Client‐initiated disclosure of psychotherapists' sexual orientation: A narrative inquiry

Abstract

Intention This study considers the effect on counsellors and psychotherapists when their sexual orientation is discovered and introduced into the therapeutic relationship by their clients. Method Using a narrative inquiry approach, four qualified and experienced counsellors/psychotherapists share their stories by means of unstructured conversations. The findings are presented and analysed through a reconstructed conversation illustrating the similarities and differences between these participants' stories, considered alongside my own. Findings Through this reconstituted dialogue, the process of unintended revealing of the participants' sexual orientation and the perceived effect on the client and on the therapeutic relationship are explored, and how these experiences altered the practitioner's view of themselves, clients in general and wider society. Implications for practice These stories suggest clients' curiosity into the lives of their counsellor/psychotherapist is inevitable with the growth of the availability of personal information in the public domain, and as such, practitioners are encouraged to take ownership of their narratives of their sexual orientation.

Googling psychotherapists: Can online information make or break prospective clients’ decisions?

“…In another study, participants read Healthgrades-style reviews of a fictitious psychotherapist, and their ratings of that psychotherapist were significantly more favorable when the qualitative comments about the psychotherapist were positive rather than negative (Nettelhorst, et al, 2019). A qualitative survey of psychotherapists whose clients learned of the psychotherapists' sexual orientation online suggested that such information can have notable consequences for some clients (McPherson, 2020). Another recent study found that when online psychotherapist profiles were manipulated to either include or exclude statements that may reflect the psychotherapist's own values, that manipulation had a significantly different impact on Black and White participants (Ellis, et al, 2019).…”