“I Saw My Psychotherapist as a Human Being”: Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Clients’ Experiences of Therapist Self-Disclosure

Abstract

In this article, we present the experiences of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy clients related to their therapists’ personal self-disclosure. Although this phenomenon has been studied, the research findings remain contradictory. Moreover, previous studies have focused on therapists rather than their clients, and this phenomenon has not been explored in Lithuania at all. Therefore, through this study, we aimed to reveal and describe the experiences of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy clients related to their therapists’ personal self-disclosure in the therapeutic process. A qualitative research strategy was chosen for the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed by using the reflexive thematic analysis method. Eight clients of long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy participated in the study. Three main themes and eleven subthemes were identified, revealing the subjective experiences of psychotherapy clients related to therapists’ personal self-disclosure. The results of the study revealed that, when used appropriately, therapists’ personal self-disclosure can be beneficial to clients, while inappropriate or overly personal self-disclosure may create difficulties. Furthermore, the study results show that long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy clients perceive self-disclosure in different forms and emphasize the importance of boundaries in self-disclosure.