Social Work Self-Disclosure: A Supervision Tool to Assist Early Career Social Workers

Abstract

<p>The concept of self-disclosure has been a controversial issue that remains highly debated by current practising social workers and researchers alike. Yet an increasing number of lived experience practitioners or peer support workers are being employed in many human services areas, including mental health, suicide prevention, bereavement services, drug and alcohol recovery, criminal justice, and emergency services, alongside or in complement to, social worker roles. Peer or lived experience roles seek to enhance the recovery journey for clients by sharing lived experience commonality, whereas social workers seek to enhance the recovery journey through psychosocial engagements. Both may have relevant lived experience to their role. The aim of this paper is to explore how sharing lived experiences, also referred to as self-disclosure, between social workers and client/service user can enhance the relationship, with attention paid to safety and recovery. A narrative review of the literature identified that there is a lack of empirical research undertaken exploring how disclosures impact the service users and what decision-making strategies can assist social workers in deciding how and when to share. The current AASW <i>Code of Ethics</i> offers no clear practice standards or ethical guidelines for effective self-disclosure. The analysis of the literature results in a reflective supervision tool for social workers in pre-service training and early career social workers, with the aim of assisting decisions that may prompt lived experience sharing. Recommendations for further research and development are included.</p>