Retraction of Marks et al. (2019)

Reports the retraction of "Secrets in psychotherapy: For better or worse" by Ellen C. Marks, Clara E. Hill and Dennis M. Kivlighan Jr. (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2019[Jan], Vol 66[1], 70-82). The following article is being retracted (https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000311). This retraction is at the request of coauthors Kivlighan and Hill after the results of an investigation by the University of Maryland Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB found that the study included data from between one and four therapy clients of the Maryland Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Laboratory (MPCRL) who either had not been asked to provide consent or had withdrawn consent for their data to be included in the research. Marks was not responsible for obtaining and verifying participant consent but agreed to the retraction of this article. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2018-49842-001.) We investigated how concealment and disclosure of secrets, two related but distinct processes, unfolded over the course of open-ended therapy for 39 clients and 9 therapists, using hierarchical linear modeling to identify longitudinal patterns and investigate relationships with working alliance and session quality. Results indicated that over the course of therapy, 85% of clients disclosed at least one secret and 41% concealed at least one secret, with 18% of sessions including a disclosure and 4% of sessions including concealment. Over time, clients were less likely to disclose secrets, and the secrets they chose to conceal were rated as less significant. Clients rated the working alliance lower after sessions when they disclosed secrets versus when they did not disclose, although the working alliance was not rated as poorly when the disclosed secrets were viewed as significant. Clients rated session quality higher after sessions when they disclosed secrets versus when they did not disclose, particularly when they disclosed preoccupying secrets. Clients tended to feel neutral or positive about their disclosures. Implications for practice and research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).