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.
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
'the in-between'
.
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'.
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.
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.