Clients' Perceptions of the Process and Consequences of Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy.

Abstract

The primary aim of this multimethod study was to investigate client perceptions of the process, benefits, difficulties, and consequences of disclosing and withholding material in psychotherapy sessions. Twentyone clients in psychotherapy, most engaged in long-term psychodynamically oriented treatment, participated in semistructured interviews and completed several Likert-type scales. Results indicate that most clients feel that therapy is a safe place to disclose, made especially so by the goodness of the therapeutic relationship; that the disclosure process initially generates shame and anticipatory anxiety but ultimately engenders feelings of safety, pride, and authenticity; that keeping secrets inhibits the work of therapy, whereas disclosing produces a sense of relief from physical as well as emotional tension; that disclosures in therapy facilitate subsequent disclosures to one’s therapist as well as to family members and friends; and that therapists should actively pursue material that is difficult to disclose. Speak to me as to thy thinkings, as thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts the worst of words—Shakespeare, Othello Western culture historically has emphasized the importance of revealing secrets. This is perhaps seen most profoundly in the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church, which not only stresses the importance of confessing one’s sins but also requires it for absolution. Still, more so than in many decades, self-disclosure seems to be of intense contemporary interest. In “reality” television programming, talk-show radio, tabloid newspapers, books, and politics, a tell-all mentality now prevails. New and formidable social, economic, and political pressures—including rapid technological advances, failing financial markets, and global terrorism— seem to be increasing the need for individuals to feel intimately connected with others, in part by revealing themselves to others. However, it is within the confines of the psychotherapist’s office that self-disclosure is most expected, emphasized, and valued. The present study aimed to investigate the phenomenology of clients’ disclosures in therapy as they unfold throughout the course of treatment.