Therapist Self-disclosure Research Articles

The Therapist's Use of Self-Disclosure in a Relational Therapy Approach for Eating Disorders

One of the critical aspects of Relational Therapy (RT) that distinguishes it from other treatments for eating disorders is the therapist's use of self-disclosure. Self-disclosure is one way the therapist authentically represents her- or himself in the therapeutic relationship to foster relational movement and growth. This article makes use of an initial clinical vignette to compare and contrast the use of therapist self-disclosure within an RT approach with views of therapist self-disclosure from other psychotherapy traditions. Advantages are discussed for using therapist disclosure with eating disordered patients. Criteria are outlined to help the RT therapist decide when to disclose. Additional clinical vignettes show different types of therapist self-disclosure, their therapeutic purposes, and their relational impact. The article ends with implications for future research, training, and practice related to the use of self-disclosure in the treatment of eating disordered patients.

Therapist self-disclosure in cognitive-behavior therapy.

Although cognitive-behavior therapy emphasizes between-session change, therapist self-disclosure within the session can be an effective tool for strengthening the therapeutic bond and facilitating client change. After noting the use of self-disclosure in other theoretical orientations, we place self-disclosure in the context of cognitive-behavioral theories of reinforcement and modeling. Clinical vignettes illustrate the use of therapist self-disclosure to provide feedback on the interpersonal impact made by the client, enhance positive expectations and motivation, strengthen the therapeutic bond, normalize the client's reaction, reduce the client's fears, and model an effective way of functioning. Therapists need to observe appropriate boundaries when self-disclosing, and in particular, should consider their own motivations for self-disclosing. Although more research is needed on the effects of self-disclosure, cognitive-behavior therapists have found that self-disclosure can be a powerful intervention.

Therapist self-disclosure with children, adolescents, and their parents.

Many therapists who work with children and adolescents make extensive use of self-disclosure. However, these interventions have received little attention in the literature, and the basis for using them has not been well established. A developmental/relational perspective on the therapeutic process provides a cogent foundation using therapist self-disclosure with children, adolescents, and their parents. Therapist self-disclosure facilitates the negotiation of many important therapeutic tasks. Clinicians working with children and adolescents almost always work concurrently with parents, yet the nature of this work has not been clearly conceptualized. I advance a collaborative model for parent work, highlighting the essential role of therapist self-disclosure. Extensive clinical examples of therapist self-disclosure with children, adolescents, and their parents are provided.

Self-disclosure in psychoanalytic-existential therapy.

This article is an effort to integrate contemporary psychoanalytic and existential perspectives on intentional therapist self-disclosure. It offers a two-stage decision-making model that considers self-disclosure from the vantage points of style and internalization. Clinical and research findings are presented to support the notion that the meanings a patient attributes to a particular self-disclosure, and its power to move him or her towards greater health, is the product of a fluctuating matrix of interpersonal and intrapsychic variables. Special consideration is given to the challenges that arise during the early and termination stages of treatment and to the psychotherapy of therapists.

Therapist self-disclosure: research-based suggestions for practitioners.

After defining therapist self-disclosure, we briefly discuss its theoretical foundations. We then move to our primary focus of presenting a number of suggestions for effective use of therapist self-disclosure, based on the extant empirical literature.

Self-Disclosure With All-Male Groups

Given the relational deficits men bring to a group, therapist self-disclosure is particularly pertinent with all-male groups. The use of this intervention reflects the author’s long experience with such groups. The author writes from an interpersonal, collaborative model of group therapy, and discusses types of self-disclosure and the guiding principles in their use. Drawing primarily from his own practice, the author presents and discusses clinical vignettes that illustrate both helpful and nonhelpful uses of self-disclosure.

Tales of a Therapist

ABSTRACT Historically, theorists and clinicians from various schools of family therapy have discussed therapist self-disclosure in terms of either helping or inhibiting therapeutic progress. Although postmodern language-based theorists and therapists accept and encourage its use, few clinical examples of therapist self-disclosure exist in the family therapy literature. In this paper, a postmodern family therapist working within the language-based tradition describes the use of self-disclosures with a couple. The therapist then reviews the effects of those self-disclosures through the eyes of husband, wife, and therapist.

A Sea of Trouble: A Relational Approach to the Culturally Sensitive Treatment of a Severely Disturbed Client

In this article we will show how a relational approach provides a conceptual framework that shapes and informs culturally sensitive practice with a severely disturbed client. We argue that a relational approach facilitates therapeutic action through the intense focus on countertransference, the close attention to enactments, and the therapist's authenticity and self-disclosure. Additionally, we emphasize that a therapeutic matrix that includes the cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and institutional factors, increases the likelihood clinicians will attend to what Perez-Foster calls their “dissociated and disavowed personal values.” We present a case that had a less than satisfactory outcome where the therapist found herself in a “sea of trouble.” The case illustrates how a relational approach enhanced the therapist's understanding of the case and allowed her to continue to work with a difficult and challenging client. We conclude by suggesting that our conceptual understanding of this case exemplifies a necessary and appropriate focus for future social work research and practice.

More than a mirror: The ethics of therapist self-disclosure.

More than a mirror: The ethics of therapist self-disclosure.

More than a mirror: The ethics of therapist self-disclosure.

More than a mirror: The ethics of therapist self-disclosure.

Reexamination of therapist self-disclosure.

In mental health practice, a commonly held view is that therapist self-disclosure should be discouraged and its dangers closely monitored. Changes in medicine, mental health care, and society demand reexamination of these beliefs. In some clinical situations, considerable benefit may stem from therapist self-disclosure. Although the dangers of boundary violations are genuine, self-disclosure may be underused or misused because it lacks a framework. It is useful to consider the benefits of self-disclosure in the context of treatment type, treatment setting, and patient characteristics. Self-disclosure can contribute to the effectiveness of peer models. Self-disclosure is often used in cognitive-behavioral therapy and social skills training and might be useful in psychopharmacologic and supportive treatments. The unavoidable self-disclosure that occurs in non-office-based settings provides opportunities for therapeutic deliberate self-disclosure. Children and individuals who have a diminished capacity for abstract thought may benefit from more direct answers to questions related to self-disclosure. The role of self-disclosure in mental health care should be reexamined.

Therapist's self-disclosure: Expanding the comfort zone.

Therapist's self-disclosure: Expanding the comfort zone.

Therapist's self-disclosure: Expanding the comfort zone.

Therapist's self-disclosure: Expanding the comfort zone.

Is psychotherapy more effective when therapists disclose information about themselves?

Theorists have long debated the wisdom of therapists disclosing personal information during psychotherapy. Some observers have argued that such therapist self-disclosure impedes treatment, whereas others have suggested that it enhances the effectiveness of therapy. To test these competing positions, therapists at a university counseling center were instructed to increase the number of self-disclosures they made during treatment of one client and refrain from making self-disclosures during treatment of another client. Analyses revealed that clients receiving psychotherapy under conditions of heightened therapist disclosure not only reported lower levels of symptom distress but also liked their therapist more. Such findings suggest that self-disclosure by the therapist may improve both the quality of the therapeutic relationship and the outcome of treatment.

“The therapist's voice”therapist's self-disclosure and genuine caring: where do they belong in the therapeutic relationship?

“The therapist's voice”therapist's self-disclosure and genuine caring: where do they belong in the therapeutic relationship?

Personhood of the Therapist in Couples Therapy

SUMMARY Integrity Therapy (Lander, 1986; Lander & Nahon, 1992a, 1995a; Mowrer, 1961b, 1964a) views the personhood of the therapist as the very essence of therapy. By meeting the deepest part of the therapist with the deepest self of individuals in therapy, a healing process unfolds which opens up the healing potential of both the individuals and the couple. This article offers couple therapists and other mental health professionals an Integrity Therapy perspective of the personhood of the therapist and its therapeutic potential for helping couples in distress to reclaim their personhood. Two aspects of the Integrity Therapy approach which play a critical role in enhancing therapists' use of their personhood in the therapeutic process are explored: (a) the use of therapist self-disclosure, and (b) therapists' awareness and therapeutic use of counter-transference issues.

Dimensions of Cross Cultural Treatment with Late Adolescent College Students

This paper addresses the need to develop culturally sensitive services on university campuses with a student population that is rapidly becoming more culturally diverse. It explores the different psychological paradigms of Western and non-Western cultures, the adolescent developmental process within diverse cultural constructs and the notion of “self” cross-culturally. Clinical practice implications in cross-cultural treatment are investigated. These include the therapist's self-disclosure, resistance and countertransference issues, verbal and non-verbal communication in the therapeutic relationship, and the dynamics of power and authority. Two short vignettes illustrate some of these clinical issues and emphasize the value of the therapist's knowledge and awareness of cultural differences as well as the importance of their willingness to modify more traditional clinical practices to fit diverse cultural paradigms.

Self-disclosure. Reconciling psychoanalytic psychotherapy and alcoholics anonymous philosophy.

Therapists working in the addictions field and practicing from a psychoanalytic psychodynamic framework are often confronted with the patient's need to know, the demand for therapist self-disclosure. Consistent with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) principles, many patients state that they cannot be helped unless the therapist is revealing of their personal background. This paper discusses the theoretical roots of therapist self-disclosure and the AA philosophy and offers suggestions for how the two might be reconciled.

A Client Perspective on Therapist Self-Disclosure

Options of “coming out” in differing therapeutic modalities are considered. Modalities considered include traditional psychotherapy, alternative therapies, and managed care systems. Therapist disclosure situations are discussed from the viewpoint of both client and practitioner. Vignettes describing therapy experiences of adult lesbian and gay clients in a variety of clinical settings are presented. Clinical issues pertaining to therapist disclosure of sexual orientation receive consideration in terms of client self-determination as well as in terms of the options or limitations imposed by different modalities. Distinctions are drawn between disclosure in predominately lesbian and gay practice settings and disclosure in predominately heterosexual settings.

Comparison of Feminist Versus Psychoanalytic/Dynamic and Other Therapists on Self-Disclosure

The Feminist Self-Disclosure Inventory (FSDI) was developed to assess principles of therapist self-disclosure as described in the feminist therapy literature. This 18-item Likert-type scale was completed in a mailed survey by women psychotherapists (i.e., 41 self-identified feminist therapists, 34 psychoanalytic/dynamic, and 68 other therapists). Results indicated that the FSDI was comprised of five factors [i.e., Therapist Background (TB), Promotes Liberatory Feelings (PLF), Promotes Egalitarianism (PE), Therapist Availability (TA), and Empowering Client (EC)], and that the overall scale had excellent internal consistency and very satisfactory test-retest reliability. Also, feminist therapists endorsed FSDI factors significantly more than psychoanalytic/dynamic and other therapists with the greatest differences on items reflecting overall use of self-disclosure, disclosing sexual orientation, using disclosure to create egalitarianism, and encouraging the client's choice of a role model in the therapeutic relationship.