Therapy Watch: Diving In

Sometimes it's easier for people to open up to a stranger. Should clients spill as many beans as possible early in the therapeutic relationship? We asked the experts in Psychology Today's Therapy Directory.

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"A client is like a new art student with an empty canvas not knowing how best to express their situation. I'm outside their circle of friends and family, which emboldens them to experiment with their expressions," Tania Paredes of Hollywood, Florida, says. But she cautions that "'spilling the beans' is an uncontrolled, chaotic event."

Long Haul

"Of course in the first session much of their history is discussed," Charlton Wilson of Loveland, Colorado, says. "Yet I never push them. Often I slow them down. Sometimes someone can disclose too much too fast and it scares them off."

Room to Breathe

"I'm explicit in stating we have plenty of time to unwrap their history, pain, fears, and concerns," Victoria Schlicht of Tustin, California, says. "This knowledge creates a greater sense of empowerment and ease and actually creates more space for their story if and when they are ready to share it."

Getting to Know You

Elyn Tromey of Boulder, Colorado, says, "I encourage my clients to see how they feel around me, whether they even want to be there. Some clients have never been treated as if their trust is actually something others need to earn. I am not entitled to their trust just because I am a therapist."

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