tell me more about this frame.

The frame refers to the boundaries you have with the patient and they're in place to help the patient.

So you wouldn't go out drinking with your patient.

You are not your patient's friends.

They need somebody who can be objective, somebody who can see them in a certain way, somebody who can understand them.

And when you do things like that, there starts to be meaning added into something.

So if I brought coffee for my patient every day,

there's something more in there for that patient than maybe just the coffee.