Lying – an inherent phenomenon in psychotherapy

Abstract

Lying is a common phenomenon in human society. In the field of psychotherapy, the discussion on lying is rather limited, and in Slovene professional space, it has not yet been established as an independent subject of study. Some foreign research on the lying of clients in psychotherapy has shown intentional dishonesty of clients about specific topics to be present and quite common. Especially in initial periods of therapy, clients lie because of shame, fear and mistrust. Clients lie about themselves, about their relationships and about their experience of the therapeutic process, including the way they experience the therapist. The findings of the present study, which included 121 participants, can be compared with results of foreign studies. 83% of participants stated that they had already been dishonest with their psychotherapist in the past. With regard to the topic of lying, clients are most frequently dishonest about their experience of therapists’ comments and advice, about deeds they regret, as well as their sex life and sexual orientation. Clients in psychotherapy lie primarily with the purpose to reduce the intensity of unpleasant emotions, to gain a sense of control over the course of therapy and an increased level of privacy. Our study results reveal that people lie primarily because of the underlying shame and fear.