A goal refers to what the client or clinician would like to achieve (e.g. reduction of problems). There are two types of goals:

1. Process goals
   This refers to goals aimed at creating the right condition for effective counselling (e.g. creation of a good atmosphere).
2. Outcome goals
   This refers to goals aimed at reaching a (pen)ultimate goal.

The choice of outcome goals is primarily the client’s responsibility and goals may change and need to be adapted throughout sessions. The clinician needs to adopt a role and this role may change. There are four roles:

1. Confidant role
   The goal of this role is to help the client talk and think through the issues. The clinician needs to create clarity and calmness during the session and the clinician needs to be attentive (1), understanding (2) and encouraging the client to speak freely (3).
2. Communicative detective role
   The goal of this role is to obtain a clear picture of the client’s thoughts and actions. It includes asking questions and openness in the communication with the client (e.g. explain reasoning behind a question).
3. Teacher role
   The goal of this role is to provide the client with a more effective approach to their problems and discussing how the client can put this to good use. The clinician takes up an explanatory role and introduces new perspectives in an empathetic way.
4. Coach role
   The goal of this role is to help the client generalize new behaviour and thought patterns outside of the counselling environment. The clinician guides and helps their client by discussing and evaluating the outcome of their experiments with new behaviour in real life.

Overgeneralization (e.g. “all Scottish people suck”) may occur when the client shows too little differentiation and too quick integration. All new information is immediately slotted into an existing mental framework. The client may also show too much differentiation and too little integration, meaning that there are too many nuances and information is not arranged into a clearly defined whole. The communicative detective role should be used if this is the case. However, this role should not be used if the confidant role deems sufficient.

The helping model (i.e. Egon’s model) refers to a framework that contains a set of guidelines for carrying out counselling. The model allows the clinician to organize the course of counselling with the client. There is cumulative building of goals and tasks and the stages apply to each problem as it emerges. It consists of three stages:

1. Problem clarification (i.e. confidant and communicative detective role)
   This includes making contact and getting a clearer picture of what the problems are and how the client experiences this. There are several goals for the clinician:
   1. Achieve a good rapport.
   2. Get a better idea of the problems.
   3. Build confidence and trust.
   4. Listen attentively.
   5. Clarify.
   6. Provide structure

Psychological interpretation refers to redefining or restructuring the situation through the presentation of an alternate description of behaviour. The goal is to obtain new insights. Ubiquitous interpretation refers to interpreting from a certain frame of reference or viewpoint. Interpretation consists of a continuum between what is close to the client’s frame of reference and things that lie outside of the frame of reference of the client. It is important to not phrase interpretations right away:

• Interpretations are often wrong.
• It is the goal to have the client make their own re-interpretations.
• It may not be appropriate in the client-clinician relationship yet.

An interpretation should be presented in a tentative tone and in language familiar to the client. However, a scholarly way of talking could be useful as long as it is in an understandable tone and helps the client understand their behaviour and problems. There are several skills (i.e. operationalizations) of interpretation;

1. Advanced accurate empathy
   This includes interpretations that are further away from the client’s frame of reference. The goal is to provide the client with a broader, more differentiated view of their problems. It demonstrates understanding and regards the emotional tone of the conversation. The clinician should:
   1. Use the context of the story.
   2. Pay attention to the tone of voice (i.e. tentative voice)
   3. Make connections between several parts of the client’s story.
   4. Summarize the content (i.e. newsprint summaries).
2. Confrontation
   This refers to giving a response to the client’s views about themselves or the world that is significantly different from that of the client. The goal is to present the client with a different vision of themselves to get the problematic situation moving again. The clinician should:
   
   1. Understand that the client will most likely initially disagree.
   2. Present the confrontation in a quiet, professional, tentative and accepting voice.
   3. Use both strength and weakness confrontations.
3. Positive relabelling
   This refers to applying a positive reconstruction to parts of the problem originally found to be negative. The goal is to place the client’s negative aspects in a favourable light but does not necessarily mean emphasizing the healthy aspects. It shows the client that they do not need to fully change their behaviour. The clinician should:
   
   1. Give a positive motive to what may be the cause of the problem (e.g. you do so because it fits your personality; you would be more tense if you did not do it)
   2. Give a favourable meaning to the complaints and symptoms.
   3. Aim to change the negative self-image of the client.
   4. Use it when the client gives a negative explanation for behaviour of feelings leading to a worsening of the problematic situation or when the client cannot account for the problematic situation (e.g. “I don’t know why I said this”).
4. Examples of one’s own
   This