Social Work Self-Disclosure
A Supervision Tool to Assist Early Career Social Workers
Keywords:
social work, self disclosure, lived experience, peer work, supervisionAbstract
The concept of self-disclosure has been a controversial issue that remains highly debated by current practising social workers and researchers alike. Yet an increasing number of lived experience practitioners or peer support workers are being employed in many human services areas, including mental health, suicide prevention, bereavement services, drug and alcohol recovery, criminal justice, and emergency services, alongside or in complement to, social worker roles. Peer or lived experience roles seek to enhance the recovery journey for clients by sharing lived experience commonality, whereas social workers seek to enhance the recovery journey through psychosocial engagements. Both may have relevant lived experience to their role. The aim of this paper is to explore how sharing lived experiences, also referred to as self-disclosure, between social workers and client/service user can enhance the relationship, with attention paid to safety and recovery. A narrative review of the literature identified that there is a lack of empirical research undertaken exploring how disclosures impact the service users and what decision-making strategies can assist social workers in deciding how and when to share. The current AASW Code of Ethics offers no clear practice standards or ethical guidelines for effective self-disclosure. The analysis of the literature results in a reflective supervision tool for social workers in pre-service training and early career social workers, with the aim of assisting decisions that may prompt lived experience sharing. Recommendations for further research and development are included.
References
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). (2014). Supervision standards. AASW, Canberra. Retrieved from
https://www.swiss.qut.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/900941/aasw-supervision-standards-2014.pdf
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). (2020). Code of ethics. AASW, Canberra Retrieved from
https://www.aasw.asn.au/about-aasw/ethics-standards/code-of-ethics/
Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). (2023). Practice standards. AASW, Canberra. Retrieved from
https://www.aasw.asn.au/about-aasw/ethics-standards/practice-standards/
Audet, C. T., & Everall, R. D. (2010). Therapist self-disclosure and the therapeutic relationship: A phenomenological study from the client perspective. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 38(3), 327–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2010.482450
Aveyard, H. (2018). Doing a literature review in health and social care: A practical guide. Oxford University Press.
Byrne, L., Roennfeldt, H., Davidson, L., Miller, R., & Bellamy, C. (2022). To disclose or not to disclose? Peer workers impact
on a culture of safe disclosure for mental health professionals with lived experience. Psychological Services, 19(1), 9–18.
https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000555
Chenoweth, L. (2021). The road to social work and human service practice (6th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.
Cvetovac, M. E., & Adame, A. L. (2017). The wounded therapist: Understanding the relationship between personal suffering and
clinical practice. The Humantistic Psychologist, 45(4), 348–366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hum0000071
Davidson, C. (2011). The relation between supervisor self-disclosure and the working alliance among social work students in field
placement. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 31(3), 265–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2011.580248
Ding, H. T., Antler, L., & Drell, M. J. (2020). Let’s talk about therapist self-disclosure. Journal of the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(10), S44–S44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.07.196
Drinkwater, A., Smith‐Merry, J., & Wayland, S. (2020). Power-sharing practicies in co-production. Technical report, Centre for
Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354435699_
POWER-SHARING_PRACTICES_IN_CO-PRODUCTION
Freud, S. (1912). The dynamics of transference. In J. Strachey (Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. XII). Hogarth Press.
Fox, M., & Wayland, S. (2020). When you become the lived experience: The journey backwards from academia. Aotearoa New
Zealand Social Work, 32, 32–36. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol32iss2id739
Gagne, C. A., Finch, W. L., Myrick, K. J., & Davis, L. M. (2018). Peer workers in the behavioral and integrated health workforce:
Opportunities and future directions. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54(6, Supplement 3), S258–S266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.03.010
Harrison, G., & Healy, K. (2016). Forging an identity as a newly qualified worker in the non-government community services sector. Australian Social Work, 69(1), 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2015.1026913
Hill, C. E., & Knox, S. (2001). Self-disclosure. Psychotherapy, 38(4), 413–417. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.38.4.413
Hunt, S., Tregurtha, M., Kuruvila, A., Lowe, S., & Smith, K. (2017). Transition to professional social work practice: The first three
years. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 19(2), 139–154.
Immanuel, J. A., Cheung, C.-Y. J., & Trinh, N.-H. T. (2019). Navigating cultural challenges in patient–clinician dyads. In T. Nhi-Ha
T. & C. Justin A. (Eds.), Sociocultural issues in psychiatry: A casebook and curriculum (pp. 227–244). Oxford Academic.
https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780190849986.003.0013
Ingram, R., Fenton, J., Hodson, A., & Jindal-Snape, D. (2014). Reflective social work practice. Macmillan Education UK.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/une/detail.action?docID=4763824
Jung, C. G. (1954/1966). The practice of psychotherapy: Essays on the psychology of the transference and other subjects. In R. F. C. Hull (Trans. & Ed.), The collected works of C. G. Jung (2nd ed., Vol. 16, p. 116). Bollingen Foundation.
Knight, C. (2012). Social workers’ attitudes towards and engagement in self-disclosure. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40(3), 297–306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-012-0408-z
Knox, S., & Hill, C. E. (2003). Therapist self‐disclosure: Research‐based suggestions for practitioners. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59(5), 529–539. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10157
Lawson, K.,Werner-Lin, A., Fitzgerald, F., & Zabora, J. R. (2021). Defining self-disclosure of personal cancer coping experiences
in oncolocgy social workers’ helping relationships: When cancer “hits home”. Journal of Psychological Oncoloy, 40(3), 288–302.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2021.1914270
Lewis, M. L., & King, D. M. (2019). Teaching self-care: The utilization of self-care in social work practicum to prevent compassion
fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(1), 96–106.
Marino, C. K., Child, B., & Campbell Krasinski, V. (2016). Sharing experience learned firsthand (SELF): Self-disclosure of lived
experience in mental health services and supports. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 39(2), 154–160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/
prj0000171
Maroda, K. J. (1999). Creating an intersubjective context for self-disclosure. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 69(2), 474–489.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00377319909517566
McDonald, J. E., & Grau, P. P. (2019). Challenges and grother through bereavement during graduate training. Jouurnal of Psychotherapy Integration, 29(2), 164–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/int0000142
MacLellan, J., Surey, J., Abubakar, I., & Stagg, H. R. (2015). Peer support workers in health: A qualitative metasynthesis of their
experiences. PLOS ONE 10(10), e0141122. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141122
McInnerney, K., & Wayland, S. (2022). The “wounded” social work student: A strength-based enquiry of personal loss experience
and its impact on social work students’ professional practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 34(3), 136–144.
Morgan, P., & Lawson, J. (2015). Developing guidelines for sharing lived experience of staff in health and social care. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 19(2), 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-01-2015-0001
Muran, J. C. (2010). The therapeutic alliance: An evidence-based guide to practice. Guilford Publications.
Myers, D. (2020). What did Carl Rogers say on the topic of therapist self-disclosure? A comprehensive review of his recorded clinical work. The Person Centered Journal, 25(2), 114–127.
Norcross, J. C. (2002). Psychotherapy relationships that work. Oxford University Press.
Payne, M. (2014). Modern social work theory (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Puschner B., Repper, J., Mahlke, C., Nixdorf, R., Basangwa, D., Nakku, J., Ryan, G., Baillie, D., Shamba, D., Ramesh, M., Moran, G.,
Lachmann, M., Kalha, J., Pathare, S., Müller-Stierlin, A., & Slade, M. (2019). Using peer support in developing empowering mental
health services (UPSIDES): Background, rationale and methodology. Annals of Global Health, 85(1), 53. https//:doi.org/10.5334/
aogh.2435. PMID: 30951270; PMCID: PMC6634474.
Raines, J. C. (1996). Self-disclosure in clinical social work. Clinical Social Work Journal, 24(4), 357–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/
BF02190743
Rankine, M. (2017). Making the connections: A practice model for reflective supervision. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 29(3), 66–78. https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol29iss3id377
Rodgers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21(2),
–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h00453
Segev, E., & Hochman, Y. (2022). Teaching note – The hidden key: Opening the door to self-disclosure in social work education.
Journal of Social Work Education, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2022.2039822
Sherby, L. B. (2013). Love and loss in life and in treatment. Taylor & Francis Group.
Solo, C. (2019). Supervising students in emerging adulthood: Modeling use of self in developmentally informed supervision. Clinical Social Work Journal, 47, 72–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-018-0674-5
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2015). Core competencies for peer workers in behavioural health services. Substance abuse and mental health services administration (SAMHSA). https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/
programs_campaigns/brss_tacs/core-competencies_508_12_13_18.pdf
Szczygiel, P. (2021). Navigating student self-disclosure through a relational lens: Examples of increased self-awareness from a social work classroom. Clinical Social Work Journal, 49(1), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00714-2
Walsh, P. E., McMillan, S. S., Stewart, V., & Wheeler, A. J. (2018). Understanding paid peer support in mental health. Disability &
Society, 33(4), 579–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2018.1441705
Wayland, S., McKay, K., & Maple, M. (2020). How is participating in suicide prevention activities experienced by those with lived
and living experiences of suicide in Australia? A qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17134635
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Copyright © Australian & New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education by Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research (ANZSWWER) is licensed under CC BY 4.0
