Should an LGB Therapist Self-disclose Their Sexuality? The Current State of Evidence and Ethical Guidelines - James Porter Doctoral Portfolio in Counselling Psychology Chapter 2 (original) (raw)
Related papers
2012
Cultural sensitivity is key when working therapeutically with clients from sexual minorities. Therapist self-disclosure of sexual identity is particularly important for therapists who are themselves members of sexual minorities as it relates to the key issue of being "out" for a sexual minority client and providing an appropriate level of honesty and openness that is therapeutically valuable and associated with positive client outcomes (King et al 2007).
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 2014
Introduction to the Research Topic It is both logical and widely agreed upon that within psychological therapy, the overall aim and intent is beneficence (doing good) and non-maleficence (not causing harm) for the client who may likely be in some form of psychological distress. This principle understanding could be deemed a facet that most counselling psychologists would fundamentally aim to achieve in their therapeutic practices (Woolfe et al., 2010). Counselling psychology has fundamentally placed itself between the science of psychology and the therapeutic practices of counselling and psychotherapy with the aim to represent both "scientist practitioners" and "reflective practitioners". To truly represent a counselling psychologist's reflective practice, links must be drawn to the overall origins in humanistic values and philosophy upon which the profession was built upon (Strawbridge & Woolfe, 2010). This value base and philosophy moved away from the notion of how to 'treat' clients but instead orientated the counselling psychologist into how to 'be with' them and just as importantly placing emphasis on 'being-in-relation' to these clients. Thus counselling psychologists aim to consider not only their clients but also the 'therapeutic relationship' between them and how they themselves are impacting upon such therapeutic practices, achieved through for Dr James Christopher Porter Doctoral Portfolio in Counselling Psychology! ! 7! example; personal therapy, personal development and clinical supervision of their own, to try and be a reflective practitioner. This research dossier hopefully provides an example of how I as a counselling psychologist in training have tried to use the opportunity of conducting research as part of a practitioner doctorate portfolio, to represent what it means to integrate the 'being' both a scientist practitioner and reflective practitioner. This is achieved through this research dossier presenting literature and empirical research crucial for counselling psychologists to provide evidence-based therapy with their clients, but also through focus on areas related to the notion of reflective practice, which are particularly pertinent to me. This research dossier focuses on the experiences of individuals that identify as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGB) and work therapeutically with clients. This is strongly guided by the investigation into the area of self-disclosure by these individuals of their sexual orientation to clients they may be or could potentially work with. This holds to the values of counselling psychology by developing an evidencebase underpinned by psychotherapeutic theory, published studies and relevant codes of ethics and conduct. It also recognises the fundamental counselling psychology philosophy that therapeutic contact is a reflection of both the client's inner psychology and a natural attempt to reach self-actualisation, intertwined also with the therapist's similar process (Rogers, 1967). Sackett et al. (1996) created a model of evidence-based practice that aimed to provide the best care for patients by integrating individual clinical expertise, with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research and stakeholder views. This dossier aims to concentrate on the first of these two aspects to reach the best Dr James Christopher Porter Doctoral Portfolio in Counselling Psychology! ! 8! outcome regarding the subject area and therefore produce new evidence for such an evidence-based practice (see Johnson, 2008; Sackett, 1997). By focusing on existing empirical literature, alongside literature that acknowledges the fundamental roles clinical experience and stakeholder views have in decision-making, this work addresses the three core aspects of evidence-based practice (Sackett et al., 1996; Muir-Gray, 1997). This research dossier is fundamentally concerned with the experiences of LGB therapists and subsequent self-disclosures, however it is worth briefly discussing relatable research from other minority group therapists. In the case of African-American therapists working with clients of the same ethnicity, it was reported that their clients were more likely to self-disclose race-related intimate information to the therapist, if the therapist purposefully self-disclosed their ethnicity (Helms & Cook,
The European Journal of Counselling Psychology
Relevant literature has explored the issue of disclosure of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) therapists to heterosexual or LGB clients. But how do homosexual or bisexual clients understand and experience their therapist’s heterosexual orientation, known or assumed, in relation to the therapeutic alliance and the therapeutic process? In this qualitative study, we used the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine eight semi-structured interviews with LGB clients in a family-oriented therapy in Greece. Analysis revealed two themes of higher order, each having three subordinate themes depicting the client’s experience of the therapist’s sexual orientation: 1. Focus on the therapist’s sexual orientation: (a) as a hypothesis (b) as a factor of acceptance (c) as a factor of professional capability and 2. Focus on other therapist features: (a) gender (b) personality traits (c) practice of professional role. The therapist’s sexual orientation or the one perceived by the client was ...
Journal of clinical psychology, 2001
Reviewed here are a number of conceptual and ethical issues surrounding the study and treatment of gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals (GLB), with particular emphasis on the frequently overlooked political and ethical dimensions of what therapists choose to treat, indeed, on the goals patients themselves want to work towards. Several issues are discussed, including the relevance and irrelevance of sexual orientation and the role of therapist biases in assessment and treatment planning, the need for better understanding of how the problems of GLB patients are construed and the associated dangers of stereotyping, the challenges of coming out and the ways therapists can help patients make the decision and how to implement it, the extra effort required to be a GLB person in terms of the formation of an unconventional social and sexual identity, the trust issues that can arise when one partner in a committed relationship requests protected sex, the challenges and rewards of parents "coming out" as family members of a gay son or daughter, the social invisibility of lesbians and the deleterious effects this can have on them, social support issues for GLB youth, and the need for professionals to take a broad, institutional community psychology perspective to their study and treatment of GLB individuals.
CLINICAL ISSUES IN WORKING WITH LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL CLIENTS
This article discusses some of the key clinical issues for therapists to consider when working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients. After a discussion of the biases that can influence psychotherapy, guidelines are given for conducting LGB-affirmative therapy that avoids these biases. Issues that therapists need to be familiar with in working with LGB clients include LGB identity development; couple relationships and parenting; LGB individuals as members of families; the unique stressors faced by individuals who are underrepresented in the LGB research literature (e.g., older LGB individuals, ethnic minorities, religious LGB individuals, bisexual individuals); and legal and workplace issues. An examination of the published literature is offered with particular emphasis given to the available empirical research.
Effective Counseling With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients
Journal of College Counseling, 2002
Professional organizations mandate that effective counseling be provided t o lesbian, gay male, and bisexual male and female (LGB) clients.This article presents the characteristics, challenges, and needs of sexual minorities. along with therapeutic strategies that practitioners may use in facilitating a positive self-image among the lesbians, gay men, and bisexual men and women whom they counsel. n society, variations in sexual identity are found in every nationality, race/ ethnicity, creed, and gender. This prevalence, coupled with the facts that I the college years are a key time in the formation of sexual identity and that lesbians, gay men, and bisexual men and women frequently seek the support of counseling professionals (Hancock, 1995), necessitates that college counselors achieve competence in providing services to lesbian, gay male, and bisexual male and female (LGB) clients. Professional codes of conduct for counselors (American Counseling Association, 1996), psychiatrists (American Psychiatric Association, 1998), psychologists (American Psychological Association, 1992), and social workers (National Association ofsocial Workers, 1999) acknowledge this necessity. Yet many counseling professionals receive inadequate training in this area (Phillips, 2000). In this article, we endeavor to contribute toward meeting our ethical and professional mandates, by informing trainees and professionals of the characteristics and needs of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual men and women and by demonstrating methods for helping individuals who may acknowledge an LGB identity or who may be questioning their sexual identity. (Reader's Note. We note that transgendered persons have experiences similar to LGB populations but also have social and psychological dimensions unique to their identity. Given these unique qualities and the marked absence of research with transgendered people, we do not examine concerns specific to that population. Rather, we believe that many of the therapeutic strategies outlined may be applied in providing effective counseling to a transgendered client.) Overview of Issues Faced bv LGB Clients Requisite to achieving competency in the care of LGB populations is gaining a relevant knowledge base. Counselors who work with LGB clients need to be informed about appropriate terms and about the experiences and conditions ofparticular relevance to the lives of LGB clients. For example, although homosexual has traditionally been used to connote an individual whose
Issues in therapy with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients
2000
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Issues in therapy with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clients / edited by Charles Neal and Dominic Davies. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-335-20332-9 (hb)-ISBN 0-335-20331-0 (pbk.) 1. Gays-Mental health. 2. Bisexuals-Mental health. 3. Gays-Counseling of. 4. Bisexuals-Counseling of.