How therapist self-disclosure relates to alliance and outcomes: A naturalistic study

Abstract

This study examined therapists’ self-disclosure within early sessions of a naturalistic database of 52 therapy dyads collected at a university counseling center. Therapist orientations and client issues varied. We identified both types and functions of therapist self-disclosure in order to explore how self-disclosures related to therapy alliance and outcomes. Findings indicated that the number of disclosures was not significantly correlated with outcome or alliance scores. Central findings regarding the function of self-disclosures included that disclosures that acted to humanize the therapist were associated with fewer clinical symptoms post-session than disclosures expressing appreciation or encouragement. Also, disclosures that conveyed similarity between the therapist and client were associated with fewer post-session clinical symptoms and interpersonal problems when compared to disclosures that conveyed neither similarity nor dissimilarity. As well, neutral therapist self-disclosures were associated with better client functioning than disclosures that relayed negative or positive information about the therapist. Suggestions are provided for clinical practice and future research.

Keywords:

• psychotherapeutic processes
• psychotherapy outcome
• self-disclosure
• therapist
• counseling
• psychotherapeutic techniques

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Career and Psychological Counseling Center at the University of Memphis and Dr Jane Clement and Dr Carl Gilleylen for their support in the data collection process. Additionally, we would like to thank Lauren Grabowski for her assistance during the development of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.