Self Disclosure in the Therapeutic Relationship

Self Disclosure in the Therapeutic Relationship

Self-Disclosure in the Therapeutic Relationship Edited by George Stricker and Martin Fisher Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies Adelphi University Garden City, New Yark Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Self-disclosure in the therapeutic relationship / edited by George Strieker and Martin Fisher. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4899-3584-7 1. Psychotherapy. 2. Self-disclosure. I. Strieker, George. II. Fisher, Martin, 1925- RC480.5.S417 1990 616.89'14 dc20 90-6740 CIP ISBN 978-1-4899-3584-7 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-3582-3 ISBN 978-1-4899-3582-3 (ebook) 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

Contributors Sabert Basescu, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, and the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, 516 Hommocks Road, Larchmont, New York 10538 Laura S. Brown, 4527 First Avenue NE, Seattle, Washington 98105 Windy Dryden, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths' College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, England Martin Fisher, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530 Mary Gail Frawley, Pomona Clinic, Robert L. Yeager Health Complex, Pomona, New York 10970 Arlene Cahn Gordon, 15 Dogwood Drive, West Orange, New Jersey 07052 Lisa R. Greenberg, 428 Franklin Avenue, Nutley, New Jersey 07110 Bede J. Healey, Saint Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, Kansas 66002 James w. Hull, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division, 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, New York 10605 Jonathan M. Jackson, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530 v

vi Contributors Adelbert H. Jenkins, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003 Lawrence Josephs, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530 Robert C. Lane, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530 Esther Menaker, Postdoctoral Program for Training in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, and Private Practice, 20 West 77 Street, New York, New York 10024 Nicholas Papouchis, Program in Clinical Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn, New York 11201 Douglas J. Peddicord, 9402 Sunfall Court, Columbia, Maryland 21046 Judith C. Simon, 329 South San Antonio Road, Los Altos, California 94022 George Stricker, Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530 Sophia Vinogradov, Department of Psychiatry, Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, San Francisco, California 94115 Lenore E. A. Walker, Walker and Associates, 50 South Steele Street, Suite 850, Denver, Colorado 80209 Irvin D. Yalom, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305

Preface The editors of the present volume were also privileged to collaborate on an earlier book, Intimacy, also published by Plenum Press. In our preface to that volume, we described the importance and essence of intimacy and its centrality in the domain of human relationships. After reading the contributions to that volume, a number of issues emerged and pressed for elaboration. These questions concerned the nature and parameters of intimacy. The natural extension of these concerns can be found in the current work, Self-Disclosure in the Therapeutic Relationship. The editors, after careful consideration of the theoretical, philosophical, and technical literature, are impressed by the relationship between intimacy and appropriate self-disclosure. Self-disclosure, in this context, refers to those behaviors that allow oneself to be sufficiently revealing so as to become available for an intimate relationship. Levenson has referred to psychotherapy as the demystification of experience wherein intimacy emerges during the time that interpersonal vigilance diminishes through growing feelings of safety. Interpersonal experience can be demystified and detoxified by disclosure, openness, and authentic relatedness. This is not an easy process. Before one can be open, make contact, or reach out with authenticity, one must be available to oneself. This means making contact with-and accepting-the dark, fearful, and often untouched areas within the person that are often hidden even from oneself. The process of therapy enables those areas to gain consciousness, be tolerated, and be shared with trusted others. This book is about self-disclosure, with a focus on how it is understood and utilized from a variety of different theoretical orientations and with a variety of different patient groups. We have solicited chapvii

viii Preface ters from a group of well-known and highly regarded authors who, in their chapters, help to display a spectrum of attitudes and ideas about self-disclosure and its role in the therapeutic process. GEORGE STRICKER MARTIN FISHER

Contents PART I. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 The Shared Experience and Self-Disclosure................... 3 Martin Fisher Chapter 2 Self-Disclosure in Religious Spiritual Direction: Antecedents and Parallels to Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy.............. 17 Bede J. Healey Historical Perspectives of Self-Disclosure...................... 17 Conditions for Self-Disclosure................................ 19 Self-Disclosure in Religion and Psychotherapy................. 21 How Spiritual Direction Differs from Psychotherapy............ 22 Self-Disclosure in Spiritual Direction.......................... 23 The Desert Fathers.......................................... 24 Self-Disclosure in Practice.................................... 25 Conclusion................................................. 26 References.................................................. 27 ix

x Contents PART II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Chapter 3 Self-Disclosure and Classical Psychoanalysis................. 31 Robert C. Lane and James W Hull The Problem of Self-Revelation... 31 Self-Disclosure and the Early Analysts........................ 33 Contemporary Views on Self-Disclosure....................... 37 Special Events.............................................. 41 Discussion... 42 References.................................................. 44 Chapter 4 Show and Tell: Reflections on the Analyst's Self-Disclosure 47 Sa bert Basescu Chapter 5 Self-Disclosure in Rational-Emotive Therapy................. 61 Windy Dryden The Basic Principles of Rational-Emotive Therapy............. 61 The RET Approach to Client Self-Disclosure................... 62 Therapist Self-Disclosure in RET.............................. 65 Overcoming Obstacles to Disclosure in Clients and Therapists.. 71 References.................................................. 74 Chapter 6 Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy and the Psychology of the Self....................................... 75 Lawrence Josephs A Developmental Analog for the Process of Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy............................................ 77 Implications for Psychotherapy............................... 81 Conclusion................................................. 88 References.................................................. 88

Contents xi PART III. THERAPEUTIC ISSUES Chapter 7 The Role of Implicit Communication in Therapist Self-Disclosure............................................. 93 Jonathan M. Jackson Traditional Views of Self-Disclosure........................... 93 Special Events.............................................. 96 Progressive Views of Self-Disclosure.......................... 97 Characteristics of Neutrality-Seeking Therapists............... 100 References.................................................. 101 Chapter 8 Transference, Countertransference, and Therapeutic Efficacy in Relation to Self-Disclosure by the Analyst.................... 103 Esther Menaker Chapter 9 Self-Disclosure and the Nonwhite Ethnic Minority Patient 117 Adelbert H. Jenkins The Racial Context of American Society....................... 118 Engaging the Minority Client in Psychotherapy................ 119 Managing the Early Sessions................................. 120 ''Agency'' in the Minority Client............................... 121 Language and Psychotherapy................................ 123 The Therapist's Skill: "Linguistic Competence"................. 124 Sociolinguistic Issues in Psychotherapy....................... 124 Self-Disclosure to Oneself.................................... 126 Some Dynamics of Language Difference in Therapy............ 127 Therapist Self-Disclosure... 129 The "Contextual Unit"....................................... 130 Conclusion................................................. 131 References.................................................. 131

xii Contents Chapter 10 Feminist Therapy Perspectives on Self-Disclosure............. 135 Laura S. Brown and Lenore E. A. Walker Introduction................................................ 135 A Brief Review of Self-Disclosure in Feminist Therapy Theory... 136 Self-Disclosure in Feminist Therapy Theory.................... 139 The Nature of Self-Disclosure in Feminist Therapy.............. 141 Problems in the Use of Self-Disclosure in Feminist Therapy..... 144 Current Applications of Self-Disclosure in Feminist Therapy.... 148 Conclusion................................................. 151 References.................................................. 151 PART IV. THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES Chapter 11 Self-Disclosure and Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents................................................ 157 Nicholas Papouchis Introduction................................................ 157 The Concept of Self-Disclosure............................... 157 Self-Disclosure in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Adults... 159 Self-Disclosure with Children and Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective............................... 162 The Therapist's Self-Disclosure with Adolescents............... 167 The Therapeutic Alliance and Self-Disclosure.................. 169 The Adolescent Therapist as an Object of Identification......... 170 Summary.................................................. 172 References... :......................................... 172 Chapter 12 Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy: Working with Older Adults 175 Lisa R. Greenberg Introduction................................................ 175 Role of Self-Disclosure for Older People....................... 176 Psychotherapy and the Elderly............................... 180 Self-Disclosure by Therapist.................................. 183 Self-Disclosure by Older Patients............................. 185

Contents xiii Summary.................................................. 188 References.................................................. 188 Chapter 13 Self-Disclosure in Group Psychotherapy...................... 191 Sophia Vinogradov and Irvin D. Yalom Patient Self-Disclosure in Group Psychotherapy................ 193 Therapist Self-Disclosure in Group Psychotherapy.............. 198 Concluding Remarks........................................ 203 References.................................................. 203 PART V. EXTRATHERAPEUTIC MANIFESTATIONS Chapter 14 Criteria for Therapist Self-Disclosure Judith C. Simon 207 Introduction................................................ 207 The Study.................................................. 208 Findings................................................... 209 Criteria.................................................... 212 Modeling................................................... 213 Discussion............ 220 References.................................................. 224 Chapter 15 Self-Disclosure in Holocaust Survivors: Effects on the Next Generation................................................. 227 Arlene Cahn Gordon Introduction................................................ 227 Self-Disclosure in Stages of Survival.......................... 228 Self-Disclosure: A Developmental Framework.................. 232 Referential Activity: A Measure of Self-Disclosure.............. 233 The Study of Self-Disclosure in Survivors and Their Children... 234 Unique and Universal Implications............................ 237 Therapeutic Implications..................................... 242

xiv Contents Conclusion................................................. 243 References................................................ 243 Chapter 16 From Secrecy to Self-Disclosure: Healing the Scars of Incest... 247 Mary Gail Frawley Chapter 17 Issues in the Disclosure of Perinatal Death................ 261 Douglas]. Peddicord The Problem of Perinatal Death............................... 261 Unique Characteristics of Perinatal Death... ;.............. 262 The Impact on Parents......... 264 Barriers to Disclosure........................................ 267 Self-Disclosure and Its Effects................................ 271 References................................................. 272 PART VI. CONCLUSION Chapter 18 Self-Disclosure and Psychotherapy........................... 277 George Stricker Index... 291