The “me too” decision: An analog study of therapist self‐disclosure of psychological problems

• Published in: Journal of clinical psychology Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 794 - 800
• Main Authors: McCormic, Rebecca W., Pomerantz, Andrew M., Ro, Eunyoe, Segrist, Daniel J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Periodicals Inc 01.04.2019
• Subjects: counseling; counselor; Hypotheses; psychotherapist; psychotherapy; self‐disclosure; Therapists; psychotherapist; counselor; psychotherapy; counseling; self-disclosure
• ISSN: 0021-9762; 1097-4679
• DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22736

Objectives To test the exploratory hypothesis that client perceptions of therapists are most favorable when therapists self‐disclose their own personal experience with the same psychological problem to a moderate (vs. none, mild, or extreme) extent. Method Undergraduate participants (N = 104; 63.5% female) were randomly assigned to read one of the four vignettes, which differed only in the extent to which the therapist disclosed their own personal experience with the same presenting problem (none, mild, moderate, or extreme). Participants then responded to questions assessing their perceptions of the therapist. Results The data generally supported the hypothesis. The moderate disclosure condition yielded the most favorable client perceptions, which differed significantly from those yielded by the no disclosure condition. Conclusions Despite limitations and need for replication, this study provides perhaps the first empirical data regarding the effect of the extent, rather than the mere presence or absence, of therapist self‐disclosure regarding personal psychological experiences.