To admit the Rogerian Method is directive and controlling, one only needs to admit that questions are directive and controlling. People love questions in a friendly conversation, because questions provide guidance, direction, and control, and they make it easy to talk. However, people hate questions in an interrogation, because such questions limit and control the interaction and responses too much. Have you ever been in trouble with some authority, like a school principal, and had to endure his or her questioning?
If you have ever been in a court of law, then you know firsthand that the person asking the questions is the person in control. When you are on the witness stand, you cannot doubt that the prosecutor and defender are directing the conversation and controlling you with their questions. If you attempt to avoid it, the judge will remind you, saying something like, “Please respond only to the question, and only with a yes or no.”
Have you ever been in an employment interview and not felt controlled by the interviewer’s questions?
The Rogerian Method has the counselor mainly respond with questions. This puts the counselor in a position of power and control over the client. The counselor deflects all questions asked by the client, while the client is supposed to answer any questions. One gets to ask, and one has to answer. One enforces the rules, and one challenge these rules. The counselor controls who asks questions and who answers them.
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