The influence of therapeutic self-disclosure on perceived marital intimacy

This study examines the effect of therapeutic changes in a couple's self-disclosure behavior and its impact on their perception of their marital intimacy. Twenty couples participated in 10 weekly sessions of structured self-disclosure. The Self-Disclosure Coding System was used to rate audiotapes of the second and ninth sessions. Two rates, blind to treatment condition, demonstrated high interrater reliability on measures of changes in: 1) amount of self-disclosure; 2) whether self-references were positive, negative, or neutral; 3) depth of disclosures; and 4) rate of self-reference. Spouses, who were rated as disclosing in greater depth and referring to themselves in a more positive manner, perceived increased intimacy in their marriages as a consequence of therapy. The role of self-disclosure between spouses as a specific technique in marital therapy merits further study.