However you are feeling about the client or are responding to the client is probably what the client intended.

This truism is one of the most important, but it is also one of the most difficult to understand and accept. For years students have been taught to thing that how they perceive the world and respond to it is their problem. At least 50 percent of any personal interaction is their responsibility. They are choosing and creating their responses. And it is true. But the counseling relationship is a very special one and some special rules apply. Because the counselor has duties and responsibilities unlike those of other relationships, the counselor should enter the relationship as close to a "blank screen" as possible.