The Skill of Self-Disclosure in Supervision

Self-disclosure can strengthen clinical and supervisory relationships, but many behavioral health professionals feel uncertain about using it. A well-timed disclosure may help a client or supervisee feel understood, validated, or less alone. When it is overly detailed, poorly timed, or disconnected from the other person’s needs, however, it can redirect attention, blur professional roles, create pressure to reciprocate, or leave the client or supervisee feeling responsible for the professional.

This training offers clinical supervisors a structured way to examine how self-disclosure functions in both therapy and supervision. For supervisors who want to make more deliberate decisions about their own disclosures while helping supervisees develop this skill, the course provides a practical framework for balancing authenticity, professional boundaries, relational impact, and the needs of the person receiving the disclosure.

Register for the 1.5 CE Online Self-Study for $45

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Register for the 0 CE Training Video for $23

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Khara Croswaite Brindle, MA, LPC, ACS, CFT, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, Certified Financial Therapist, educator, author, private practice owner, and co-owner of a supervision training practice. Her experience in clinical practice, supervision, teaching, and clinician development positions her to help supervisors consider how self-disclosure can support professional growth while maintaining clear roles, appropriate boundaries, and attention to the therapeutic or supervisory relationship.

Khara presents self-disclosure as a professional skill that can be considered, practiced, evaluated, and refined rather than automatically avoided or used without reflection. Participants will learn a practical framework that begins with clarifying the purpose of a disclosure, keeping it short and focused, and assessing how it lands through verbal feedback, nonverbal responses, and continued attention to the working alliance.

The course explores the potential benefits of self-disclosure, including rapport, validation, normalization, authenticity, trust, and collaboration. It also examines risks such as distraction, role confusion, boundary concerns, manipulation, minimization, and shifting clients or supervisees into a caregiving position. Supervisors will consider how disclosure may be used to normalize clinical uncertainty, imposter syndrome, difficult reactions to clients, critical incidents, and other experiences that affect clinician development without turning supervision into therapy. Attention is also given to inviting feedback, responding when a disclosure does not land as intended, and using consultation or reflection to recognize patterns in when, why, and with whom a professional tends to disclose.

Key Takeaways

• More intentional self-disclosure: Learn to clarify whether a disclosure is intended to validate, normalize, build trust, or support growth—and whether it is truly serving the client or supervisee.
• Clearer supervisory boundaries: Examine how supervisors can use and model self-disclosure without creating role confusion, pressuring supervisees to reciprocate, or shifting the relationship away from their professional development.
• A practical decision-making framework: Apply a simple process for determining the purpose of a disclosure, keeping it brief, evaluating its impact, and responding constructively when it does not land as intended.

Why This Course?

• Focused on an under-taught supervisory skill: Many behavioral health professionals encounter self-disclosure in practice without receiving structured guidance on how to use, model, or evaluate it.
• Balances authenticity with professional responsibility: Consider how relational connection and humanity can coexist with clear boundaries, attention to power, and a continued focus on the client or supervisee.
• Taught by an experienced supervisor and educator: Khara Croswaite Brindle brings direct experience in clinical supervision, clinician development, teaching, consultation, and professional practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess the risks and benefits of self-disclosure as a supervisory tool.
• Identify the risks and benefits of self-disclosure within the clinical supervision relationship.
• Apply a self-disclosure framework to encourage the appropriate use of this tool by both supervisors and supervisees.

 Self-disclosure does not have to be treated as something to avoid entirely or use without limits. With a clearer framework, supervisors can make more deliberate decisions, model appropriate professional disclosure, and help supervisees develop greater awareness of how their disclosures may affect clients and clinical relationships.