This clinical skill involves the use of a statement or question to raise some discrepancy within the client.

This clinical skill involves the use of a statement or question to raise some discrepancy within the client.

• A. Immediacy
• B. Confrontation
• C. Universality
• D. Self-Disclosure

Answer: (B)

Confrontation is a counseling skill that targets the mismatch between what a client says they value, believe, or intend, and what their actual words, behaviors, or patterns reveal. By naming this discrepancy in a careful, nonjudgmental way, the clinician prompts the client to look at the gap more closely, which can spark insight and motivate change. For example, pointing out that a client who professes a desire to change but repeatedly engages in the old behavior invites reflection on barriers, ambivalence, or conflicting goals. This differs from immediacy, which centers on the therapist–client relationship in the here-and-now rather than on the client’s internal inconsistencies; universality, which helps the client feel they’re not alone by highlighting shared experiences; and self-disclosure, which involves the clinician sharing personal experiences to build rapport rather than to surface the client’s discrepancies.

Confrontation is a counseling skill that targets the mismatch between what a client says they value, believe, or intend, and what their actual words, behaviors, or patterns reveal. By naming this discrepancy in a careful, nonjudgmental way, the clinician prompts the client to look at the gap more closely, which can spark insight and motivate change. For example, pointing out that a client who professes a desire to change but repeatedly engages in the old behavior invites reflection on barriers, ambivalence, or conflicting goals.

This differs from immediacy, which centers on the therapist–client relationship in the here-and-now rather than on the client’s internal inconsistencies; universality, which helps the client feel they’re not alone by highlighting shared experiences; and self-disclosure, which involves the clinician sharing personal experiences to build rapport rather than to surface the client’s discrepancies.