Abstract: As a social work student, I am frequently conflicted about the use of self in a therapeutic relationship with a client. For me, there seems to be a delicate balance between establishing a trusting, congruent therapeutic alliance with the client and the possibility of sharing too much personal information, which could unintentionally impede the healing process. I have always been wired this way, and even as a toddler, I would crawl under the public restroom stalls and tell strangers my life story. For many years I facilitated women's group Bible studies, which operated in a way similar to a support group. The topics typically would incorporate many self-help techniques, which were grounded in a biblical foundation. To provide a safe environment, encourage conversation, and reduce any power differential that the women may have been feeling, I would often be the first one to self-disclose something. Based on my personality and the habits I had formed from leading Bible studies, I knew the area of would be challenging for me.Although my character traits contribute to my struggle with self-disclosure, discussion in many of my social work classes indicates that this is something with which other social work students struggle. For the purposes of this article, the term self-disclosure is used to refer to situations in which social workers reveal personal information about their past or current life circumstances to their clients. The literature suggests that the use of self is a controversial and ambiguous area even for many seasoned therapists, and has become an important topic of discussion in clinical practice (Raines, 1996; Dewane, 2006; Siebold, 2011; Wells, 1994; Roberts, 2012; Gibson, 2012). Deciding whether could be a therapeutic mistake or intervention is a question many practitioners ask themselves. Many social work practitioners admit to feeling uncomfortable discussing their use of with their supervisors and co-workers (Knight, 2012). Social workers differ in their opinions about self-disclosure; for example, psychodynamically trained therapists typically disclose less often than others (Gibson, 2012). The use of self can be a powerful therapeutic tool, provided it is used in a way that does not take the focus off the client and is in the best interest of the client. I would like to share a few experiences I have had in my current internship with self-disclosure, how I handled them, and what I learned from them. I would also like to discuss the value that supervision had on me in this confusing area.My current internship is at a suburban hospital in the outpatient adult behavioral health area, facilitating group therapy. Many of the clients in the program are struggling with symptoms of depression and anxiety that affect their daily functioning. During a client's individual process time in the group therapy setting, I was experiencing some counter-transference as the client spoke about his involvement with Christian youth groups. He was a mentor to many of the teens and would support them when they needed someone to listen to them, or when they asked for guidance and advice. My son has had some mental health battles of his own, and has been blessed to have a youth pastor in his life who has poured out his love, time, and energy to make an enormous difference. When the client spoke, I found myself getting tearful, remembering how I felt towards my son's youth pastor. The strong emotion inside of me made me want to communicate to the client how important he was to other teens' lives, based on my own experience. I felt strongly about it because this client was struggling with his purpose in life, questioning his value and worth, and had been experiencing suicidal ideations. Before I spoke, I realized I needed to pull myself together and rein in my emotions, but I still shared some personal information about how my son's youth pastor had made such an impact. Later that week, during supervision, we talked about my counter-transference. …
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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