Psychological Explanations
There are forms of counselling which refrain from explaining anything to their client. We consider this to be wrong. Those who understand themselves will be more autonomous and can develop more self-support. One does not have to make the client find out everything by himself. One can, and should, introduce into the counselling dialogue hypotheses, explanations, clarifications, reports from other clients, psychological theories and much more, as long as these have a purpose, which allows the client to utilise them for interpreting himself and his situation, for making connections and for increasing his readiness to engage in uncomfortable or risky feelings. It becomes dysfunctional, when an educational gap moves into the relationship, where the counsellor knows the truth and the client must accept it. To make a cognitive offer of interpretation is not synonymous with taking an expert position which depowers the client.