61st Annual Conference

Workshop 87
Therapist Self-Disclosure in Group Psychotherapy

Chair:              

Michelle Collins, Ph.D., Private Practice, Port Washington, New York

Therapist self-disclosure in group therapy will be explored from several angles:  the theoretical context and justification, therapist transparency in group versus individual therapy, types of therapist self-disclosure, from that which is unavoidable to choices, the qualitative aspects of the disclosure--emotional, informational, interpretive, and finally assessing the impact of a disclosure on the group as a whole, relationships between individuals in the group, and on a particular individual.  Ethical and boundary issues, as well as positive effects of identification will also be covered.

didactic-sharing of work experiences-experiential-demonstration

Course References:

1. Peterson, Z. (2002). More Than a Mirror:  The Ethics of Therapist Self-Disclosure. 

    Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 39(1), 21-31.

2. Simi, N. & Mahalik, J. (1997). Comparison of Feminist vs Psychoanalytic/dynamic and Other

    Therapists on Self-Disclosure.  Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(3), 465-483.