I'm helped a lot by feeling like I know who my therapist is, and by having a strong sense of how she is too. So self-disclosure has always helped me. It also helps when she gives me examples of normal reactions to a situation, or demonstrates healthy coping methods within her stories. Sometimes it still helps me to hear a self disclosure about something that doesn't really strongly relate to what I'm going through. It makes me feel like someone she gets on with and enjoys talking to. The relationship that we've build up, which has included a fair amount of self-disclosure, has been the most healing aspect of all. I think it was something I really needed, and I feel very lucky and blessed to have been given it so freely.