Therapist self‐disclosure and the problem of shared‐decision making

Therapist self‐disclosure is one of the most controversial topics in the history of psychotherapy. The controversies reflect some basic discussions regarding the nature of psychotherapy practice. In psychotherapy practice, a particular concern is the interaction between the psychotherapist and the patient. The expert‐patient interaction has been addressed in a novel framework for clinical practice called shared‐decision making. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between self‐disclosure and shared‐decision making. The chief aim is to illustrate some of the principles and practical problems with shared‐decision making by using therapist self‐disclosure as an example.