T The question of what is appropriate to inform customers about us is a question that all advisors are faced with, whether it is an upcoming vacation, an emotional response a customer or our own. Past battles can be like a client's. In addition to these more common self-disclosures, we can also disclose aspects of our identity that are not inherently visible, such as: B. our sexual orientation, gender identity or even religious beliefs.
These invisible aspects of the self differ from others like race in that there may be a mismatch between the client's perception of these identities and the counselor's experience. Sometimes disclosing such identities can be beneficial to customers, but we need to be careful and deliberate about this step. While I will talk about disclosing the LGBTQ + identity later in this article, I hope that all advisors will benefit when they decide when and what to disclose ethically to our clients.
I first became aware of how useful it is to disclose my sexual orientation in my internship. During this time, I had to get group lessons. The only active group at my location was a fear group for women, which was supported by my supervisor, who was also a woman. My supervisor was keen to gain group experience and asked the women if they would feel comfortable if a male co-moderation session took place. Most of the group hesitated until one of the members spoke and said, "That's okay, but only if he's gay." Your testimony was accepted by the rest of the group, and I was allowed to join in after I announced that I was actually gay. My manager thought this was a strange situation, but I wasn't surprised. I have a long story of seeing people interact with me differently when they learn that I'm gay.
My first experiences with self-disclosure of LGBTQ + identities have shown that this can be used to build customer confidence and possibly customer autonomy by finding an advisor who “fits” them. However, after reflecting on, overseeing, and investigating the self-disclosure literature, the concept of appropriate disclosure of LGBTQ + identities became much more cloudy for me. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that the literature also described risks of obscuring an LGBTQ + identity.
Overall, there was consensus from these sources that disclosure is more an option than a rule and must be regulated on a case-by-case basis. Factors affecting selection extend over a wide range and may include characteristics of the client, advisor and treatment settings. The rest of this article examines these issues in the context of the values and ethics of the consulting profession, literature, and theories that my colleague Kelli Hess and I developed and presented at a conference of the American Counseling Association.
Professional values and ethical principles
When advisers consider whether an approach is ethical, they should first refer to the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics and the Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making, a white paper by Holly Forester-Miller and Thomas Davis, in collaboration with ACA was developed. None of these documents provides specific answers to the question: "Is it ethically correct to disclose my LGBTQ + identity to my customers?" They provide a good starting point for assessing the question. So let's start by outlining the applicable ethical standards and professional values and principles so that they can be taken into account and applied later.
The preamble to the ACA Code of Ethics states that promoting social justice is one of the core professional values of the consulting profession. In the glossary of terms for the ACA Code of Ethics, social justice is defined as "promoting justice for all people and groups to end oppression and injustice affecting clients [and] counselors …"
The preamble also outlines a number of important principles that influence our subject, including:
Charity: "Working for the wellbeing of individuals and society by promoting mental health and wellbeing."
Truthfulness: "Truly dealing with people with whom consultants come into professional contact."
Autonomy: "Promotion of the right to control the direction of one's own life."
It is worth noting that the ethical decision model developed by Forester-Miller and Davis elaborates these definitions and describes these principles in a way that may not be intuitive. For example, helping a customer understand how their actions and values are likely to be perceived in the context of society will enhance the customer's autonomy.
The ACA Code of Ethics also contains several standards that are relevant to our discussion:
A.4.b. Personal values: “Consultants are aware of their own values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors and avoid enforcing them. Consultants respect the diversity of clients, trainees and research participants and seek training in areas where they run the risk of imposing their values on their clients, especially when the consultant's values do not match the client's goals or are discriminatory. "
I.1.b. Ethical decision making: “When advisers face an ethical dilemma, they may use and document an ethical decision model that can include, but is not limited to, consultations. Consideration of relevant ethical standards, principles and laws; Generation of potential courses of action; Risk and benefit considerations; and selection of an objective decision based on the circumstances and well-being of all concerned. "
I.2.c. Consultation: "If you are unsure whether a particular situation or practice may violate the ACA Code of Ethics, consultants consult other consultants who are familiar with the ACA Code of Ethics, with colleagues or with appropriate authorities. like the ACA Department of Ethics and Professional Standards. "
Types of Disclosure
After understanding the relevant professional values, principles, and ethical standards, we can think about how they affect self-disclosure. We usually think of self-disclosure regarding information that we share orally with our customers during the session. This can be divided into "intra-" and "extra" therapy details, the former being information about the counselor's own thoughts or feelings in the session and the latter being about the counselor's life outside the session.
Self-disclosure also takes place through non-verbal means such as body language, office layout and clothing. The information that we pass on non-verbally is either passed on intentionally or unintentionally and can also suggest or confirm an LGBTQ + identity.
Non-verbal suggestions and confirmations
To understand how non-verbal information can indicate an LGBTQ + identity, we must first recognize that people use stereotypes to understand and navigate the world. Sexual orientation and gender identity are often spontaneously adopted about a person based on the non-verbal information they present. Some non-verbal information, such as the counselor's mannerisms and voice bending, is not intentionally disclosed, but may affect a client's acceptance of the counselor's LGBTQ + identity. A consultant may also intentionally display information, such as the choice of clothing or a pride flag in his office, to suggest to clients that the consultant is LGBTQ +.
Consultants can also provide customers with non-verbal information that confirms their LGBTQ + identity. This type of disclosure can take various forms and can also be intentional or unintentional. An intentional non-verbal disclosure of this type is done, for example, by disclosing an LGBTQ + identity in a professional biography or by displaying a picture of a same-sex partner in the office. An unintentional confirmation can occur if the consultant is seen in public with a same-sex partner or if a customer discovers the information via non-professionally oriented social media platforms.
Oral disclosure with and without request
In addition to non-verbal means of disclosure, we can think about how and when consultants can address the topic orally at the meeting. In some cases, the client may ask or express something that prompts the advisor to disclose, while in other cases the advisor may disclose without prompting.
Perhaps the two most common cases that can be considered "prompts" are when a client makes a false assumption about the counselor's sexual orientation or gender identity, or when a client asks one of these questions directly. Consultants may be more likely to be interviewed directly or to make false assumptions based on the extent to which they "fall" in common LGBTQ + stereotypes. For example, I think I make some non-verbal suggestions that I'm gay and I wear a wedding ring at work. As a result, customers often ask questions about my “wife”. Another request to be considered is the unintentional confirmation of an LGBTQ + identity, for example that the advisor is seen in public with a same-sex partner.
When it comes to responding to these questions or claims, an advisor can return the topic to the customer at any time by asking why this information is important to him or how it would affect his treatment. The advisor may choose to disclose LGBTQ + identification when asked directly by a customer or when correcting a customer's explicit acceptance, provided an advisor sees minimal risk to the customer and is happy with the disclosure, when asked to do so.
In these situations, unethical answers would be those that contradict the principle of truthfulness. This includes lying about the LGBTQ + identity or providing a response that confirms a customer's false acceptance. Such reactions could damage the therapeutic relationship in the future if the client discovers through other means such as social media or public encounters that the counselor identifies as LGBTQ +.
Consultants who want a middle ground between diversion and exit can use gender-neutral words to answer appropriate questions about themselves or their relationships. For example: "My partner and I have been married for three years."
Consultants may also want to disclose their LGBTQ + identity without asking the customer for various reasons, including:
1) Promotion of the perceived similarity or relativity between advisor and client: The similarity between advisor and client identity, especially with regard to identity aspects such as race, has proven to be helpful in the development of the report as well as in customer loyalty and retention. While disclosure of similarities can lead to a rapport, advisors should be careful to use the disclosure as an abbreviation for rapport or as a substitute for mastering LGBTQ + skills and competency.
2) Increasing customer autonomy or customer comfort: The disclosure of the LGBTQ + identity can also help to promote customer autonomy. Many customers "buy" their consultant, and early disclosure, for example in a professional biography, can help customers make a selection. As I have already described in relation to my experience with a group of women, disclosure of the LGBTQ + identity can also help promote customer comfort. While the situation I described has been initiated, counselors may also find that disclosure improves comfort when clients are reluctant to address certain issues that may be related to the counselor's gender identity.
3) Support in solving a customer's internal value struggles.
4) Modeling a healthy LGBTQ + identity.
To understand how disclosure can support a customer's internal struggles, let's go back to the professional value of autonomy. Forester-Miller and Davis suggest that the disclosure could help customers understand how their actions and values are likely to be perceived in the context of society. An example of this could be a customer who is experiencing a shortage of work due to difficulties with a new LGBTQ + employee and does not know that his advisor has an LGBTQ + identity. In such a case, the advisor may decide to disclose his LGBTQ + identity if the client is not at risk of self-harm or crisis and the therapeutic relationship is strong enough to withstand the disclosure. An advisor who follows this approach should consider how to continue to focus on the client and deal with any significant breaks in the relationship.
Disclosure of the advisor's own LGBTQ + identity can also serve to model a healthy identity for clients with less developed identities. Models of LGBTQ + identity development suggest that the convenience of disclosing the LGBTQ + identity indicates a healthy identity. With this in mind, advisors can use self-disclosure as a means to investigate the reasons behind clients' own discomfort with disclosure, such as: B. Internalized homophobia.
In addition, cases where heterosexual Cisgender counselors are comfortable can also serve to model a healthy LGBTQ + identity and can be seen as an act that promotes social justice. To illustrate this point, consider a community counseling clinic where some heterosexual Cisgender clinicians display family pictures. An LGBTQ + guide, which shows similar images that illustrate non-traditional family structures, promotes equality and raises awareness of such families.
Such seemingly small actions are important to help LGBTQ + counselors feel comfortable in their work situation, as these counselors may also be afraid of being judged by clients, colleagues, or superiors, making them less effective in their roles . A peer or supervisor judgment may seem unlikely, but I've met many LGBTQ + counselors who have felt outlawed in their agencies, who are supposed to lie to clients for their sexual orientation or gender identity, or have even been fired for disclosing to clients. Concerns like these may indicate issues related to multiculturalism and diversity within the agency or a broader culture, but may also be due to the consultant's unresolved issues regarding internalized homophobia. In such cases, LGBTQ + consultants can use their own advisory services.
To illustrate these concepts, consider this vignette: Thomas is a consultant who works in a group practice in a medium-sized city with an established client, Jared. Jared has had increasing complaints about his work, especially about a new employee who is openly gay and who has inappropriately discussed his sexual relationships at work. Jared says angrily: "I just don't like gay people. They're all like that. Why can't they just keep this stuff to themselves?"
As a counselor who makes few non-verbal suggestions about his own sexual orientation, Thomas assumes that Jared thinks he's heterosexual. Thomas believes that the disclosure that he is gay could help Jared, but he first considers the strength of his therapeutic alliance with Jared and the other services that Jared would have available as disclosure to cause irreparable harm.
Thomas decides that Jared may be able to process this information in a healthy way, and will reveal his sexual orientation at the next session when Jared complains again about gay people. Jared is surprised by Thomas' revelation. Jared discusses stereotypes he has about gay people and why he didn't think Thomas was gay. This process enables Thomas to model Jared a healthy LGBTQ + identity while reducing unhelpful stereotypes. Jared can now see that his colleague's behavior stems from poor interpersonal boundaries rather than his sexual orientation.
Decision not to disclose anything
Although it appears that there are benefits to clients, advisors, and the larger LGBTQ + population when advisors disclose their LGBTQ + status orally, there are times when advisors should refrain from doing so . To arrive at this decision, consultants should carefully consider:
Whether their disclosure is relevant to the customer's problem
Purpose and Motivation of Disclosure
The immediate needs of the customer
The strength of the therapeutic relationship
In many, if not most cases, the advisor's LGBTQ + identity is irrelevant to the client's presentation problem and there may be no disclosure requests. If the advisor continues to feel the need to disclose, the advisor should consider the purpose and motivation of the disclosure to ensure that the disclosure is not used to meet personal needs, such as client consent.
Consultants can also refrain from disclosure in cases where the client has poor interpersonal boundaries, the client is in a crisis or there is a real risk that the therapeutic relationship will not withstand disclosure. Based on this last point, consultants should also consider what additional resources are available to the customer if the customer refuses to work with an LGBTQ + advisor. This is especially important in underserved areas or in agencies that assign consultants to customers or have long waiting lists.
Here is a vignette to illustrate a case in which a consultant chooses not to disclose anything: Janine is a heterosexual trans woman who consistently "fits" in social environments. It offers psychological counseling to students in rural schools and receives a referral for a new customer, Jamil. Jamil is a junior who recently retired from his friends. He has also experienced an increasing conflict with his family after starting to wear his older sisters' clothes for dinner and telling them that he often wishes to be a girl.
Jamil presents himself at the first session with his mother, who expresses prejudice and contempt for the LGBTQ + community. She says: "I was shocked. I saw them on the news and I will not have my son as one of them. "
Janine remains calm throughout the recording and processes her thoughts and feelings later under supervision. She expresses that the mother's comments annoyed her and distracted her because of her own family history. She believes that Jamil would benefit from knowing someone in the LGBTQ + community. Janine considers this possibility with her manager, but decides that disclosing her identity as a trans woman to Jamil is too risky at this point. She argues that Jamil's mother, Jamil, may be withdrawn from service with Janine, and there are no other providers available in the surrounding rural area.
Janine works with her manager to develop ways to deal with her discomfort with the mother's comments and Janine's desire to disclose a relationship with Jamil. During the treatment planning session, Janine works with the family to build a relationship. She uses her education and training, rather than her personal experience, to explain the myriad of difficulties gender-sensitive people face and the importance of family support. Janine, Jamil, and Jamil's mother develop a plan to strengthen family cohesion by taking small, step-by-step steps that allow Jamil to better express his gender identity.
Summary
Consultants who identify themselves as LGBTQ + face the unique challenge of determining whether and how to disclose this identity to customers. Countless factors influence this decision and make it no different from many other self-disclosure decisions. Consultants can begin to examine the problem using an ethical decision-making model, taking into account professional principles of charity, autonomy and truthfulness, as well as relevant ethical standards.
Consultants may be able to disclose more or less frequently based on their own non-verbal attributes and behaviors, which clients may consider as suggestions that the consultant is LGBTQ +. Customers can use these attributes or behaviors to prompt the advisor to disclose their LGBTQ + identity, or advisors can address the issue themselves if necessary.
Consultants should consider oral disclosure on a case-by-case basis, taking into account knowledge of the client's current problem and needs, the strength of the therapeutic relationship, and other available resources. Consultants should not disclose when the disclosure poses an immediate risk to clients. LGBTQ + counselors can contact their heterosexual or Cisgender colleagues for more direct self-disclosure standards.
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Benjamin Hearn is a first year graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, where he is developing approaches to the consulting profession to use psychedelic therapies for mental health and substance disorders. He is also interested in the integration of spirituality in counseling and is an active member of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling. He has practiced in a variety of settings, including school-based mental health, private practice, and wilderness therapy. Contact him at [email protected].
Knowledge sharing articles were developed from sessions presented at American Counseling Association conferences.
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