Client‐initiated disclosure of psychotherapists' sexual orientation: A narrative inquiry

• Published in: Counselling and psychotherapy research Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 365 - 377
• Main Author: McPherson, Alan Stuart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2020
• Subjects: client‐initiated disclosure; narrative inquiry; psychotherapy; Sexual orientation; therapeutic relationship
• ISSN: 1473-3145; 1746-1405
• DOI: 10.1002/capr.12274

Intention
This study considers the effect on counsellors and psychotherapists when their sexual orientation is discovered and introduced into the therapeutic relationship by their clients.
Method
Using a narrative inquiry approach, four qualified and experienced counsellors/psychotherapists share their stories by means of unstructured conversations. The findings are presented and analysed through a reconstructed conversation illustrating the similarities and differences between these participants' stories, considered alongside my own.
Findings
Through this reconstituted dialogue, the process of unintended revealing of the participants' sexual orientation and the perceived effect on the client and on the therapeutic relationship are explored, and how these experiences altered the practitioner's view of themselves, clients in general and wider society.
Implications for practice
These stories suggest clients' curiosity into the lives of their counsellor/psychotherapist is inevitable with the growth of the availability of personal information in the public domain, and as such, practitioners are encouraged to take ownership of their narratives of their sexual orientation.