Question From Vicki

How can you use confrontation therapy effectively in your therapy session to get the client to make his or her own decision?
Vicki,
Confrontation alone will more than likely backfire on a therapist. However, one thing I like to do is to incorporate the confrontation into a question style format. If there is a need to confront, it usually means that someone doesn’t understand or doesn’t want to understand the consequences of their behavior. So, I believe formulating questions or statements that somewhat lead the client to see (understand their situation) better. I do this a lot with people who make ridiculous statements about Christianity that are illogical. The Bible is not only for edification, but also reproof (2 Tim. 3:16). When confronting relativism, which is a self-defeating position (a statement that fails its own standard), I might say something like this, “To say there are no absolute truths is itself an absolute truth statement.” Therefore, to say, “There is no truth,” is a statement of truth. I know this is not necessarily a question, but it is confrontational and should illicit deeper thought from the person who hears it.

Thanks for your question