Revealing
People are often engaged with the guiding distinction of revealing/concealing because they wish to make a good impression. It is, or seems, important to them what others think about them or see in them. Therefore, they try to shape what part of themselves is visible and what is not. However, one only has part control over that which one reveals or conceals, namely that which one is aware of, and which is consciously accessible to one’s self-expression. Another part is outside one’s control. It does not only express what is consciously accessible to oneself, but also who one is, without one knowing or perceiving this. One shows oneself as a complete person. And one also shows that one wishes to reveal something and that one is trying to hide something. One reveals oneself, intentionally, by that which one says, does and communicates through body language. And one shows oneself, unintentionally, through body language signals which one doesn’t control and by letting things ‘slip out’, verbally or non-verbally. Freud called this a ‘Freudian Slip’. Generally, people try to show that which corresponds to their idea of who they would like to be. Therefore, one can discover something about each person’s ideal image of himself. No matter whether he wants to impress, control, be faultless, intimidate others, keep his distance, be self-sufficient, help others or be helpful to them, all of these reveal information which has great value when counselling.