High and Low Risk Self-disclosure in Group Psychotherapy'

This study examined the occurrence of high and low risk self-disclosure' in 12 therapy groups. Eight groups were conducted for clients served by a community mental health center on an outpatient basis, and four groups were composed of extremely maladjusted in-patient clients at a state hospital. The Group Interaction Profile, an instrument which Tends ratings of each member's verbalizations, was used as the dependent measure. As expected, the results demonstrated that all of the groups engaged in significantly more low than high risk self-disclosure. However, groups of institutionalized subjects emitted a greater proportion of high risk self-disclosure verbalizations than groups of non-institutionalized subjects. Related clinical implications were discussed. (Author)