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Therapeutic impact disclosure: A last taboo in psychoanalytic theory and practice
Author(s) -
Kiesler Donald J.,
Van Denburg Todd F.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.5640010103
Subject(s) - psychoanalytic theory , taboo , psychology , intervention (counseling) , countertransference , psychotherapist , interpersonal communication , statement (logic) , psychoanalysis , social psychology , epistemology , psychiatry , sociology , philosophy , anthropology
This article highlights the therapeutic intervention of impact disclosure. Impact disclosure occurs when the therapist voices to the patient his or her perceptions of and reactions to the patient's actions, as experienced by the therapist during their sessions. We first provide a brief statement of the interpersonal communications theory in which the intervention originally was embedded. Then we summarize essential definitions of impact disclosure, principles that might guide its use in therapy, and available empirical findings. Next we discuss perspectives on countertransference by recent psychoanalytic writers. Finally, we confront theoretical and other concerns regarding use of impact disclosure in treatment and discuss its advantages, with the hope that the intervention might assume its rightful place both in the practice and research of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.