Self-Disclosure: A Dance of the Heart and a Ballet of the Mind

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses guidelines for self-disclosure by an ethnically diverse, lesbian female clinician who is a former male-to-female transsexual. It includes a review of cases in which the clinician both elected to use self-disclosure as well as refrained from doing so. The paper addresses the complexity of disclosing sex and sexual orientation as well as minority ethnicity. The author sees self-disclosure as akin to a ballet of the mind, in which clients' abilities to maintain their balance while learning a new performance may depend upon the clinicians' abilities to do the same.

KEYWORDS:

• Countertransference
• ethnicity
• gay
• gender identity
• homosexuality
• intersex
• lesbian
• minority
• psychotherapy
• self-disclosure
• sexual orientation
• transgender
• transsexual