| Abstract: | The Feminist Self-Disclosure Inventory (FSDI) was developed to assess principles of therapist self-disclosure as described in the feminist therapy literature. This 18-item Likert-type scale was completed in a mailed survey by women psychotherapists (i.e., 41 self-identified feminist therapists, 34 psychoanalytic/dynamic, and 68 other therapists). Results indicated that the FSDI was comprised of five factors i.e., Therapist Background (TB), Promotes Liberatory Feelings (PLF), Promotes Egalitarianism (PE), Therapist Availability (TA), and Empowering Client (EC)], and that the overall scale had excellent internal consistency and very satisfactory test-retest reliability. Also, feminist therapists endorsed FSDI factors significantly more than psychoanalytic/dynamic and other therapists with the greatest differences on items reflecting overall use of self-disclosure, disclosing sexual orientation, using disclosure to create egalitarianism, and encouraging the client's choice of a role model in the therapeutic relationship. |
