Self-disclosure is crucial in any successful counseling session as it creates a connection between the counselor and the client. Self-disclosure can be deliberate, client-initiated, unavoidable, or accidental. All types work to make the counselor relatable, allowing clients to go into more detail about their problems. While essential to good practice, sometimes counselors go too far and undermine the therapy session by failing to control the disclosure’s volume or content.
The vignette practice pointed out some important things about self-disclosure and counseling. The vignette on correct self-disclosure showed deliberate self-disclosure (Macdonald, 2013a). The counselor reveals personal information as a tool in the counseling process, which speaks to its effectiveness as the client shows positive signs of recovering and the boundary between the two is clear and definite. The vignette on incorrect self-disclosure displayed client-initiated, unavoidable, and accidental self-disclosure and demonstrated why they should be avoided or minimized as they blur the boundary of the counselor-client relationship and do not help the patient (Macdonald, 2013b). The client in this scenario left more negative about her experience, showing the ineffectiveness of these types of self-disclosure.
The vignette on basic counseling skills points out the important tools a counselor should be equipped with to ensure successful therapy sessions. These tools include close listening, attentiveness, good eye contact, showing understanding, responding to feeling and content, normalizing, summarizing content and feeling, responding to content, and identifying the pattern (Curtis, n.d.). Combining these skills leads to a productive therapy session as clients feel heard and understood, develop an understanding of their situation, and see it as a normal human experience. It is the counselor’s prerogative to ensure positive outcomes for their clients by developing and acquiring necessary skills.
References
Curtis, R. (2012). How to do basic counseling skills: Role play [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Macdonald, D. (2013a). Correct self disclosure [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Macdonald, D. (2013b). Incorrect self- disclosure [Video]. YouTube. Web.