1. The counselor “jokingly” says to a client who is having trouble focusing, “I’ll have to get you
on some Ritalin.” Although distasteful at any point, this statement is particularly
inappropriate with this client, whose son is a child who struggles with a learning problem.
The client ends up feeling as if the helper is insensitive.
Might you make a similar error?
2. The counselor encourages his client to be “more manly” so that he could have a more
satisfying relationship with his wife. Meanwhile, the client secretly identifies as a female, and
now he feels as if he cannot share this secret with his helper.
Might you make a similar error?
3. The counselor has pro-life or pro-choice literature in his or her office. When a woman comes
in with a difficult pregnancy, this literature makes her feel like she cannot share her
dilemma.
Might you make a similar error?
4. The atheistic counselor dismisses her client’s conflict between her religious beliefs and her
same-sex attractions. Instead, the helper suggests the client change her religion. This, in
effect, shuts down the client’s desire to talk about her problem.
Might you make a similar error?
5. The counselor has a client whose parent is in the last stages of hospice care and the client is
considering assisting his parent with suicide due to the pain she is in. The helper says to the
client, “I cannot discuss that, as it is against the law.” This has the effect of ending the
conversation and leaving the client feeling as if she has no one to talk to.
Might you make a similar error?
