Using motivational monitoring to evaluate the efficacy of self-disclosure and self-involving interventions

Self-disclosures and self-interventions are generally considered useful, although their role remains controversial. This is mainly due to the heterogeneity of research findings on this topic, characterized by the lack of a clear definition of self-disclosure and of systematic and effective methods to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of such interventions. To clarify the concept of self-disclosure, it is essential to understand whether its definition comprehends different interventions, which may have different effects. An accurate and reliable evaluation of such effects may allow clinicians and researchers to differentiate among different kinds of self-disclosures. In this theoretical article, we propose a method to evaluate the clinical efficacy of self-disclosures interventions. This method is based upon the monitoring of motivational systems (Liotti, 2005), which allows therapists to assess the cooperative attunement between patient and therapist in real-time. Our central assumption is that the evaluation of the cooperative attunement between patient and therapist, as well as the patient’s meta-cognitive functioning, is primary to assess the use of clinical interventions. Indeed, these factors – either acting on their own or synergistically – are the mark, the essence, and the reflection of the therapeutic alliance, which is the strongest predictor of the outcome of treatment.