Chapter 11
EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE AND FEEDBACK:
RELATIONSHIP, IMMEDIACY, AND
GENUINENESS
How can the skills of self-disclosure and feedback help you and your clients?
Chapter 11, “Empathic Self-Disclosure and Feedback: Relationship, Immediacy, and
Genuineness,” explores two specific strategies for facilitating client change: empathic
self-disclosure and empathic feedback.
CHAPTER GOALS
Awareness, knowledge, skills, and actions developed through the concepts of this chapter
will enable you to:
▲ Use appropriate self-disclosure, which builds a sense of equality and encourages client
trust and openness. Disclosure may be about immediate here-and-now feelings, history
of the counselor, or thoughts and feelings that the counselor may have.
INTRODUCTION
Self-disclosure is ever present and unavoidable and takes one of these three forms:
deliberate, unavoidable, and accidental. This chapter begins with a discussion of
empathic self-disclosure, followed by a discussion of feedback. Feedback is essential to
guide your work and that of the client.
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER AND MINDTAP SUPPORT
DEFINING EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE
This module first speaks to the importance of self-disclosure and its role in the interview.
Review of controversy around self-disclosure and the way in which it is used within
different theoretical models follows.
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
1. Interactive Exercise: Using Influencing Skills in the Interview. What self-disclosure
DISCERNING THE SKILL OF EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE
The importance of empathy on self-disclosure is highlighted. Also presented here are key
aspects of self-disclosure.
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
1. Interactive Exercise: Writing Self-Disclosure Statements. Practice writing effective
self disclosures.
REFINING EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE
This section challenges learners to ask themselves if they can disclose in a way that it is
DEFINING EMPATHIC FEEDBACK
DISCERNING THE SKILL OF EMPATHIC FEEDBACK
Guidelines for effective feedback are presented in this section. Feedback that places the
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
1. Interactive Exercise: Personal Experience with Feedback. An exercise to help you
reflect on your personal experience receiving feedback.
REFINING THE SKILL OF EMPATHIC FEEDBACK
List of MindTap resources available for this section:
2. Group Practice Exercise: Group Practice with Self-Disclosure and Feedback.
3. Weblink: What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback—The
OBSERVING EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE AND EMPATHIC FEEDBACK
PRACTICING THE SKILL OF EMPATHIC SELF-DISCLOSURE AND EMPATHIC
FEEDBACK
DEMONSTRATIONS AND VIDEOS TO SUPPLEMENT ESSENTIALS OF
INTENTIONAL INTERVIEWING, Third Edition
• Live demonstrations.
• Tapes developed by ourselves and the students over the years.
CLASS PROCEDURES
1. Define the skills. We like to put the two skills on the class whiteboard or a
2. View the skills in action. The students are far enough along that it is likely that a
GROUP PRACTICE WITH SELF-DISCLOSURE AND FEEDBACK
Step 1: Divide into practice groups.
Step 2: Select a group leader.
Step 3: Assign roles for the first practice session.
• Observers who use the Feedback Forms and time the session.
Step 4: Plan and select topic. A useful topic to use these skills is a relationship problem,
as all of us have them to some degree or another. Also useful are a variety of
topics related to the RESPECTFUL model, particularly around being
discriminated against or observing discrimination and not being sure what to do.
Step 5: Conduct a five-minute practice session using the skills. Allow enough time for the
story to be told and for the interviewer to make several self-disclosure and
feedback statements.