Psychotherapist Revealed: Therapists Speak About Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy [Hardcover]

Andrea Bloomgarden (Editor), Rosemary B. Mennuti (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0415963834 | ISBN-13: 978-0415963831 | Edition: 1

In this edited volume, the real dialogue begins. Therapists speak openly and honestly about their self-disclosure practices, decisions and clinical dilemmas. Bloomgarden and Mennuti bring together research, training and tales from their clinical experience to illuminate lessons derived from their own journeys toward judicious, balanced self-disclosure practices. In a readable fashion, the stories highlight a variety of self-disclosure and boundary issues that occur in the course of psychotherapy. Numerous treatment modalities and clinical orientations are represented.

The collective wisdom offered through these stories, which includes suggested guidelines and a standard of care for good practice, will assist the reader in developing a better understanding of what it means to self-disclose appropriately, recognizing a flexible middle ground between "too much" and "too little" along with responsiveness to client need. The Freudian based taboo that rigidly warns against all self-disclosure is antiquated, and a more reasonable, balanced perspective is under way. As a psychotherapeutic community, including psychologists, social workers, art therapists, counselors, dance/movement therapists who are all represented in this book, it is time to talk openly about a balanced, judicious, and therapeutically appropriate approach to self-disclosure and boundaries. Bravely, that is exactly what the authors in this book have done.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Psychotherapist Revealed is a long-awaited and invaluable resource enabling all clinicians, from novice trainees to seasoned veterans, to understand how best to use themselves as tools to help others. It provides a combination of theory, research, and clinical experience to guide clinicians out of the dark and into the light regarding appropriate, growth fostering self-disclosure. In essence: a great gift to clinicians, but an even greater gift to our patients, and a must-read for any aspiring or practicing psychotherapist." -Margo Maine, PhD, FAED, author of Effective Clinical Treatment of Eating Disorders

"Therapists, supervisors and their clients will all benefit from the courage and wisdom captured in Psychotherapist Revealed. Breaking the silence on the subject fo therapist authenticity, this volume invites us to more effectively learn what is truly helpful, what is not, and how to be present with our clients in a way that enhances their healing. This book should be on every therapist’s must-read list." -Judith V. Jordan, PhD; Director, Jean Baker Miller Training Institute

"Written by careful rebels and mindful trailblazers, Psychotherapist Revealed is thorough and wide-ranging. This book will help readers figure out where they stand on issues of self-disclosure and will give therapists guidelines for safe and ethical practice for when a patient and therapist find themselves off script." -Diana Fosha, PhD, Developer of AEDP, a transformation-based model of therapy, and co-editor of The Healing Power of Emotion:Affective Neuroscience, Development, Clinical Practice

"One of the very few scholarly book-length works on this topic. A valuable step in the direction of opening up the discourse about this disowned territory of psychotherapist behavior, one that is certain to reduce readers' shame and anxiety while raising interesting questions about when, why, and how to disclose personal information to clients. Informative and refreshing. It should provoke discussion, debate, and, I hope, further empirical investigation into the questions it raises." - Laura S. Brown, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 54, Release 47

"Psychotherapist Revealed finally breaks the awkward silence on the subject of therapist authenticity. It invites, and reveals, showing us how to be more effective in what is truly helpful, what is not, and how to be present with our clients in a way that enhances their healing. It is definitely a 'must-have' book to hold onto both physically and metaphorically in working with the self and self-disclosure." - Kate Lacy, The Independent Practitioner, Winter 2009

About the Author

Andrea Bloomgarden, PhD, is in private practice in Center City, Philadelphia. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, USA

Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (May 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415963834
• ISBN-13: 978-0415963831
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for therapists, September 7, 2009

By 

B. Janet Hibbs "author, Try to See It My Way:... (Phildelphia, PA.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Psychotherapist Revealed: Therapists Speak About Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

I wish I'd had a book like this when I began my clinical practice 30 years ago. The editors of Psychotherapist Revealed have done both beginning and expert clinicians a great service in providing a depth and breadth of material on the often taboo, hotly debated topic of therapist's self-disclosure. Walk into any clinician's office and you'll see unintentional self-disclosure. I learned this early in my career when I visited Freud's office, now a museum in suburban London. His desk was clutterred with archaeological artifacts and he had a great aesthetic eye. From the humanity of that room I understood that he could not have been remote with his patients. Drs. Bloomgarden and Menuti wisely articulate the distinctions between boundary crossings and boundary violations, and the case for and against therapist self-disclosure. They offer guidelines for when disclosure is helpful, when it isn't, and when you may do harm by your well-meaning attempt to disclose nothing, thus denying your own humanity and failing to provide your client with a truly reparative therapeutic relationship. The editors have wisely chosen wide-ranging contributors who treat different clinical populations. Psychotherapist Revealed is a beautifully written and edited, gratifying and crucial read in the ongoing learning curve of clinical practice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a thoughtful and stimulating read- even for a "non- therapist", December 29, 2009

By 

M. E. LTainen (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Psychotherapist Revealed: Therapists Speak About Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

I consider myself an interested and appreciative student on the topic of psychotherapy, as I am surrounded by therapists and love the conversations I get to be apart of. Psychotherapist Revealed is a well written, layperson friendly tool that opened me to learning what it takes and means to share and reveal (therapists and non-therapists alike)and become more deeply connected with others- and importantly compassionate and mindful of our humaness. I found the writing style to be welcoming and inspiring as I evaluate my own life and connections with people, and as I look to deepen relationships and foster meaning in the moment. It educated me about what it means to connect with a therapist (and people in general) and provided me an inspiring outlook on the future as the new decade approachs.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seminal exploration of the healing power of therapists' and clients' shared humanity!, December 2, 2009

By 

Suzanne M. Brennan "Nurse Psychotherapist" (Philadelphia Pa.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Psychotherapist Revealed: Therapists Speak About Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy (Hardcover)

As seasoned psychotherapists, Bloomgarden, Mennuti and their co-authors courageously and thoughtfully reveal themselves to the reader in this ground-breaking text. With each chapter, we are invited along on an intimate and compelling journey as these clinicians candidly, and with integrity, examine the evolving and rightful role of self-disclosure in their own professional practice. Undergirding each of these efforts is the central premise that therapist self-disclosure is neither intrinsically healing, nor intrinsically harmful to the client. Rather, the book argues for a careful consideration of the therapeutic consequences of therapist self-disclosure. From the sturdy and centering ground of their own lived experience, the authors challenge fellow professionals to engage in a useful and overdue dialogue of discernment. Specifically they ask us to consider, in our own practice lives, the difference between self-disclosures that constitute acts of healing authenticity and those that overburden the client and thus detour healing. Beyond this aim, the authors challenge us to recognize the therapeutic costs incurred when--in the service of maintaining boundaries--the "designated healer" witholds potentially healing personal truths from the client. Essentially, they dare us to consider the possibility that certain "omissions of disclosure" represent a missed opportunity for the type of healing that can only be found in shared human struggle. Psychotherapist Revealed also has much to offer those on the receiving end psychotherapy as well. It poignantly illuminates the paradox of suffering and healing inherent in the humanity of the therapist, and thus conveys to clients the redemptive possibilities inherent in their own suffering, and in a relationship with an expert, yet altogether human, healer.