Creating an intersubjective context for self‐disclosure

Abstract

Self‐disclosure has been a controversial topic in psychoanalytic work for a number of years. Most clinicians admit that it is inevitable, yet are cautious about endorsing its regular use. Fears of self‐indulgence abound, as do fears of interfering with the patient's experiential flow. Historically, the only guidelines for self‐disclosure amounted to a collection of clinical vignettes illustrating therapist disclosures that proved to be helpful. Not being part of classical analytic theory or practice, self‐disclosure, even among the advocates of an interpersonal, intersubjective, or relational approach, has remained outside the realm of accepted technique. This paper attempts to ground self‐disclosure in theory and briefly provide some guidelines for its use. Understanding how and why it can be therapeutic, and also how and why it can derail the therapeutic process is essential to the constructive adoption of therapist self‐disclosure as a legitimate intervention.

Notes

Karen J. Maroda, Ph.D. is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin and a faculty member at the Minnesota Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalytic Studies. She is in private practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is the author of Seduction, Surrender and Transformation: Emotional Engagement in the Analytic Process (1999), The Analytic Press.