Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe, PhD

Second Advisor

Andrea Bergman, PhD,

Third Advisor

Wilson McDermut, PhD

Abstract

The effect of therapist self-disclosure practices on patients and the therapeutic relationship has long been debated. The historical trend of viewpoint toward self-disclosure began from predicting a negative, therapy-interfering stance to a growing openness towards the consideration that therapists sharing about themselves in session can have a positive effect on the patient. Evidence exists for both potential patient benefit and harm from therapists engaging in self-disclosure. Still, there is an increasing body of evidence that demonstrates that therapist self-disclosure benefits the therapeutic process, increases patient disclosure, and provides a more positive view of the therapeutic relationship. However, at present, there is limited research on the reasons why and how therapists choose to disclose, whether self-disclosure is a protective factor in the workplace, and what the effects of self-disclosure are on therapists. This study aimed to expand knowledge on identity- and lived-experience-related therapist self-disclosure from the perspective of the therapists by identifying the personal and emotional effects of self-disclosure and investigating the relationship between how therapists view therapist self-disclosure, the proportion of their patients they disclose to, their sense of occupational self-efficacy, and their sense of their work as a calling. This study found that a higher proportion of self-disclosure to patients was associated with higher levels of occupational self-efficacy and that BIPOC therapists had lower levels of occupational self-efficacy. Higher proportions of self-disclosure were associated with lower levels of experiencing work as a calling and more positive views of self-disclosure were associated with higher levels of experiencing work as a calling. Additionally, therapists reported a wide range of personal and emotional effects from self-disclosing, including both positive and negative emotions, a greater sense of purpose and connection, and experiencing tension with what they were taught in their clinical training regarding self-disclosure. These findings suggest that self-disclosure is related to the constructs of occupational self-efficacy and work calling and that the personal and emotional effects of self-disclosure are wide-ranging, as well as set a foundation for future research on therapist experiences of self-disclosure and the creation of clinical guidelines for therapists engaging in self-disclosure.

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