Educational Interventions in Counseling: The Need to Avoid Pronouncements

Abstract

This article proposes that counselors who use educational interventions in their work with clients, and thereby simultaneously teach while they counsel, are apt to unwittingly make “pronouncements.” Pronouncements are unqualified statements of, or declarations of, expertise. It is suggested that pronouncements are generally an unethical form of language for the counselor‐teacher to use, and that although they serve a number of persuasive functions for the counselor, they mystify knowledge and authority relationships for the client. In addition it is suggested that language usage and attendant ethical pitfalls that arise in using new counseling methodologies should receive more attention in the counseling literature.