Intervention
Confrontation Design Template
Plan a confrontation of a specific lie or deception pattern before delivering it — ensuring the confrontation serves a clinical purpose and lands at the right relational moment.
This worksheet helps therapists plan a direct confrontation of a specific lie or deception pattern before delivering it in session. A confrontation designed in advance is a clinical move; one that emerges from frustration is a rupture risk. This template ensures the confrontation has a clear purpose, is offered at the right relational moment, and includes a response plan for each likely client reaction.
Complete this worksheet before any session in which a confrontation is planned. Do not enter the session with the intention of confronting without completing this template first. Review the language and repair plan in the five minutes before the session.
Confrontation Design Template
Client (initials or identifier): _______________ Session date: _______________
The specific deception to address What exactly will be confronted? Describe precisely, with the evidence for it.
The clinical purpose What does this confrontation need to accomplish? State as a clinical goal, not a moral one.
Relational conditions check Before proceeding, assess whether the relationship can support a confrontation:
- The alliance is currently solid — the client is engaged, not in a period of distance or fragility
- The confrontation follows from a clinical concern, not from the therapist’s frustration or sense of being deceived
- The therapist has a genuine hypothesis about why the deception occurred (not just that it did)
- The relationship has survived a previous difficulty without rupture, or there is no reason to expect this will be the first real test
If any of these are not true, stop and revisit timing.
The confrontation language Write out in full:
Opening statement (what you will say first): _______________________________________________
The observation (what you noticed, stated as observation not accusation): _______________________________________________
The clinical concern (why this matters for the work): _______________________________________________
The question that follows (what you want to know): _______________________________________________
Anticipated client responses
Defensive denial — how to respond:
Admission — how to respond:
Deflection or topic change — how to respond:
Anger or alliance rupture — how to respond:
What to do immediately after the confrontation What to say, what to do, how long to stay with it:
Repair plan If the confrontation lands badly and the alliance is damaged, what is the repair approach?
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