By Rich Simon As therapists, many of us practice in two different worlds. In the first, we see polite, well-behaved, articulate clients with solid values. They engage fully in therapy, talk cogently about their problems, listen attentively to our responses, make reasonably good-faith efforts to follow our suggestions, and sooner or later get better. No wonder we genuinely like these people! 
By Rich Simon A thousand years ago, during the palmy days of generous insurance reimbursement, therapists could maintain the illusion that, since therapy was paid for by an unseen hidden hand, clinical practice was somehow untouched by the tacky subject of money. Even the style of therapy reflected this disjunction: 
CE Credits: 3 • Price: $39We keep secret the things we are ashamed of and the things we fear we cannot face. Too many therapists look for simplistic guidelines for revealing secrets without appreciating the complex decision-making necessary to determine the timing and appropriateness of disclosure. In this Reading Course, Evan Imber-Black explores the systemic issues that should guide a clinician's approach to family secrets and how to counteract imbalances of power within family that can make honesty dangerous. Frank Pittman discusses the liberating force of honesty and letting ourselves be known to each other. Emily Brown exposes the collusion of mutual deception that is at the heart of marital affairs. Michele Martin shows how secrets often oppress those they were meant to protect.
Course Readings
Ghosts in the Therapy Room: The Systemic Impact of Family Secrets by Evan Imber-Black
No Hiding Place: Understanding the Liberating Power of Honesty by Frank Pittman
The Open Secret: Affairs Are Usually a Collusion of Mutual Deception by Emily Brown
The Silent Tyranny: Secrets Often Oppress Those They Were Meant to Protect by Michele Martin
Learning Objectives
1. Discuss the impact of the feminist family therapists on family secrets in therapy
2. Distinguish between privacy and secrets
3. Describe the therapeutic conditions needed to reveal a family secret in therapy
4. Create interventions for helping the betrayed spouse cope with obsessiveness
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