When is it relevant to give advice to clients?
Psychologists are not known to give advice to their clients. They open up opportunities for them, encourage them to look at alternatives and offer strategies to deal with issues facing them. However, advice is something different – after all, how valuable is it really to advise a client who then, seeing the psychologist as the professional, is likely to take the advice without really take responsibility for their choices?
However, there are times when holding back information from a client might not only impede the client’s progress, but is unfair. For example, imagine a client whose self esteem has traditionally been low and now they find themselves in a few job. They find themselves in unfamiliar territory with certain aspects of the job – new to them – and their self esteem spirals as they bemoan how stuck they are and unable to forge a path through. However, it might be appropriate to advise the client, not to focus on their limitations are, but on negotiating the job design or ways in which other team members can share the load – each focusing on their own respective strengths. Psychologists who stringently adhere to the maxim ‘never give advice’ might being doing their client a dis-service. I suggest psychologists use their sensitivity and knowledge of the client and work with the client appropriately.