Deciding to Share

Deciding to share one's personal history with mental illness can be an incredibly difficult and sensitive decision. While there is much potential value in disclosing, it can also be scary knowing that there may be negative impacts. Know that whether you choose to disclose to your team or not disclose, your experience holds value.

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DBT therapists are more likely to disclose that they have engaged in behaviors that DBT treats to their clients than they are to their team. Disclosing to clients can be beneficial at times. It is also important to consider how sharing our experiences with our teams can help us, our colleagues, and our clients.

The RISE Framework for DBT Clinicians

The RISE framework helps DBT clinicians who have also been DBT clients thoughtfully decide when, where, and how to share their lived experience with their consultation team. Disclosure can be powerful, and it’s also complex. RISE invites reflection, curiosity, and support throughout that decision.

R - Recognize

Before disclosing, pause to recognize what’s leading you to consider sharing your experience.

Ask yourself:

What’s making me think sharing my DBT client experience might be helpful right now?
What do I hope the outcome will be for me, for my team, for our clients?
Have I shared this before? What happened?
Is there a sense of urgency to share now? Why might that be?

This step helps you notice the motivations and emotions behind disclosure, rather than moving from impulse or pressure.

I - Investigate

Take time to explore possible impacts and gather perspectives before deciding.

Questions about your team:

How might my team respond if I shared this part of my history?
Does the team culture encourage openness about lived experience?
Are there risks, spoken or unspoken, about sharing?
Would I feel safe if the reaction were mixed or critical?

Questions about yourself:

What am I hoping to achieve by sharing?
What boundaries feel important to maintain?
Am I confident in what I would (and wouldn’t) share?
Do I have support, supervisory, peer, or personal if the disclosure feels hard later?

You might choose to discuss this step with a trusted colleague, supervisor, or your own therapist.

S - Self-Disclose

If you decide that disclosure to your team feels right, do so intentionally and collaboratively.

Consider:

How can I frame this disclosure as relevant and helpful, not as seeking validation?
What is the smallest, most meaningful piece I can share?
How can I invite dialogue rather than make a statement?
How can I model dialectical thinking, honoring both my lived experience and my role as a professional?

Example language:

“I’d like to share something about my own experience that helps me connect with parts of this work. I’ve been through DBT myself, and that perspective shapes how I think about validation and skill use.”

E - Explore

After disclosure, intentionally reflect and observe.

Questions for the team:

How did this impact our discussion or dynamic?
Did it change how we relate to the team or the team dynamics?

Questions for yourself:

How do I feel after sharing? Relieved? Vulnerable? Seen? Unsure?
Did the disclosure serve the purpose I hoped for?
Would I do it again or do anything differently next time?

Exploration helps integrate the experience so that disclosure becomes part of your growth, not a one-time event.

The Dialectics of Disclosure

The RISE framework supports thoughtful, intentional disclosure, and part of that intention is recognizing when not disclosing to your team may be the most skillful choice.

Timing

Sometimes it’s simply not the right time to share.

You may be settling into a new role, navigating stress outside of work, or still integrating your own lived experience.

Your needs matter more than any expectation to share.

The choice not to disclose your history as a DBT client is valid. Disclosure is a choice, not an obligation. “Not right now” can be an expression of wise mind, self-respect, and skillful action.

Helpful Tools

Click below for the RISE Framework questionnaire to help guide your decision to disclose.

Click below for a questionnaire to help assess readiness to disclose or not

Whatever you decide, your worth as a clinician is not determined by what you share. It is shaped by your commitment to reflective practice, ethical boundaries, and thoughtful engagement with your work. Disclosure to teams is one of many clinical considerations, and your value remains rooted in how intentionally and skillfully you show up for your clients and your team. Click the arrow to learn more about the importance and impact of teams navigating experiential knowledge.