ABSTRACT
This chapter examines therapists' tears as a form of therapist self-disclosure and discusses how therapists' tears fit in the context of current self-disclosure literature. It reviews a model for keeping therapist self-disclosure therapeutic and applies this model to therapists' tears and discusses how to balance client preferences with clinical wisdom. The chapter presents Emily's case, and introduces the case of Katie to illustrate several of the myriad ways in which tears as self-disclosure may occur in the clinical setting. Crying is the least controlled and most authentic form of self-disclosure. Whether our eyes well up with tears or tears run down our cheeks, crying is an act of vulnerability–and humanity. The chapter explores a case study of Katie a college girl who was pushed into therapy by family and friends due to her eating-disorder symptoms, was guarded and ambivalent about change: she knew that how she was living was not working, but she could not imagine letting it go.
