Self-Disclosure in Group Psychotherapy

Abstract

John, usually a silent member, opened a group meeting with a carefully planned statement about an episode of sexual abuse he had experienced as a child. He told the story in a deliberate manner with a flat expression. When he finished, there were a couple of minutes of silence, whereupon John said, half-jokingly, that he didn’t give a damn if the group responded to him or not. Soon the disclosure evoked many reactions in the rest of the group. Another member, Steven, began to weep, recalling a past experience of sexual molestation and its subsequent influence on his sexual identity. Two other members offered him some words of support, which fell on deaf ears; this permitted the leaders to point out how hard it is for Steven to accept comfort from others. One member commented that she felt confused by the discrepancy between how much John revealed and his flat, rehearsed manner of revelation. Another member, Mary, had an entirely different set of responses to John: she felt that his overwhelming self-disclosure put pressure on other group members to respond in kind. She resented this pressure and felt manipulated by John. A lively and engaging session ensued, with many complex variations on the theme of self-disclosure.