To Self-Disclose, or Not to Self-Disclose?

It’s no secret that the world has become a much more informal place than it was just a couple of decades ago; bosses and their employees can be personal friends, email has replaced handwritten invitations and thank-you letters, and in many offices, every day is Casual Friday.

So where does that leave the practice of psychotherapy? Long held under a shroud of formality for various ethical reasons, psychotherapy has had some growing pains in trying to adjust and adapt to the new laid-back way of life.

While it used to be unthinkable that a therapist would ever share any of their personal information with a client, Ken Hardy—director of the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships—now feels that a little self-disclosure is a good thing.

Watch the clip below from Ken’s session in our webcast series, Ethics in an Age of Informality, to hear him explain why not self-disclosing is a real detriment to the therapeutic process.

This is just one of the many ethical issues that will be covered in our new webcast series.

Ethics in an Age of Informality:
Protecting Yourself When Boundaries Blur
Click here for full course details

Here’s a preview of what each session in this series offers you:

• Lisa Ferentz on Countertransference: Probing the Heart of Our Ethical Dilemmas
  Examine the personal issues that can lead therapists to violate boundaries using clips from the HBO series, In Treatment.


• Mitchell Handelsman on Beyond Good Intentions: Positive Ethics with Difficult Clients
  Explore the principles of ethical excellence and how to maintain the highest standards even with your most challenging cases.


• Mary Jo Barrett on The Ethically Attuned Therapist
  Learn how to effectively establish boundaries from the very first session.


• Frederic Reamer on The Ambiguities of Ethical Practice: Defining Our Clinical Role and Its Limits
  Get a clear understanding of how to protect yourself from potential ethical violations when the issue isn’t black or white.


• DeeAnna Nagel on The Ethics of Online Therapy
  Address the ethical questions that arise when offering therapy online.


• Kenneth Hardy on The Ethics of Self Disclosure
  Examine the benefits and risks of being more transparent as a clinician.

Ethics in an Age of Informality
Series Begins December 3^rd
Click here for full course details

Topic: Challenging Clients & Treatment Populations | Ethics

Tags: ethical issues | attuned therapist | boundaries | Countertransference | ethical issue | Ethical violation | Mary Jo Barrett | online therapy | psychotherapy | self-disclose | self-disclosure | therapist | therapist self disclosure | therapists | therapy