The impact of counselor self-disclosure on clients: A meta-analytic review of experimental and quasi-experimental research.

Abstract

In an attempt to make sense of contradictory findings, meta-analysis was used to review 53 studies that examined counselor self-disclosure (CSD) vs. nondisclosure. CSD, overall, was found to have a favorable impact on clients/participants, with clients/participants having favorable perceptions of disclosing counselors and rating themselves more likely to disclose to counselors who had self-disclosed. Specifically, CSD that (a) revealed similarity between client and counselor; (b) was of negative content valence; or (c) was related to intra- or, especially, extratherapy experiences, had favorable impacts on clients/participants compared with nondisclosure. These types of disclosure resulted in more favorable perceptions of the counselor, especially in the area of professional attractiveness. CSD that revealed similarity between client and counselor also had a favorable impact on clients'/participants' allegiance-specifically, on their willingness to return-to disclosing counselors. Significant moderators of the impact of CSD on clients included researcher bias for or against CSD, type of "session" (e.g., written transcript, interview, real session), timing of CSD (whether before or after client self-disclosure), verb tense of extratherapy CSD, experimental setting, type of control group, and the number of CSDs in the experiment. Clinical implications include that CSD may be beneficial for building rapport, strengthening alliance, and eliciting client disclosure, with similar CSD being especially beneficial.

Effects of Genetic Counselor Self‐Disclosure: an Experimental Analog Study

“…On the other hand, disclosure may redirect the session to focus on the counselor rather than the patient, lead to inappropriate crossing of boundaries, and lead the counselor towards becoming directive in their discussions with the patient. Similar arguments pro and con have been made in the domains of counseling/clinical psychology (e.g., Audet ; Henretty et al ; Myers and Hayes ; Watkins ; Ziv‐Beiman ) and medicine (e.g., Arroll and Allen ; McDaniel et al ).…”

“…By contrast, the counselor in our personal disclosure video revealed a specific fact about her own medical history. Our manipulation more closely matched the ideal CSD conditions described by Henretty et al (): therapist disclosures of negative personal information matched to the client's own clinical condition.…”

“…First, a personal disclosure of a negative life event matching the patient's experience enhanced observer perceptions of the counselor. Second, we documented significant effects for two of the measures described by Henretty et al () as typical targets of CSD research: evaluations of the counselor‐patient relationship and willingness to see the counselor.…”

“…As Henretty et al () discuss, the majority of experimental studies on CSD utilize analog designs in which nonclinical participants view or read descriptions of hypothetical counseling sessions. Such designs have the advantage of potentially ruling out therapist expectations (observer bias) as a possible explanation for positive CSD results.…”

“…We aimed our design at comparisons of different CSD forms along the two dimensions described earlier: direct vs. indirect disclosure and personal vs. professional disclosure. Henretty et al () described four typical assessment targets in CSD research: perceptions of the counselor, levels of client disclosure to the counselor, client willingness to return to the counselor, and therapy outcome. We could not assess patient disclosure and outcome because our participants were third‐party observers of a simulated counseling session.…”