These five key skills are foundational to ethical consultation because they provide a way for clients in most cases to do their own exploration (through Listen, Explore, and Affirm) and come to their own decisions, while also allowing space for therapists to share a Perspective on the client’s dilemma when that seems useful. The “C” skill—challenge—is for situations when there is risk for harm to others and the client is not seeing the harm or taking it seriously.
