Therapist Self-Disclosure

Therapist self-disclosure has long frequented the counseling and psychotherapy literature (LaPorte, Sweifach, & Linzer, 2010). Over the past decade, the topic has received increased attention in theoretical debates (Audet & Everall, 2003) and empirical research (Kelly & Rodriguez, 2007; Bitar, Kimball, Bermúdez, & Drew, 2014). There has been an expansion of ideas about what makes a disclosure ethically appropriate (Audet, 2011) and how relevant ethical principles should guide therapist decisions to self-disclose or refrain from self-disclosure in clinical practice (Bottrill, Pistrang, Barker, & Worrell 2010; LaPorte et al., 2010). Further complicating the issue, researchers suggest there is a fine between a therapist who reveals too little …show more content…
The potential boundary problems and risk management concerns associated with self-disclosure can be considered common knowledge throughout the clinical psychology profession. It is well-known that impulsive and self-serving self-disclosures have great potential to complicate therapeutic relationships, suggest role reversals, and possibly increase early therapeutic terminations and client weariness to return for professional help as needed in the future. Relatively less may be known about what may make self-disclosure potentially appropriate and helpful to clients albeit in limited and well-conceptualized …show more content…
A review of multiple studies that published survey data indicates that between 65-90% of surveyed therapists acknowledged purposefully disclosing to clients at least some of the time (Audet & Everall, 2003; Audet, 2011; Henretty & Levitt, 2010; Kelly & Rodriguez, 2007; LaPorte et al., 2010). As if to further specify, surveyed therapists in other studies reported that disclosures made up between 1-13% of all of their interventions with an average of 3.5% (Henretty & Levitt, 2010; Kelly & Rodriguez, 2007). Moreover, complete non-disclosure may be clinically contra-indicated. In conceptual writings, it has been noted that clients may perceive non-disclosing therapists as inaccessible (Goldstein, 1994) or even hostile (Henretty & Levitt, 2010). Supporting this position, surveyed clients have described therapists whom they perceived as erring on the side of non-disclosure as overly formal, rigid, and authoritative (Audet, 2011). In response to non-disclosure, clients may become reluctant to disclose (Henretty & Levitt, 2010) and impasses may occur (Wachtel,