Therapist self-disclosure encompasses anything that is communicated from or about the therapist to the client during a professional encounter. More narrowly, it refers to either a deliberate or purposeful sharing of immediate reactions to the client by the therapist or the sharing of personal information by the therapist with the client.

Schools of Psychology and Therapist Self-Disclosure

Classical psychoanalytic theory had strict doctrines against self-disclosure, rooted in the assumption that the sharing of any personal information by the therapist would impede the ability of the client to project unresolved conflict onto the therapist, making the main work of psychoanalysis either impossible or flawed. This convention shifted with the growing realization that the therapy process was not simply a one-directional endeavor, meaning that the therapist also played ...

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