Secrets, Lies & Revelation: Ethical Complexity in the Clinical Encounter

Psychotherapy is shaped as much by what is left unsaid as by what is spoken. Some secrets are disclosed directly, while others reveal themselves through silence, omission, contradiction, or enactment. We keep secrets from those we love, from our therapists, and perhaps most profoundly, from ourselves. While secrecy is often viewed as an ethical problem to solve, it also serves important developmental, relational, and psychological functions. Secrets can preserve dignity, protect attachment, maintain hope, regulate shame, and safeguard parts of the self that have not yet found language. At other times, they sustain suffering, isolate individuals, perpetuate violence, or prevent authentic intimacy.

This experiential workshop invites clinicians to move beyond the question of Should this be disclosed? toward a more nuanced inquiry: What is this secret accomplishing? Together we will explore the developmental function of secret-keeping, examine types of secrets and lies, and look at the many ways truth is revealed, concealed,…