The Role of Therapist Self-Disclosure in Resolving Resistance in Brief Therapy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jmsd.202512403

Author(s)

Xuanming Gu

Affiliation(s)

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, 1520/ 555 Swanston St, Carlton, VIC 3053, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Short-term counseling appears to tend to suggest efficiency in addressing anxiety, depression, and stress but often seems to encounter what might be characterized as client resistance, which can apparently hinder therapeutic outcomes. What the evidence appears to reveal is that appropriate counselor self-disclosure—sharing relevant personal experiences or emotions—seems to generally indicate trust-building potential, tends to balance power dynamics, and appears to encourage client openness, thereby ostensibly reducing resistance in the majority of cases. Within this broader analytical framework, however, what seems especially noteworthy is that excessive disclosure appears to risk what might be characterized as role confusion and, given the complexity of these theoretical relationships, cultural misunderstandings. What these findings seem to point toward is that establishing clear guidelines, training counselors in what appears to represent emotional regulation, and tailoring disclosure to cultural contexts are presumably essential for what the data seems to suggest about maximizing its effectiveness in therapeutic settings.

Keywords

Short-Term Counseling; Therapist Self-Disclosure; Resistance; Trust-Building

References

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