Principles and Techniques of Non-Disclosure by the Therapist during Psychotherapy

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Abstract
The current controversy between the psychodynamic and humanistic-existential perspectives of psychotherapy has involved the use of self-disclosure by the therapist. This practice is uniformly contraindicated in the former and consistently recommended in the latter. Less attention has been paid, however, to specifying the systematic procedures by which a “blank screen” orientation—a posture in which the clinician's anonymity is maintained—is implemented. The present discussion enunciates the principles and techniques of non-disclosing psychotherapy in which the over-all therapeutic style and specific procedures by which a “blank screen” attitude may be executed with increased uniformity and precision, minimizing adverse effects, e.g., the therapist's presentation as “cold,” “enigmatic,” or “aloof”—inferences which may attenuate the therapeutic relationship. The non-disclosing techniques presented may be used by therapists of different orientations and with various treatments.