Persona 2015
Dictionary Definitions
Mutual:
 (Of a feeling or action) experienced or done by each of
two or more parties towards the other or others.
 a sense of reciprocity is necessary (OED)
 experienced or expressed by each of two or more
people or groups about the other; reciprocal
 common to or shared by both or all of two or more
parties (Collins)
Dictionary Definitions
Intimacy:
 Close familiarity or friendship
 A cosy and private or relaxed atmosphere
 Closeness of observation or knowledge of a subject
(OED)
 close or warm friendship or understanding; personal
relationship (Collins)
Discussion
 What do intimacy and mutuality mean to you?
 What do they mean to you in a counselling
relationship?
 How do you recognise them?
 Brian Thorne described 3 phases of a counselling
relationship; the 1st is trust, the 2nd intimacy, the 3rd
mutuality. Mutuality follows from intimacy, and
cannot exist without it.
 He describes intimacy as the phase where “the client is
able to reveal some of the deepest levels of his
experiencing” (1991:42)
 “It is my conviction that person-centred counselling at
its best offers both intimacy and the possibility of
mutuality.[...] The intimacy and mutuality provided by
the counsellor’s companionship, together with his or
her capacity ot offer the core conditions in an intense
and disciplined way, provides all that is required to
enable the highly motivated client to make it to the
next temporary destination on life’s journey.”
~ Dave Mearns, 2003:63
 Client and counsellor can experience real intimacy in
the counselling relationship, particularly when
warmth, strong empathy and unconditional
acceptance are felt by the client. Yet this intimacy
needs to be different in some important ways to that
which might be felt in personal and social
relationships. It can be friendly and warm, yet at the
same time it is not a friendship.
~ Roger Casemore, Therapy Today, vol 22 issue 5
Discussion
 Thinking of Casemore’s words, what might be the ways
in which the intimacy needs to be different from that
in personal and social relationships?
 And how might mutuality in a counselling relationship
differ from those others kinds of relationships?
 What risks might be involved in intimacy and
mutuality?
Dictionary Definitions
Disclosure:
 The action of making new or secret information
known (OED)
 something that is disclosed
 the act of disclosing; revelation (Collins)
“Any therapist who does not have the comfort and
security of being ensconced at either end of the
continuum [conservative to radical] has to face the fact
that the questions of self-disclosure present real
dilemmas.”
~Michael Kahn, Between Therapist and Client
Types of self-disclosure
 What do you think of as self-disclosure?
 Do you use it in your clinical work?
 What factors influence your decisions on self-
disclosure (e.g. when, what, how to disclose)?
Types of self-disclosure
 Physical – e.g. pregnancy, disability, wedding ring,
things the setting might tell about you
 Background
info
–
qualifications,
professional memberships etc
 Factual – information about yourself
 Feelings – e.g. congruence
training,
Discussion
 Think of an example from either your clinical practice
or your experience as a client (or supervisee) where
therapist (or supervisor) disclosure has been positive...
 ...and one where it has been negative.
 Talk about what made these experiences positive or
negative.
Against self-disclosure
 It shifts the focus from the client to the therapist and may
become therapy for the therapist
 It’s not easy to know whose need it is serving – requires a high
degree of awareness and reflectiveness to handle well
 Creation of dual relationships – can lead to client feeling
protective/responsible for therapist
 Can be a way of avoiding painful or serious issues, for both
people, and limits client’s ability to discuss therapist competence
or assumptions about the therapist
 We can’t predict the effect it will have on client/relationship
Against self-disclosure
 Danger of inappropriate disclosure and of boundary violations
 Safety concerns for the therapist
 Can increase dependency and block self-responsibility
 Can lead client to censor their own self-disclosure
 Can lead therapist to make assumptions about client’s
experience
 Not disclosing frees the client from the constraints of a normal
social relationship - politeness, turn taking etc – thus allowing
them to be “self-centred”
For self-disclosure
 It’s inevitable on some level
 Transparency demystifies therapy and equalises the
relationship
 Encourages reciprocity where clients may have little
experience of sharing
 Sharing reactions helps clients to understand their impact
on others
 Normalises/validates client experience
For self-disclosure
 Builds trust and relationship – “clients can experience it as
respecting and trusting, which can enhance the therapeutic
quality of the relationship” (Lambers, in Dryden (ed), 1992)
 In today’s less formal world, refusal may seem rude,
offensive, hostile, and an exercise in power
 Helps clients determine whether therapist will be non-
judgemental and unbiased
 Evidence shows that it has a positive impact for clients with
LGBT or spirituality concerns
Research findings
 Numerous studies since have found evidence of generally positive
responses by clients to therapist self-disclosure
 “In comparison to therapists who do not disclose at all, those who
disclose personal or intimate information are viewed more positively by
clients” (Watkins, 1990)
 “results indicated that the therapist's disclosure caused clients to feel
closer to the therapist; more in touch with their own issues, feelings
and needs regarding similar issues; and appreciative for having a model
to follow in terms of discussing difficult issues themselves”.
 “the
significant results of this study suggest disclosure by
psychotherapists that they have experienced psychological problems
similar to the problems presented by their clients may make a positive
contribution to psychotherapy outcome”.
~ A.D. Somers et al, CPR vol 14 no 4
Research findings
 “The belief amongst all participants who used TSD as a
therapeutic strategy was that it was a bonding,
empathic, sharing quality that helped address power
imbalances within the relationship”
 Studies suggest that TSD is used by the majority of
practitioners irrespective of theoretical orientation.
This study reached similar conclusions.
~ L. Carew, CPR 9 (4)
Guidelines for self-disclosure
 Disclosures should be infrequent
 There are inappropriate and highly appropriate disclosures
 Qualifications and background most appropriate whereas sexual
beliefs generally unhelpful
 Disclosures should not be burdening, alter client focus, or blur
professional boundaries
 Effective disclosure may be in response to similar client disclosure
 Therapists should look for reactions and ask for feedback on TSD
 Disclosure may differ according to client personality or presentation.
~ based on Hill & Knox 2002, in Carew 2009
Sources
 Bond, Tim: Standards and Ethics for counselling in Action, Sage 1993
 Carew, Lynda: Does theoretical background influence therapists’ attitudes to
therapist self-disclosure? A qualitative study, in CPR 9 (4), 2009
 Casemore, Roger: Clinical distance: a person-centred point of view, in Therapy
Today, 22 (5), 2011
 Dryden, Windy (ed): Hard-Earned Lessons from Counselling in Action, Sage
1992
 Dryden, Windy (Ed): Questions and Answers on counselling in Action, Sage
1993
 Kahn, Michael: Between Therapist and Client, revised edition, Holt 2001
 Mearns, Dave: Developing Person-Centred Counselling, Sage 2003
 Somers, AD et al: Should psychotherapists disclose their own psychological
problems?, in CPR 14 (4), 2014
 Thorne, B: Person-Centred Counselling: Therapeutic and Spiritual
Dimensions, Wiley 1991