To Disclose or Not to Disclose That is the Question!

Therapist self-disclosure has long been a controversial subject in clinical practice and while studies have investigated its effects on client healing its impact on the disclosing therapist has remained a neglected area. In this groundbreaking and illuminating book Counselling Psychologist and Integrative Psychotherapist Dr Genevieve Marais focuses on this under-explored topic.</p></p>Dr Marais has a keen interest in the mind-body connection and considering that two subjectivities are present in the therapeutic space she holds a curiosity about the therapeutic dyad with a specific focus on what happens in <em>'the in-between'</em>.</p></p>In the book she provides an historical overview of therapist self-disclosure - how attitudes within the psychology and psychotherapy community have evolved from Freud's 'blank-screen' approach of neutrality to the acknowledgement of the 'two-way interpersonal process'.</p></p>With courageous contributions from fellow psychotherapists she goes on to investigate the complexity of the subject the risks self-disclosure poses the beneficial outcomes it can produce and how boundaries can help safeguard therapists protect the vulnerabilities the phenomenon can expose.</p></p>Dr Marais hopes her book will encourage and help psychotherapy trainees and post-qualified therapists to talk about and judiciously reflect on the impact that self-revelation has on the disclosing therapist in the hope that by embracing our humanness it will lead to greater authenticity and better practices to support good psychological outcomes while holding a space for the vulnerability of the disclosing therapist.</p><p></p>