Self-Disclosure Issues in the Care of Eating Disorders

In eating disorder care, self-disclosure can either deepen trust and reduce shame or quietly shift the focus away from recovery, making it one of the most nuanced clinical decisions professionals face. This course explores how to discern the difference with greater clarity, intention, and ethical confidence.

For clinicians and others involved in eating disorder treatment who want a more thoughtful framework for navigating these moments, this live webinar offers practical guidance for one of the field’s most challenging questions: when does sharing truly help, and when is non-disclosure a more therapeutic choice?

Dr. DaLene Forester, PhD, LMFT, LPCC, brings years of specialized experience in eating disorder treatment, trauma, and clinical supervision to this training. A Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Consultant (CEDS-C), EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Trainer, and certified supervisor with both AAMFT and CAMFT, she has taught nationally and internationally and authored chapters on trauma-informed treatment of eating disorders using EMDR. Her depth of experience uniquely positions her to help participants differentiate therapeutic self-disclosure from sharing that may be clinically neutral or harmful, while applying ethical decision-making in real-world care.

Drawing from both clinical expertise and lived complexity within the field, Dr. Forester approaches this topic with nuance, honesty, and a strong recovery-centered lens. Participants will be guided through ethical, relational, developmental, and diagnostic considerations, with attention to how disclosure decisions affect alliance, shame, boundaries, and power dynamics across professional and paraprofessional roles.

This training will examine different types and intentions of self-disclosure, as well as the potential benefits and risks of sharing personal experience in eating disorder care. Participants will explore how disclosure can strengthen therapeutic alliances, model recovery, and reduce shame, while also considering the possibility of triggering comparison, competition, symptom reinforcement, role reversals, and boundary confusion. The course also addresses developmental and diagnostic considerations unique to eating disorders, the role of countertransference in disclosure decisions, practical strategies for responding to client or patient questions about personal experience, and a decision-making framework for determining when disclosure may support recovery and when withholding may be more clinically appropriate.

Key Takeaways:

• Clinical discernment: Differentiate therapeutic self-disclosure from personal sharing that may support treatment, remain clinically neutral, or create unintended harm in eating disorder care.
• Balanced risk-benefit thinking: Identify the potential benefits and risks of self-disclosure, including its impact on alliance, shame reduction, comparison dynamics, triggering content, and recovery focus.
• Ethical decision-making in practice: Apply a practical framework for deciding when sharing may be recovery-centered and when non-disclosure is the more appropriate clinical response, while recognizing the distinct ethical and power-related considerations for professionals and para-professionals.

Why this course?

• Specialized expertise: This training is led by a nationally recognized expert in eating disorders, trauma, EMDR, and clinical supervision whose credentials and teaching experience bring both authority and clinical depth to a highly nuanced topic.
• Practical relevance: Rather than offering abstract ethics alone, this course addresses the real dilemmas clinicians, coaches, mentors, sponsors, support staff, and loved ones encounter when deciding whether personal disclosure will help or hinder recovery.
• Aligned with quality care: Offered by Telehealth Certification Institute, an organization committed to excellence, integrity, innovation, and collaboration, this webinar is designed to equip helping professionals with meaningful continuing education that supports high-quality, ethical behavioral health care.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate therapeutic self-disclosure from personal sharing that may be clinically neutral or harmful in eating disorder care.
• Identify potential benefits and risks of self-disclosure when working with individuals experiencing eating disorders.
• Apply an ethical decision-making framework to determine when disclosure may support recovery and when withholding information may be more clinically appropriate.
• Recognize ethical, relational, and power-based factors that differ for professionals and para-professionals.

Thoughtful self-disclosure is rarely a simple yes-or-no decision, especially in the care of eating disorders, where hope, shame, boundaries, and recovery can all be affected by what is shared. This live webinar offers a grounded opportunity to strengthen clinical judgment, deepen ethical awareness, and approach these moments with greater confidence and care.