Mean Number Of Therapist And Client example essay topic

" Is Psychotherapy More Effective When Therapist Disclose Information About Themselves? "In the world of psychology therapist raise a question whether or not they should "disclose personal information during psychotherapy. Several therapists "have suggested that therapist self-discloser can have a positive impact on treatment. From this view, self-discloser by the therapists may elicit greater discloser by the client enhancing the possibilities for client self-exploration" (e. g., Bugental, 1965, chap. 7; Jour ad, 1971, chap.

17; Strassburg, Ro back, D'Antonio & Gable, 1977). In addition, "self-discloser is thought to encourage an atmosphere of honesty and understanding between client and therapist, fostering a stronger and more effective therapeutic relationship"). However many other therapist disagrees with that statement. They reply " psycho dynamic theorist since Freud have generally regarded therapist self-disclosure as detrimental to treatment because it might interfere with the therapeutic process, shifting the focus of therapy away from the client" (e. g., see cutis, 1982 b; Freud, 1912/1958; Greenson, 1967, chap.

3). In addition, it is argued that therapist self-discloser may adversely affect treatment outcome by exposing therapist weakness or vulnerabilities, thereby undermining client trust in the therapist" (e. g., see cutis, 1982 b, 1981) According to the journal "These differences in identifying therapist self-disclosures may be of importance in the evaluation of their impact on treatment. For example, theoretical concerns about therapist self-discloser have emphasized the risk of shifting the focus of therapy away from the client. However when therapist self-disclose, are in direct response to comparable client discloses the presumed risk of alerting the focus of treatment is likely to reduced". The study: clients There are a total of 36 clients that participated in the study, 15 being men and 21 being women.

All of the clients requested therapy and also the clients are over the age of 18. "Exclude from the study were clients exhibiting sings of psychotic behavior, disoriented thinking, or neurological impairment". The mean age of the clients is 27, the range 18-42. The client "presenting problem included issues such as depression, social or performance anxiety, relationship conflicts or lack of impulse control. None of the client where aware of the study.

The study: therapists There were a total of 18 therapists that participated in the study 7 being men and 11 being women. The mean age of the therapist is 28.5, the range is 22 -42. All were doctoral students who had completed at least 2 years of clinical training (m = 3.6 years, range 2-5 years). Before beginning the study, the therapist had conducted a me of 1,319 hr of therapy (Mdn = 950 hr, range = 400-5,000 hr). The study is scheduled one therapist for every two client. The therapists are separated in three parts of self-discloser 1-none, 2-mild, and 3-extreme.

"Six psychology undergraduate students, who had not been informed of the treatment conditions, were trained to listen audiotapes of the therapy sessions and rate the frequency, duration and intimacy of disclosures that occurred during treatment. To prepare them for the reading task... and judge the intimacy of each discloses". The client judge their improvement in a 9 point scale 1- none, 3- little, 5- fair amount, 7- great amount, and 9- very great amount. The study Table I:" Means for client measures in the increased and limited discloser conditions " Disclosure Condition MEASURE Increased Limited MSE F (1, 15) of Difference Therapist disclosure 4.3 2.6 2.00 8.50 Symptom distress 1.6 1.9 0.11 7.40 Liking for therapist 6.7 5.7 1.12 6.30 Table II: "mean number of therapist and client self-disclosures per treatment session in the increased and limited disclosure condition" Disclosure Condition Source of disclosure Increased Limited MSE F (1, 15) of Difference Therapist 4.9 2.3 4.30 13.18 Client 63.0 64.7 44.74 0.57 Table : "mean levels of intimacy for therapist and client self-disclosures in the increased and limited disclosure condition " Disclosure Condition Source of disclosure Increased Limited MSE F (1, 15) of Difference Therapist 2.6 2.0 0.26 8.87 Client 3.6 3.6 0.10 0.03 The study: Results According to the study "therapist self-disclosure can influence the outcome of psychotherapy.

When therapists were instructed to increase their level of self-disclosure, the clients they treated reported greater reduction in symptom distress than did comparable clients from whom therapist limited their level of disclosure. In addition clients with reductions of symptoms distress, clients also liked their therapist more when therapist disclosed was increased. My views There is from the result of the clients and the observers it can be said that when a therapist even attempt to build a relation ship with a client, the client will be affected negatively or positive. However, I question whether I would want my therapist to disclose with me?

If my therapist decides to disclose personal information and emotion to me during my time of therapeutic care, being on the opposite end of the table I would feel this therapist has more problems than I do. I have known many people who have attend therapy and the main reason they go is not because they have problems, nevertheless; that is a major aspect but there hidden agenda is they feel the therapist has there life's in track and for that person to reveal they have problems that would be similar to a punch in the guts. This is why I truly agree with this quote, "it is argued that therapist self-discloser may adversely affect treatment outcome by exposing therapist weakness or vulnerabilities, thereby undermining client trust in the therapist" (e. g., see cutis, 1982 b, 1981). In reading this study, the main aspect I realize was none of the clients had any sever problem. This might have been one of the reason why the study came out so positive. If a therapist disclose personal information to a client without a sever problem, I feel there could be a good chance of a positive outcome.

However, I feel that if a client has a sever problem this act should not take place because the therapist is now "shifting the focus of therapy away from the client" (e. g., see cutis, 1982 b; Freud, 1912/1958; Greenson, 1967, chap. 3) and that it self is damaging the client. In summation I feel that this study is true to a certain point what was not put to study was the levels of problem the clients were facing and to determine the level of improvement. I feel that this act should only take place when clients have minor problem and not major problem.

In addition, if a therapist decided to disclose personal information it should be in the interest of the client and not the therapist.