Self-Disclosure In Counselling

Explore the subject of 'self disclosure' by councellors

Disclosure in the dictionary is 'the act of revealing and exposing to view' My understanding of self disclosure in this context is to mean revealing the counsellors personal information and emotions. In this unique relationship this is to be expected when the client is communicating, in fact it is actively encouraged, because that is their roll in the therapeutic relationship. However my exploration will concern when is it acceptable for the counsellor to talk about themselves or their own feelings? Counsellors must speak since this is a talking therapy and surely every word and response is a form of self disclosure, yet what is said can have serious consequences. I will demonstrate
The client is encouraged to talk openly and freely, to help them to learn from the exploration of their problems. However when using the psychodynamic approach we withhold our own knowledge and experiences, although sometimes it may appear to be appropriate and useful to the client. It can often be quite difficult to do this, especially when clients are asking us questions, but once we have started revealing personal details, it may be difficult to stop. We should be aware that a client could also be trying to get the counsellor to verbalise as a form of resistance or defence, to avoid talking about and facing their own problems. I agree with Freud's
These can be hidden behind dreams, stories and defences. When we as counsellors use a response such as "I wonder if under this there's some anger?" or "I feel as though I would have been upset about that, but you don't seem concerned... " it allows our diclosure of our own responses to challenge the client's view of the world, which can be a beneficial breakthrough for them. Alternately expressing feelings that come from our own past and counter-transference can have devastating results. I can remember an occasion in class, during a roll play, when someone playing the counsellor had so much in common with his 'client's' experiences, that his counter-transference nearly tempted him to say; "That's what happened to me...don't make the same mistakes I did, this is what I learnt from the experience". He resisted the temptation... and when reviewing the session in the class he asked the 'client' what his response would have been if he had revealed this about himself... the client replied "how can you know what I am feeling? your circumstances are not the same as mine, I don't want to hear about you!" The kind of unsolicited self disclosure he was considering may have caused a huge amount of potentially damaging, anger and resentment towards the