Resonant Equity is pleased to present:
Breaking the Blank Slate: Self-Disclosure as an Important Clinical Tool in 2026
Date: Friday, March 27, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Pacific / 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Mountain / 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Central / 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM Eastern
CE hours available: 1.5
- Intended for: Novice/Beginning Learners: No advance knowledge required
- NBCC Content Area: Counseling Theory/Practice and the Counseling Relationship
Program Description
Mental health professionals practice self-disclosure when revealing personal aspects about themselves through sharing information of self or personal insights to their client. Self-disclosure is often utilized as a tool to encourage the patient to share information during the therapeutic encounter. Oftentimes, the acculturation of Western therapy practices in graduate training serves to discourage clinicians from self-disclosing to their clients (e.g. Freudian “blank state”). The use of self-disclosure is debated amongst clinicians, as it can result in blurring of boundaries or even role reversals. Many therapists have been taught to leave their personal selves completely outside the therapy room, and are uncomfortable with any form of self-disclosure at all. Therapist self-disclosure is particularly fraught in times of political polarization, or at times when the counselor is experiencing stressors and feeling vulnerable about sharing too much with their client.
However, self disclosure has also been found to be a catalyst for corrective emotional experiences and a way to build rapport and create an overall collaborative atmosphere within the therapeutic relationship. In cross-cultural dyads or during collective experiences of sociopolitical change, self-disclosure may be an especially effective tool for psychotherapists and clinical counselors who are working to share power in therapy and decolonize their practice. This skills-based training will include a short presentation on benefits, risks, and rationale for self-disclosure as a clinical practice in the current political environment, an exercise on understanding therapist identity in the context of self-disclosure to support a multicultural orientation of counseling, with the bulk of the training being experiential with skills practice in a structured manner.
Educational Goals
This presentation introduces the idea of self-disclosure as a decolonizing practice for therapists interested in meeting their clients in the moment we are in, based on tremendous change occurring in society in 2026.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:- Assess relevant client identity and contextual factors to determine their implications for counselor self-disclosure decisions.
- Explain how a multicultural orientation used in self-disclosure practices can be used as a decolonizing tool within psychotherapy.
- Describe at least 3 topics that should be considered for therapist self-disclosure in 2026 and the rationale for each.
- Name at least 2 risks of therapist self-disclosure and identify possible methods to mitigate them.
- Analyze at least 2 potential benefits of therapist political self-disclosure by evaluating effects on therapeutic alliance, power dynamics, client safety, and treatment outcomes.
- Demonstrate reflective self-assessment by identifying personal values, biases, and countertransference responses that may influence decisions about political self-disclosure, using structured reflection and case-based exercises.
Equity Focus
This training centers identity of the counselor and client in understanding self-disclosure skill application. This encourages a multicultural orientation in therapy and can be a tool to support decolonizing mental health practice.
Presenters
Presenter Name: Chelsea Chen (she/her)
Chelsea Chen is a third-year student at Seton Hall University in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program. Her research interests relate to racial triangulation in East Asian communities, multicultural competency training, and centering marginalized voices in health service psychology. Chelsea strives to transform the field of psychology by advocating for social justice and decolonial practices in mental health clinical training and therapeutic interventions. As a student-clinician, Chelsea works through a psychodynamic and trauma-informed lens.
Presenter Name: Andre Gonzalez (he/him)
Andre J. Gonzalez, M.A., is a doctoral researcher in Counseling Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. His research focuses on student development, mentorship, and reducing barriers faced by first-generation students in higher education, with particular attention to how institutional policy and supervision practices shape equitable outcomes. Andre aims to advance academic leadership and policy reform to foster access, inclusion, and purpose-driven student success in higher education.
Presenter Name: Hanah Yi (she/her)
Hanah Yi is a first-year doctoral student at the University at Albany. Her primary research interests are in improving cultural competency in healthcare, especially when working with BIPOC and underserved communities. Her primary research interest is in ways to further develop cultural competency among medical health professionals, and how to better support physicians of color. She also has an interest in investigating more culturally competent interventions for mental health professionals working with victims of intimate partner violence.
Presenter Name: Lisa Wenninger (she/her)Dr. Lisa Wenninger (she/her) has a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Antioch University Seattle. She is a National Certified Counselor and is licensed in California, Washington, and Virginia, with a telehealth-only social justice counseling practice working with individuals with marginalized identities who are navigating a complex and difficult world. Dr. Wenninger serves on the Board of Counselors for Social Justice to promote advocacy and allyship within the counseling profession and help nurture development of the professional identity of counselor-advocate in colleagues. Dr. Wenninger makes a point to attend the meetings of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences and in other ways stay on top of laws and regulations affecting counselors and our clients. She regularly provides continuing education courses on topics such as law and ethics of telehealth, culturally informed diagnosing, and antiracism in counseling, and consults with organizations interested in building more inclusive and welcoming cultures.
Qualifies for 1.5 CE hours.
Resonant Equity, Inc. is authorized by NBCC to issue CEs. NBCC CEs are accepted by most state licensing boards, including California. Please check with your licensing board for their specific policies.
Continuing Education Program Policies
By registering for this course, you accept and agree to these policies.
NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider |
Resonant Equity, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7682. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Resonant Equity, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. |
Resonant Equity sells access to a learning experience; we do not sell CEs. CEs are earned based on meeting the requirements set by our ACEP license with NBCC. You are welcome and even encouraged to engage with our learning content without needing the CE credit. However, if the CE hours are important to you, we require meeting these policies so that we may be in compliance with our obligations to the profession.
Participation in the training in full including attendance for the entire duration is required in order to qualify for CEs for that training. Instructions for attending, including how to access the online Zoom meeting or other online broadcast platform, are provided in the registration confirmation email. These instructions can also be found by logging onto your account at www.resonantequity.org. It is the responsibility of the participant to troubleshoot any technology access issues ahead of time. Resonant Equity, Inc. cannot provide technical support, and is not liable in the event of any internet outage, misdirected email due to entering a wrong address by the registrant, or other technology problem on the participant’s side that prevents access to the training. We are unable to provide refunds for such circumstances.
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Completion Requirements for CE Credit – Home Study ProgramsResonant Equity, Inc. is approved by NBCC as a continuing education provider of home study (on-demand) training programs for mental health providers (ACEP #7682). In order to award CE hours, participants must complete the full duration of training, including watching any videos or listening to audio content in its entirety (no fast forward or skipping ahead), and reading all provided text-based learning materials in full. Completion is also verified by passing the assessment that checks knowledge based on the training content. CE certificates cannot be issued until completion is confirmed. Wherever possible, we implement technology based tracking to support these requirements, however some course content relies on the honor system for participants to attest to completion. We hope that our training content is engaging enough that you choose to take full advantage of the learning opportunities we design.
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