How I Feel About Self-Disclosure as a Soon-To-Be Mental Health Clinician
With graduation fast approaching, I sit here thinking about my reasons for going into this field. I am within two weeks of graduating with an MSW from one of the top social work programs and a pending LMSW exam scheduled. As a burgeoning clinician who has recovered from an eating disorder herself, and as someone who has done extensive volunteering and policy work surrounding eating disorders, I have often been asked about my feelings about self-disclosure. This is a critical question many clinicians face who have decided to focus on the eating disorder population.
When I was a patient, it was critical for myself and for the clients that I was surrounded by to feel our treating clinicians truly understood the illnesses we were fighting. I have recovered from an almost 20-year struggle with an eating disorder where I was that patient: the one deemed “toxic” and “chronic” by not just one provider, but most providers. I have been inspired to go into clinical work with eating disorders and trauma based on my own journey. As someone who spent a considerable amount of time in the treatment world as a patient, I know that spoken and unspoken messages to clients have a huge impact on treatment outcomes.
Self-disclosures clinicians make about themselves are mostly discouraged across the mental health field in order to keep the focus fully on what is going on with clients. I believe in most instances, clinicians should refrain from disclosing details of their own extensive histories. For patients with eating disorders, in particular, where comparisons and competition to be the “sickest” are common, disclosure of therapist history should be exercised with discretion. Though “countertransference,” in classical psychodynamic theory, can potentially be a barrier in effective treatment for clients, I have enough distance from my disorder to maintain appropriate boundaries.
Interesting questions are posed for clinicians like me who have been fairly open about their histories, whether it be through advocacy, public speaking, blogging or other publications. One of the mental health field’s biggest secrets is many clinicians go into their respective fields due to past or current difficulties. It is all very hush-hush and just as highly stigmatized as it is within the general population, if not more so. Professional reputations and credibility are at stake.
It is my hope that sharing my story continues to raise awareness and reduces stigma about eating disorders and further reduces stigma about mental health issues within the provider community.
Follow this journey on Thoughts on Psychotherapy by The Therapist.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
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Thinkstock photo via shironosov.
Caroline graduated in May 2017 with a Master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in Saint Louis with an Individualized Concentration in Clinical Mental Health and Research. Caroline is currently working toward licensure under the clinical supervision of Tamara Hoyt, MSW, LCSW, CEDS. Recently, Caroline has established an LLC and has worked as a Crisis Intervention Clinician at Behavioral Health Response in St Louis, MO. Caroline is versed in crisis intervention, behavioral and psychodynamic approaches and evidence-based practices for the treatment of trauma and eating disorders. Caroline primarily utilizes a person-centered, strengths-based, integrative approach in practice. As a student, Caroline’s research and clinical education have surrounded focuses on the treatment of trauma, “complex” trauma, dissociative disorders and eating disorders including course work in the psychodynamic treatment of trauma, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and the impact of trauma on sexual and interpersonal relationships. She completed a research-oriented foundation practicum in the Department of Anthropology under Associate Professor and psychotherapist, Dr. Rebecca Lester. Her concentration practicum was at the Schiele Clinic at St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Caroline is active with a number of eating disorder organizations and is passionately involved in policy-making, research, education, outreach, and fundraising, and holds professional memberships through a number of international, national, and community organizations. Caroline has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology with prior clinical experience working with individuals with eating disorders, personality disorders, developmental disabilities, substance use disorders and mental illness. Caroline also enjoys freelance writing and playing the piano in her spare time.
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