Self Disclosure In Mental Health Counselling. Should You Use It?

Self disclosure can be both encouraged and discouraged in the practice of therapy. It can be inappropriate when too much personal information is shared that could cause discomfort to the client. It can also be incredibly useful with discretion, when used to help a client establish and build connectivity and rapport or feel relatable. 

For example, sharing that you have children is an example of self disclosure that is harmless and appropriate. Clients who also have children will then develop more of a connection through their knowledge that you must certainly understand and recognize some of their personal experiences with parenting and relative child rearing. This can be useful when exploring any familial dynamic with these clients as well as determining the status of the parent and child relationship. 

Less appropriate examples of self disclosure could be providing details of your own personal romantic relationships with your clients, your political views, or any controversial topics that may delve into deeper aspects of your personal life and choices. While sharing some of this information may have good intentions, it can present as unethical depending on the depth of your disclosure and the effect it has on the client. 

Clients could judge you or become uncomfortable or disapprove of your personal choices or actions. 

When it comes to making your decision to disclose or not to, a key rule of thumb is to only do so in an effort to serve the needs of the client. For example, in order to aid in the process of validation and safety for clients in session, you may disclose that you too have experienced or felt a similar emotion or thought in order to normalize the client’s emotional expression and encourage the progression of further exploration and processing. 

For example, a client could state: "I HATE cancer! Such a horrible thing shouldn't even exist!" As the therapist you might self disclose by providing your own similar frustrations with cancer by replying something such as: "I completely agree, I have personally witnessed cancer truly impact the lives of a few of my friends and it is increasingly frustrating to me to know that there is still no cure!"

Doing this, allows the opportunity to establish a better connection with the client in addition to gaining more of their trust that you will be accepting of their future vulnerabilities. In this way, self disclosure serve as a means of positively reinforcing the exchange and development of emotional reactions, with a clientele that typically struggles with avoidance, suppression or an inability to express themselves due to anxieties, trauma or fear of rejection. 

Overall, self disclosure can be a useful tool that certainly deserves space in the therapy room when used professionally with caution, ethicality and discretion; while aimed at the goal of the provision of effective client based interactions.