True or false, truth or dare: Work and play between subjects

Abstract

Intersubjectivity as a clinical orientation opens up the question of therapist self‐disclosure. Discussion of this topic is usually carefully attentive to the risks of disclosure, even as it begins to acknowledge the continuous inevitability of therapist self‐revelation. This careful tone holds true whatever therapist is considering disclosing, whether negative (such as anger), or positive (such as excitement or appreciation). At times this caution inhibits therapists’ access to the sort of spontaneous experience Winnicott has in mind when he speaks of psychotherapy as “directed toward bringing the patient from a state of not being able to play into a state of being able to play” (Winnicott, 1971, p. 38).

Notes

Adin DeLaCour, M.S.W. is a clinical social worker in private practice in Northampton, MA. She is on the part‐time faculty at the Smith College School for Social Work.