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The Therapeutic Relationship

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a section of Kahn's (1977) book on the therapeutic relationship. The underlying theme of the section is the dilemmas encountered by a therapist regarding self-disclosure of personal thoughts and feelings to the client. The discussion relates to counseling theory in that much of counseling theory is associated with therapist self-disclosure and its effects (both positive and negative) on the therapeutic relationship (Peterson & Nisenholz, 1994).

In general, this section of the book not only explicates the nature of the dilemmas that arise in consideration of whether or not to self-disclose (and, if so, how), it also provides some illustrations of the difficulties that well-known therapists (e.g., Kohut, Rogers, etc.) have had in dealing with the dilemmas. Also, the section lists those personal behaviors that a therapist, any therapist, must give in his/her work with clients.

For example, it is noted that there must be a maximal effort to understand the client, and that there must be some communication to the client that this maximal effort is being made. Further, the section organizes the entire concept of therapist self-disclosure using a conservative-to-radical continuum, thereby providing the reader with both an understanding of the scope of the problem and a scale to use to rate his or her own standing on the issue.

In addition to the foregoing, Kahn (1977) provides several very well-thought-out questions that therapists must consider in arriving at an answer to the dilemma of self-disclosure. For example, therapists are encouraged to ask themselves such questions as, "How am I to communicate warmth and caring?" and "How much of my personal life do I talk about?"

In his discussion of self-disclosure, Kahn takes the position that therapists are best advised to imply positive regard rather than stated it directly; it is, however, it is acknowledged that other therapists h...

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The Therapeutic Relationship. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:51, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1690236.html